Sadako Vs Kayako (2016)

It’s been a while since horror discovered a genuinely new bag of tricks. The last great seismic jolt arguably arrived during the heady days of the cursed videotape, courtesy of what must surely be regarded as a modern horror classic: Hideo Nakata’s Ringu. A film that featured one of the most heart-stopping moments in horror movie history and introduced an idea that was novel, intriguing, and devilishly wicked fun.

The 1990s closed with Nakata’s film breathing fresh life into a tired, exhausted, and increasingly stale genre that seemed content simply to recycle and regurgitate the same old formulas. Then along came Ringu, and horror suddenly discovered a new dimension of fear and imagery. It rejuvenated a weary genre and unleashed a new monster upon the world: the unforgettable, broken figure that crawled from the well. Sadako’s influence was almost immediate. The first wave of imitators and variations arrived in the form of The Grudge, another creepy and effective film packed with memorable imagery and deeply unsettling sounds.

Sadako vs Kayako opens in present-day Japan at a university where a lecturer is discussing urban legends, including the infamous cursed videotape. He jokingly mocks the idea, challenging his students to track down the notorious tape and promising to pay a handsome sum should anyone actually find it. Two of his students, who have spent most of the lecture half asleep, decide to visit an old junk shop. There they stumble across a dusty VCR, and when one of the girls picks it up, her hand comes away with strands of black hair. Never a particularly encouraging sign.

Ignoring this rather obvious warning from the horror gods, they take the machine home. Upon plugging it in, they discover a videotape already inside. Naturally, their curiosity is immediately piqued, and their pulse rates begin to climb just a little.

Meanwhile, in the opening scene, a social worker visits an elderly woman in her flat. She knocks and knocks, but receives no answer. Investigating further, she discovers the old lady dead with a wire coiled around her neck. Her shock is compounded when a videotape suddenly flickers onto a nearby screen. She watches it unknowingly, and when it ends, the inevitable telephone rings. Marked by the curse and blissfully unaware of the rules, her fate is effectively sealed.

The owners of the junk shop soon become disturbed when they discover that one of their employees has watched a mysterious videotape. There have already been several bizarre and appalling deaths, and nobody can quite figure out why. Moments later, the unfortunate employee throws herself from the roof of the building and crashes onto the cold stone floor below.

Could it be that the curse has returned? It certainly seems that way.

Back at the flat, the two university students finally decide to watch the tape. During the screening, Yuri receives a phone call that distracts her. Her friend Natsumi watches the video in its entirety. Sure enough, as per the rules of the curse, the phone rings immediately afterwards. The shrill ringing sound remains as chilling as ever. Natsumi quickly realises she now has just forty-eight hours left to live unless she can find a way to break the curse. The race is on.

At the same time, in another part of town, a small family, including teenage daughter Suzuka, moves into a new home. Unfortunately for them, the neighbouring house happens to be infested by the spirits of Kayako and Toshio from the Ju-on films. Kayako remains the ghastly apparition who crawls across floors in her trademark broken, staccato fashion while emitting that dreadful croaking noise. Toshio is still the pale-faced ghost child who pops up everywhere causing death, mayhem, elongated necks, snapped necks, and general unpleasantness.

Seeking help, Yuri and her professor consult an exorcist in the hope of breaking Sadako’s curse. Unfortunately, the exorcist proves no match for such overwhelming malevolence, and the séance ends in spectacular fashion with corpses littering the venue and necks snapping left, right, and centre. As she lies dying, the exorcist directs Yuri towards an unusual duo consisting of a blind young woman with ESP and her eccentric partner, a young man whose abilities are not entirely unlike those possessed by Rajnikant in many of his movies. With the casual swish of a hand, he can perform near-magical feats that prove remarkably useful in combating supernatural nastiness.

As the threat escalates and Suzuka’s parents meet a particularly horrendous fate, it gradually becomes apparent that there may be only one solution. The two great evils must somehow be manipulated into confronting each other. If all goes according to plan, Sadako and Kayako will be pitted against one another in a battle of supernatural supremacy.

Meanwhile, Natsumi attempts to take her own life but is beaten to the punch by an unwelcome visit from the hairy apparition herself. Another hideous hairy situation quickly develops. The videotape is hastily set up inside Kayako’s haunted home, and Yuri must somehow lure both supernatural forces into direct confrontation.

Will they succeed? Or will they fail to vanquish these malevolent forces? Will Sadako prevail, or will Kayako and Toshio prove sterner opposition? All is revealed in a spectacular showdown between two of Japanese horror’s most iconic monsters. If the plan succeeds, the combatants will be dragged into the well forever.

Needless to say, things do not quite go according to plan.

The climax becomes a very hairy situation in more ways than one.

The film revives two enormously successful horror franchises in much the same way that Freddy vs Jason did and delivers exactly the sort of spectacle one would expect. But does it possess the sheer fear factor of the original Ringu or Ju-on series? Probably not. What it does possess, however, is a healthy sense of fun.

The film never takes itself too seriously. Much of the dialogue is delivered with completely straight faces, yet there is a knowing sense of humour bubbling away beneath the surface. The result is a film that balances horror and absurdity rather effectively. Things are handled with considerably more than a pinch of salt, and the lighter touch prevents proceedings from becoming oppressively grim.

Horror has struggled to find a genuinely fresh direction in recent years. The whole torture-porn movement became repetitive, excessive, and occasionally mind-numbing long ago. Against that backdrop, Sadako vs Kayako arrives as a delightfully whimsical little experience. It may not be anywhere near as terrifying as its legendary predecessors, but it is certainly almost as enjoyable.

With Rings waiting just around the corner, audiences should be more than ready to welcome Sadako back from her enforced sabbatical. Good fun from start to finish, even if it is unlikely to leave viewers sleeping with the lights on in quite the same way that Ringu once did.

Money and time well spent.