Movie Preview: The Ring Two

Cast
Naomi Watts as Rachel Keller
Simon Baker as Max Rourke
David Dorfman as Aidan Keller
Elizabeth Perkins as Dr. Emma Temple
Gary Cole as Martin Savide
Sissy Spacek as Evelyn
Ryan Merriman as Jake
Emily VanCamp as Emily
Kelly Overton as Betsy
James Lesure as Doctor
Daveigh Chase as Samara (archive footage)
Kelly Stables as Evil Samara
Cooper Thornton as Father of Emily
Marilyn McIntyre as Mother of Emily
Jesse Burch as Male Reporter

Director - Hideo Nakata

It is very rare in the film community that a movie sequel can bring the same intensity of the first film, a fact which is compounded by the knowledge that The Ring was a creepy remake of a 1998 Japanese film called Ringu. This Japanese film was the first of many fabulous Asian films now entering the Hollywood market and remade with contemporary American actors to appeal to Eastern audiences. In a bizarre twist of circumstances, Hideo Nakata, the director of the original Ringu not only created the sequel for Ringu in 1999 called strangely enough Ringu 2 but has returned as the driving force behind this sequel for The Ring.

The second film begins some 6 months later with more twenty somethings dying from the supernatural tapes with a major plot twist where now just making a copy will not get the job done, you must also have a new person watch your copy within the 7 day limit like a chain letter that kills. For those of you planning on watching this film in the theater let me side step for a second and wet your appetite. The theatrical version jumps right in the thick of things with soon to be dead Jake (Ryan Merriman) trying to coerce young co-ed Emily (Emily VanCamp, Everwood) to save his life by watching his copy minutes before his drop dead time on his seventh day. The screening that I attended at SXSW also included a short film titled Rings that gives major insight to this kid and other Ring groupies that have created a wild subculture of those who assist and advance the watching the tape. This short which is said to be on collector’s edition DVD for The Ring on the bonus disk and is a must see prior to watching The Ring 2

Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) and her son Aidan (David Dorfman) have relocated to the quaint mountain town of Astoria, where Rachel has found a new job at the local Astoria Gazette, working alongside reporter David Rourke (Simon Baker). The discovery of a local teenage homicide whilst scanning the electronic Astoria Police archives prompts Rachel to uncover the truth behind it. Before long, Rachel has linked the homicide to the mysterious video tape. Just when Rachel is within reach of uncovering the secret, she discovers that Aidan has been hospitalized - unconcious, perilously cold, and bruised. Rachel suspects this is the act of Samara Morgan, but Dr Emma Temple (Sissy Spacek) suspects otherwise.Having being blamed for child abuse and looking guilty as sin, Rachel returns to Seattle, to dig deeper into the past of the ghostly Samara. Will the secrets she uncovers solve problems, or will they end more lives?