Sadako vs. Kayako

Demons in Japanese culture, may take human form. Or semi-human form if they prefer. One such demon, Kayako, inhabits a house and attacks those who enter it. The demon Sadako curses and appears to those who happen to see her frightening video clip. Two young women, one of whom is cursed by Sadako, figure that the only way to survive is to pit the two demons against each other. A spectral showdown ensues.

While it is a creative concept and it is an intriguing glimpse at Japanese horror culture, there is not much depth here. There are few twists and even less in terms of dialogue. For a foreign horror film, I expected more shocking behavior, yet it seems to be made for a PG-13 crowd. Little bawdiness and less blood spilled. Seen at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.

I enjoyed this a lot, probably even more than my rating. I'm a big fan of Ringu and fond of Ju-on, so watching Sadako and Kayako go at it was great fun for me. Both ghosts are in fine form (Kayako's son Toshio, however, looks like he's taken a few too many blows to the head over the years, which, like much in this film wound up looking more goofy than scary).

Don't get me wrong, this movie is dumb. But it's the kind of dumb I watched with a big grin on my face. I wish the showdown could've gone on a bit longer, but I got what I came for. Two stars begrudgingly removed for choosing silliness over horror, but I got into the spirit of it and I really enjoyed this movie.

What may sound like something from internet prank proves to be a better enjoyment than just random sequel or its ridiculously sounding premise. Both franchises are passed their prime with each latest entry performing abysmally. While it does possesses an array of issues, the good timing on some scenes and better characters make "Sadako vs Kayako" a more compelling horror than their own separate haunting.

The movie works by putting two curses simultaneously. Sadako has slightly more portion as the Cursed Video is highlighted more, especially in the beginning. As one curse progresses the Kayako or Haunted Hause is slowly tossed into the mix. Characters from Cursed Video are far more memorable than perhaps its latest two or three entries combined. Yuri as the lead and the two enigmatic exorcists make for an interesting cast.

Suzuka is a more standalone character as she struggles with the Haunted House primarily by herself, the supporting characters from her side are fleeting at best. However, Suzuka still has a good presence, especially when the curses collide. These personalities have a slight edge compared to typical Japanese horror protagonists, ranging from the signature clothes, hairdo o realistic or optimistic nature, which might not seem extraordinary, but this goes a long way on setting the dynamic.

Sadly, the initial corniness happens in several instances. It can be sudden twist on certain scene or choppy progression, either way this might ruin the mood already set by curse development. There are two or three scenes that are might take audience on really dark places, but these are not original by any means, and other than those, the rest are shaky on the horror.

On the few that actually work, it compresses the classic attraction of the franchises, brief they may be. For a movie originated from a strange concept, "Sadako vs Kayako" has more in store than just internet meme or sensational title, it delivers a better cast and scare than combination of both franchises' latest titles, but it's still marred by hectic and sloppy delivery to be a fully functioning horror.

Not bad at all. Fans of Japanese horror should be satisfied. To say the truth, I didn't expect anything good. The latest movies about Kayako were so-so, and the latest movies about Sadako were even worse. I thought the Japanese had lost their fantasy, the theme had been completely explored. And here is this promise – Sadako vs Kayako. Must be a silly trash. I was pleasantly surprised. The Japanese produced a serious well-built film. Of course, I don't mean that it's like the original "Ringu". From the point of view of the style it's more like "The Grudge" franchise – a horror with frequent scary scenes. Apart from it, as it often happens in Japanese films, there are some interesting original ideas, the main heroines are cute (I mean the girls that get cursed, not the onryos (this type of Japanese ghosts)). The fight between Kayako and Sadako is also good. Only it's too short. Minuses. First of all, there are "minuses" – I mean things that narrow-minded people dislike in Japanese movies. It has one static atmosphere, perhaps slowly or evenly paced. I so understand that some people find it boring, as other Japanese films are often criticised for it. Also some moments can seem strange to a western viewer. So I think that those who don't typically like Japanese horror movies, would not like this one. If to add some objective criticism, there is little new in the film. It doesn't repeat one to one moments from the previous films, and yet the onryos do the same familiar tricks. I wonder if there will be a sequel. The film has an unexpected ending, which may lead to new and interesting beginning.

At first impression, I must say that I was a little bit perplexed about why the world needed a movie that would plot the entity from "Ringu" (aka "The Ring") up against the entity from "Ju-On" (aka "The Grudge"). I am a fan of Asian cinema and love Asian horror, and I have watched the movies from both franchises, but I can't claim that I was ever craving anything even remotely in the likes of these two entities being put up against one another. Unlike the "Freddy vs Jason" movie, for example, which was long waited and had been pitched. But perhaps the Japanese audience have been waiting and longing for a movie that put Sadako up against Kayako.

Regardless, given the chance to sit down and watch "Sadako vs. Kayako", I of course did jump at it. This is a Japanese horror movie after all, so it is right up my alley.

The movie does start out by raising a good point about the curse of Sadako almost coming to an end as the video (VHS) format is obsolete. That was a nice touch of detail from writers Takashi Shimizu and Kôji Suzuki.

"Sadako vs Kayako" has some very interesting sound work, and it really helped to build the atmosphere and mood of the movie. There is a lot of atmospheric sounds put into the movie when Sadako and Kayako are on the screen, and also when something creepy is about to happen or actually happening on the screen. I must admit that I was rather impressed with the sound department and the work they mustered in this movie.

There are some pretty interesting visuals in the movie as well, and director Kôji Shiraishi really managed to use these visuals so well in the movie to establish scares and atmosphere.

As for the acting in the movie, well I can't claim to be familiar with anyone on the cast list, but I will say that the cast ensemble did great jobs with their given roles and characters. And it was nice to see this many new faces in a movie.

There was a good pace to the movie, and the dialogue was good and seemed quite natural. And the character development was also good throughout the course of the movie, because it made the characters stand out from one another and not just be generic and pointless characters. Do take into consideration that the character gallery is rather extensive, and there is a lot of people to keep track of, some more important to the story than others, of course. So keep vigilant and attentive to the story, or you might miss something important.

While the design and layout of the Kayako house was rather interesting, I think it was a shame that it was kept so dark all the time, because a lot of details were being missed and obscured by the darkness. Sure, it sets mood, but would have been nicer to have had a bit more of proper lighting.

Actually a good portion of the movie is filmed in a relatively dark setting. Sure, it adds to the atmosphere, but it becomes annoying after a while, especially because it is so much more nice to actually see everything that is going on clearly in a movie. Especially since you did pay money to watch this.

One thing that puzzle me is why there is no consistency from movie to movie as in what you see on Sadako's cursed VHS tape. It keeps changing from movie to movie. That really makes no sense to me.

As a seasoned horror veteran, I can't claim to find a Japanese woman in a white dress with her long black hair covering her entire face as being particularly scary. Nor can I claim to find a milky white boy with funky hair who sounds like a cat as being scary either. But hey, they are iconic characters of the two Japanese franchises. I guess you have to be Asian in order to find this particularly scary. And also the thing with long black hair showing up out of nowhere in places it shouldn't or couldn't be is not scary either, it is just downright weird.

For an actual showdown between Sadako and Kayako, then you actually have to wait a very, very long time throughout the movie, and that is even before someone just suggests pitching the two evil entities against one another. It is not before the last 15 minutes of the movie that the actual pitching of the two iconic entities take place. And the showdown was not really as satisfying as it should have been, especially since it took almost the entire movie leading up to it.

"Sadako vs. Kayako" is an entertaining enough movie for what it turned out to be. But I can't really claim to find that this was a movie that was particularly necessary for either of the franchises. This wasn't a scary movie, not even by a long shot. It was an interesting enough ride up to the last 15 minutes, which culminated in a less than satisfactory manner.

My rating for "Sadako vs. Kayako" lands on a mediocre 5 out of 10 stars, because this wasn't an outstanding movie in any way, nor was it a particularly necessary movie or a necessary crossover between two franchises.