★★☆☆☆
Pitting two of your worst nemeses against one another does sound to be favourable. Without the need to do anything, they may potentially cancel each other out. Genre productions like AVP: Alien vs. Predator and Freddy vs. Jason are extended imaginations of reigniting interest by bringing two different film nemeses together. This is exactly similar in the case of Kōji Shiraishi’s Sadako vs. Kayako – two of the most popular vengeful souls that haunted Japanese horror fans.
The respective antagonists from the Ring and Ju-On series may have terrified many of us. But fusing these two together will require planned integration for a plausible cohesive storyline. A good reference will be the Marvel Universe and how their various superheroes come together to generate tight synergy.
With a relatively heavier focus on the Sadako haunting, Kayako and her son Toshio receive secondary treatment in terms of story development and limelight. The approach adopted to allow these two cross paths is deemed too random and irrational for liking.
Penning weak supernatural warriors in the form of a religious medium and a quirky man-girl team doesn’t help the film as it results in lacklustre spiritual pillars. Along with similarly mediocre acts from female lead/victims Yuri (Mizuki Yamamoto) and Suzuka (Tina Tamashiro), there was almost nothing to hold on to.
Viewers then assess the genre deliverables – the scares and kills. These work relatively well albeit nothing spectacularly frightening. While Sadako is observed to be adopting a similar kill pattern over the past fifteen years or so, Kayako and her son have become much more effective towards claiming their victims – quick and impactful.
This showdown proves that reheating stale food is just futile and tasteless.
Just like how the film briefly mentioned on the relevance of the Sadako curse today where videotapes are almost obsolete, this showdown proves that reheating stale food is just futile and tasteless. Instead of having Sadako vs. Kayako, which evidently triggered more giggles than screams from the audience with its outrageous premise and concept, a redesigned reboot of the horror classics with revised relevancy to modern times might be more apt.
After 99 minutes of riding on a high concept with Sadako vs. Kayako, its devastating ending disappointingly leaves fans and viewers high and dry.
Also published on InCinemas.sg
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