Sadako vs. Kayako

I'm happy to say ... that the curse of mediocrity has been broken: Sadako vs. Kayako is excellent.

The film never rises above the average. And the finale is just a spooky step too far.

It is all broadly scare-free and utterly ridiculous, but Shiraichi embraces the absurdity with delirious enthusiasm, showing us how the horror stuff on which we have all been raised might combine and blur into a recognisable but new entity.

Unfortunately-like pretty much every other horror crossover-the idea is promising in concept, but underwhelming in execution.

While it may be missing that epic feeling we'd hope for in a cinematic fight like this, it's still an entertaining endeavor that I'd recommend to fans looking for some goofy, supernatural fun.

While Sadako vs. Kayako may leave the gritty, experimental roots of both franchises behind, they conjure up hopes of a new wave of possession.

Not a particularly clever or imaginative film--that much is clear from its pathetic rendering of the Sadako video--and most of the titular battle is deferred to a sequel.

Director Koji Shiraishi barely fulfils the obligations of his film's title, delivering an awkward horror-comedy that's a far cry from its eerie predecessors.

Sadako and Kayako themselves remain as one-dimensional as ever; they're just angry killing machines with no real personality or depth, so the finale is a bit of a fizzle.

Hardly the fun mashup one might've expected (and hoped for)...

...right up until this ended prematurely and irritatingly, I must admit I was with it all the way.

'Sadako vs. Kayako' is all about giddy ghostly entertainment and on a purely crowd-pleasing level, it delivers the goods.