The horror genre seems to have strayed from the psychological, cerebral type of fear and given in to the more easily attained sensory experience of just shocking the audience with disturbing imagery. In the case of "The Ring 2," what was once a rather innovative plotline has caved to the whims of a director and cast bent toward insubstantial scares.
The movie begins almost exactly as the first "Ring" does, with a few hapless teenagers getting tangled with the ridiculously frightening ghoul-like character, Samara, that is apparently back to wreak havoc. "The Ring 2" lacks the subtle creepiness the first movie had, as original director Gore Verbinski teased out the terror throughout the entire movie, saving most of the shock for the end. This time, new director Hideo Nakata knows that audiences will be watching through their fingers whenever Samara makes a screen appearance, so there was no hinting around the fact she was coming and eager to freak audiences out.
After the obvious-bait teenage boy bites the dust, Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts, appearing like she regrets signing on to make this before she became famous) somehow immediately knows that the ghostly Samara is back to mess with her. In "The Ring 2" there is no intricate plot development that made the first "Ring" so engaging. Assuming that audiences already know the backstory (little girl is killed by her crazy adoptive mother, who later commits suicide, and now haunts a videotape that kills watchers in a week), the movie is composed entirely of scenes of Rachel and her son, Aidan (David Dorfman, perhaps the weirdest-looking kid in the world), being chased or bothered by Samara.
Despite fleeing Seattle for the sleepy coastal town of Astoria, Ore., Samara seems to have found the Kellers as they hide out in their beach bungalow. The Oregon backdrop provides the same damp, dreary setting as the first.
The plot twist in this "Ring" is that now that Samara is back, she just wants a mother! Rachel goes off to find out about Samara's background, specifically her biological mother (played by Sissy Spacek, basically reprising her role in "Carrie"). Rather than weaving a complex web of a story to follow, Rachel's attempts to learn more are discombobulated and confusing. All of Rachel's discoveries go on as Aidan, possessed by Samara, conveniently rests in a hospital bed after Rachel is accused of being an unfit mother. The whole storyline around mother-child relationships is created simply so that once Rachel puts Samara at bay, she can deliver the corny, "I am not your fucking mommy!" one-liner at the end. Seriously.
Not without moments of hide-under-your-jacket-caliber creepiness, "The Ring 2" still falls flat when compared with its predecessor. It's a tedious, paint-by-numbers follow-up to 2002's semi-memorable horror flick, which somehow still gives grown college students nightmares. The sequel rides entirely on the self-aware shock value of one seriously spooky character. Moviegoers are advised to bring the appropriate face-hiding attire, but don't expect the same kind of inventive freshness of the first film.
