Japanese helmer Takashi Shimizu went Stateside for The Grudge 2, another offshoot of his "chilling" Ju-On franchise. Most critics poured scorn on the convoluted plot that sees Amber Tamblyn spooked by ghosts with bad hair and panda eyes. And the absence of shower scenes involving Sarah Michelle Gellar probably explains why it floundered at the box office. Still, Shimizu generates more scares than you'd find in the average Hollywood horror flick.

Grudge Match

In a featurette on story development, Shimizu explains that he only signed up for this project because it wasn't just a rehash of Ju-On 2. Even so, he's frank in saying that it was a painful process. "I had to argue all the time with the American producers," he says, "to fight for all the qualities I needed." It looks like a case of too many producers spoiling the broth, with at least half of them chipping in here to explain that disagreements stemmed from a culture clash. East Meets West probes deeper into the matter, analysing two different styles of cinema. On the one hand, the Hollywood producers demanded clarity in the storytelling garnished with a "J-horror sensibility" whereas Shimizu was adamant that he couldn't achieve the 'J-horror' feel without ambiguity in the story. Screenwriter Stephen Susco is notable by his absence from this debate.

For all the scrapping before production, Shimizu appears easygoing on the set in Ready When You Are, Mr Shimizu. According to the actors it's his sense of humour that keeps everyone in line. Tamblyn says, "He's like a seven-year-old child who like to play pranks on people." Pranks included pretending to fire actress Teresa Palmer (who plays Vanessa). And according to Arielle Kebbel (Allison) he does a pretty mean Charlie Chaplin impression too.

Now You See Me...

Holding A Grudge is the last of the featurettes and this time throws the spotlight on Takako Fuji and Ohga Tanaka. They're the beady-eyed actors whose faces are now burned into popular consciousness. But as behind-the-scenes footage demonstrates, it's not that easy looking ghostly. Painting their faces white is easy, but Shimizu has to show Takako how to walk with shoulders hunched and stiffened knees to appear as creepy as possible. It's perhaps a deliberate ploy on his part that we don't get to see her without the makeup relaxing between takes.

Five deleted scenes feature more doors creaking, girls screeching and other weird groaning noises. The less said about a 'wobbly-screen' dream sequence the better, and there's an alternative ending and epilogue that opens the door for The Grudge 3. That's right, folks; the third instalment is out there and it's coming to get you soon (well, some time in 2008 anyway). Be afraid. (We are.)

EXTRA FEATURES

The Grudge 2 DVD is released on Monday 30th April 2007.