3 out of 5

It’s not so much surprising that what was initially billed as an April Fool’s prank became an actual film, it’s that that actual film… actual was made like an actual film, with a plot that tries to tie its two j-horror icons together, with actual characters and a story.

That doesn’t necessarily make it a smash success, as writer / director Kōji Shiraishi seems more interested in Sadako – of the cursed video, die in 48 hours Ring saga – than Kayako – of the cursed house, Grudge series – and it has to flit through plenty of hurried pseudo-explanations to justify its eventual clash and outcome.  But still: respect.  Shiraishi generally takes things seriously, not going in for the smirking-with-the-viewer Freddy vs. Jason vibe (entertaining as that film was, the tone wouldn’tve been a good fit for these franchises) and milking some effective, if completely traditional and fan-service-y ‘scares’ out of girls with long hair, girl who crawl on the ground, and boys who meow.

Yuri (Mizuki Yamamoto) and Natsumi (Aimi Satsukawa) procure a VHS player in order to migrate a tape to DVD for Natsumi’s parents, only to discover a dang cursed video in the player already.  Having just gotten out of a class led by a professor interested in urban legends, they discuss the likelihood of cursed tapeness but, y’know, watch it anyway.

Elsewhere, Sishuka (Tina Tamashiro) and her fam move next to a haunted house.  That’s pretty much the only setup we need for Kayako and Toshio, dual ghouls cursing said house.

As both curses get going, a quirky exorcist type named Keizō (Masanobu Andō) essentially pitches the idea of a team-up of plotlines, resulting in a pretty fun ghoul-on-ghoul battle, befitting of the title.

While screentime is somewhat split between Grudge and Ring business, as mentioned, it’s only really the Sadako portion that has plot to churn through (helped by an enjoyable performance from Andō, and a good balance of fear and taking-charge attributes from Yamamoto), but Sishuka gets some amusing asides with chatty girlfriends at school.

For a film that sprang from a yuk, and could’ve easily been 90 minutes of justifying its own existence, Sadako vs. Kayako actually stands on its own as a competent popcorn horror flick, with the added boost of being able to lean in to the recognizability of its lead creepers.