Ring 2 (1999) User Reviews

Not bad...

[Gafke · 6/10 · 13 August 2004]

This sequel picks up right where Ringu left off. Mai Takano, the pretty young woman who found Ryuji dead in the first film, is the star of this one as she searches for the missing Reiko and Yoichi. Young Yoichi is in danger and is kept in hiding by his frightened mother as he begins to exhibit the same deadly powers that Sadako possessed. The same is also true of a teenage girl who was present at the death of Reiko's niece, Tomoko. Doctors attempt to find a way to diffuse the terrible energy which infects the survivors of Sadako's wrath. But Sadako herself is not done wreaking her vengeance yet. More terrible truths emerge about Sadako's unholy conception and her demonic capabilities, and both Mai and Yoichi are in terrible danger. However, Sadako's repentant grandfather and the ghost of the powerfully psychic Ryuji stand between Sadako and her goal - to possess Yoichi and begin the cycle all over again.

There are some great moments present here in Ringu 2, but sadly, nothing comes close to the shock of Sadako's emergence from a television in the first film. All of the original characters are back, as well as a few new ones. Great moments include a scene with the freaky ghost of Shizuko - Sadako's mother, a roomful of people reacting with insane horror to the brief presence of Sadako on a TV screen, and another claustrophobic ending in a dark, creepy well. This isn't quite the spooky good ghost story that the original was, but it's not bad, all things considered. I've seen worse sequels.

Okay sequel but it could have been much better

[atinder · 5/10 · 9 February 2010]

In this sequel to Ringu (1998), Mai Takano is trying to learn more about the death of her boyfriend, Ryuji. She soon hears stories about a videotape haunted by the spirit of a girl named Sadako, who died many years earlier. Supposedly, anyone watching the tape will die of fright exactly one week later. After some investigating, she learns that Ryuji's son, Youichi, is developing the same psychic powers that Sadako had when she was alive. Mai must now find some way to keep Yuuichi and herself from becoming Sadako's next victims Ringu was the first horror movie I brought on video,, I sat really close to TV and Ringu the scared the hell out me, so bad then i had to look for sequel.

It was not that good as Ringu at all, it didn't have the same feel to It.

There were some good creepy moments here and there however that was is about it, those scenes were not scary.

This movie did have some really dull moment, which did bore me.

The acting was not great but still good from most of the cast.

Okay sequel but could of been much better., I going this movie a 5 out of 10.

What happened?

[Bungle-9 · 6/10 · 8 March 2005]

I watched Ringu only a few days ago and pretty much got it. With this the result was different. Mai has such a small role in the original that I almost had no idea who she was. Also, I found that this film expected you to understand stuff without even mentioning it at all, such as the fact that Sadako had manifested herself in Yoichi - it was assumed that we got it. I did get it, of course, but a hint of explanation would have been nice.

As with my previous review of the original, I can honestly say that I didn't find this instalment particularly scary. More like an over-complicated episode of The X Files. That's another trait of Japanese cinema that gets me sometimes - a film would seem OK to start, fairly straightforward, easy to get, but towards the end of the movie it gets unnecessarily complicated. Luckily there wasn't too much of that here, but there was still a bit of it. If I were to continue that rant a little,I would voice my annoyance at the barrage of unfinished important sentences that characters tend to speak. OK, so maybe we should be able to finish them ourselves, but sometimes it's just too obscure. For example, sentences along the lines of "That mean's he's...", or "Could he be...". No conclusion to the sentence. Nothing. Grrr! Anyway, rant over, overall I thought this was watchable, though not as good or coherent as the original. Despite the ranting, I still love Japanese cinema (what little experience I have of it).

I'm away to watch Ringu 0. Let's see how well it does.

Doesn't quite emulate `Ring's smartness but, as horror sequels go, stands strong

[Aidan McGuinness · 30 June 2002]

This movie takes place a week after the events of `Ring', making the first movie pretty which a pre-requisite for viewing (director Nakata fortunately doesn't feel the need to waste too much time on annoying exposition). We now look at those who were in contact with characters from the first movie and how they're getting on. This calls for the reprisal of most of the cast, including the lead Reiko. This time Reiko fears that her son, whom she saved in the previous flick, may be under the influence of the evil of Sadako. Guess what? She's out to stop her!

There's less tension evident in `Ring 2' than the previous, less a sense of worry and desperation. Part of this is due to the shifting of character's prominence. Another element is because this movie takes a somewhat more analytical approach to the events of the first – the police are involved, scientists are trying to understand the phenomena. While this makes sense from a realism angle, it does somewhat detract from the underlying menace of Sadoka.

Structurally the movie takes the same idea as the previous – a slow build up to a climatic event, interspersed with some moments of terror. Some of this terror now comes from a child – playing on innocence – and the child in question, Yoichi, is quite capable of being frightening in a blank-faced way. However he's just not as capable as having the greater, unknown, terror the previous movie produced – like any sequel in the genre there's the feeling of the killer slashing their way through each flick.

Nakata is fairly competent with what he has. The lighting is often muted, the camera work focused (without being intense), his actors giving grand performances… but somehow the second time it doesn't work out quite as well. This, coupled with a disappointing ending, left me somewhat disappointed. There's some good moments in it – particularly with the television images – but overall it fails to quite grab you. Still a far more intelligent fare than the gore-drenched horror that most adhere to in this genre, and you could do a lot lot worse. 6/10.

More of the same, with familiarity countered by greater depth

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 2 November 2016]

Apparently, director Hideo Nakata was drafted in to shoot this sequel to 1998's RING when that film's original sequel, RASEN – shot back to back with the first – flopped with Japanese audiences. RING 2 is more of a straightforward successor to RING, logically following on from events portrayed in the first film and feeling exactly the same in terms of tone, lighting, and look. Heck, even most of the actors and actresses are back from the first film, so watching these two back-to-back would be akin to sitting through a three-hour film.

For starters, RING 2 isn't as good as the first film. It lacks the surprise and the originality of that movie, and all of the shocks here are familiar to anyone who's seen the original film – and anyone who hasn't will be scratching their heads and wondering what the heck is going on here. The film is very talky and very slow, as with the original film in the series, and once again the overlaid English subtitles are extremely hard to make out, so some of the dialogue is missed. However, there's always plenty going on so there's never time to get bored, despite the slow pacing, and the return of many cast members from the first film is a real treat – especially Hiroyuki Sanada, who doesn't let his character's death in RING stop him from coming back here! The plot twists and turns in many directions and opens up new areas of the mythology, incorporating psychic powers and the mysterious channelling of psychic energy into water. I admit that I was engaged with the story and never found it lacking for a second.

Thankfully, the horror in this film is just as creepy as ever. Nakata keeps a slow-burning tension that builds up until the first real shocks that occur about an hour into the production. My favourite scene of all is the bit where the reporter examines the videotape and discovers that something weird is happening to the head of the girl on film – things get more surreal as she becomes a creation of ghostly evil, and there's a fantastic use of a 'jumpy' special effect like the ones used in JACOB'S LADDER and THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL remake. Many creepy scenes from the first flick are repeated, like the grainy television set images and the excellent bit involving the woman combing her hair in a mirror. Things culminate in a nightmarish ending which returns things to the well – and what happens is as disturbing as ever. RING 2 doesn't top the experience of watching the first, and best, film in the series, but it proves to be a worthy sequel with plenty of scary bits to enjoy.

A standout

[lost-in-limbo · 7/10 · 8 August 2004]

After watching the very good original on TV a couple months ago and seeing that sequel was on TV last weekend I thought it might be like most sequels and wouldn't live up to the original, but I was wrong.

Hideo Nakata's sequel Ringu 2 is a stylish film with an excellent blend of thrills and chills, without rehashing any ideas that were in the first film. It's filled with superb imagery, good special effects, effective make-up and lots of atmosphere that is impressively imposing.

It lacks the pace of the original (in the case of the 7 days before you die) but for me I found the story more intriguing, gripping and unpredictable. This time around the haunting idea of the cursed videotape/Sakado is investigated in far more detail and it heads into different territory. I thought it was much more darker, especially the ending. With the feel of hope at the end of the first one fading away in the second film.

It's definitely one of the best recent horror sequels I've seen, but then again it doesn't feel like a sequel as it seems to fit in like it was the second half of the original's story.

I enjoyed this movie more than that of the original, but definitely hire them both out and watch them together.

4/5

They should have stopped after the first film...

[Aaron1375 · 3/10 · 18 October 2012]

I enjoyed the first ring film from Japan, it was eerie and sufficiently creepy. Then I watched Rasen, and it had a cool moment here and there, but was a strange and disappointing sequel. Now I have watched this one and it is bland and boring...sadly the American sequel was better and I usually prefer the Japanese version of films. I now know that Rasen is the official sequel and actually related to the book while this one was made because that film was received so poorly, so everything you saw in Rasen forget about it. Though strangely this film answers the question of why we went from little girl to adult creepy woman. In the end, though, I think I would have preferred never to have seen either sequel as both really just ruin what was established in the first film.

The story is somewhat similar to Rasen as we are once again following Mai. People are still trying to do stories about the video tape and the mother and son from the original are on the run. Seriously, there really is not a whole lot of story here. Just people making discoveries and me being bored to tears. Not even a cool autopsy scene to at least satisfy the part of me that likes gore. For the most part it is little boy has key and lots of water.

The American version was not a favorite of mine either, but it played out better than this one. This one just seemed to have no focus, we go form this person and that person. We keep having to look at stuff and flashbacks it just feels messy. There are only a couple of things in this one that carried over to the American version and that is the fact the boy is the focal point, water is pivotal and the strange chase scene up the well.

So no, I did not like this film much at all. Rasen and this film keep trying to explain everything in scientific terms rather than it just being an evil spirit. I also have Ringu 0, but after watching these other two sequels I am not sure how up to the task I will be at watching a prequel.

Don't read anything about the second "Ring", my comments or anyone else's, unless you've seen the first.

[Spleen · 6/10 · 16 March 2002]

Never judge a horror movie until the sun has risen afterwards. I saw "Ring" and "Ring 2" in one night, and I was impressed (not to mention suitably chilled) by both, even if the second WAS a bit of an incoherent mess. A night's sleep and a morning stroll to the shops afterwards, the full truth was obvious: the original "Ring" is a modern classic, perhaps even a masterpiece, terrifying and coherent and beautifully formed; the second is an unexciting rip-off of no particular merit. Whatever virtues it has it borrows from the first. It's not so much that it makes no sense unless you've seen "Ring" first - it makes no sense anyway - rather, the scary things are only scary the second time round because they were scary the first; remove the experience of watching the original "Ring" and there's nothing left.

Part of the problem which Hideo Nakata faced was that this kind of stuff works best, and often only works at all, when the audience is placed in exactly the same position as the protagonists. We start "Ring" in ignorance. Presently we learn that somewhere out there is a fatal videotape; from the moment you finish watching it, you have a week left to live. The heroine watches the tape. (As she watches it, we watch it, too.) She now has a week to live, and, without a single day being spared, we live through that week as she struggles to avoid her fate, or at the very least to understand more of it, by finding out all she can about the origin of the tape. As she learns, we learn. Only at the very end, after she has mysteriously survived and her husband has mysteriously died, is she given the final piece of information (those who haven't seen "Ring" shouldn't be reading this in the first place): that someone who has seen the tape CAN cheat death, but only by making a copy of the tape and persuading someone else to watch it. No better ending could have been devised. Dramatically and emotionally apt, it also explains a few things: why anyone could be so cruel as to make her son to watch the tape, and why the quality of the tape is so horribly degraded (it's not JUST because it's creepier that way, or because people watching the tape feel compelled to huddle up close to the televsion screen in order to see it clearly).

BUT... now that we know that people who have seen the tape have an easy escape clause, we won't be able to feel their fear so keenly ever again. This doesn't mean that the first "Ring" won't have the same effect on us if we watch it a second time; I suspect it will, since it's always possible to return to the initial position of ignorance. But we can't adopt that position at the start of the SECOND movie. How, then, is Nakata going to scare us?

Partly by direct borrowing: We remember how terrifying the videotape footage is, so we jump when it makes a reappearance; we know how terrifying Sadako is, with her hair completely covering her face and her ungainly, bestial, unstoppable gait - in fact, she's terrifying IN HERSELF, in whatever context she appears, although not one of her scenes here can begin to compare with the one in the original "Ring" in which she crawls out of the television set - so we jump whenever we see HER. Partly Nakata simply keeps the original film's atmosphere intact, so that we know it takes place in the same world, which is frightening enough. But his main way of keeping things going is to throw in whatever he can think of. In addition to the minimal paraphernalia of the first film, we have a SECOND video ghost, a possibly possessed child, telekinesis, spirit photography, hallucinations, dimension doors ... in short, randomly chosen, tried-and-true horror hand-me-downs which reek of desperation. One gets the impression that Nakata would have thrown in vampires, too, if he'd thought that they'd help.

The sad thing is that despite its weakness and triviality the film still runs rings (so to speak) around its contemporary Western counterparts, the worn-to-death cliché of the thirty-seventh "Nightmare on Elm Street" and the pathetically inept attempted innovation of "The Blair Witch Project".

Skip this!

[gila_film · 4/10 · 9 April 2003]

Yes, skip this and check "Ring O: Birthday" instead, because that film have the same quality as "Ringu".This film is nothing but a confusing package. There's no scare or twisted plot. Just a complicated and dull story line. No need to watch though, but if you want to complete the series you may go for it!

4/10

Not Bad

[iwatcheverything · 6/10 · 12 November 2003]

This film was a pretty good watch. I had a little trouble reading the subtitles in the copy I had. You would think that they would not use white subtitles when almost everyone in the film wears white. Anyway the film has some pretty chilling moments but not as many as the first one. For a horror film this has got to be one of the best sequals I have seen. They do not lose the thought throughout the story and keep with the original plot line. I would like to own this movie and also am kind of anticipating the Americanized version releasing next year.

How do you say "boring" in Japanese ?

[Coventry · 2/10 · 14 January 2004]

Hmmm...I really seem to be missing on something here. Practically all my fellow IMDb-users are full of praise for this sequel to Ringu, but I don't second these opinion. It really thought it was a dreadful movie and a very unpleasant cinema experience. How much I'd like to support the Japanese horror-business and encourage people to discover it, I just don't think this is a good representation for it. Personally, I think there's ONE big disease in the film industry: the "easy-money" concept! Small and simple films become a huge and unexpected success and that encourages the producers to shoot a sequel as soon as possible, in order to make even more money. This disease seems to have contaminated Japan as well now, since I really think Ringu 2 suffers from it.

Absolutely NOTHING happens in the first 30 minutes of this film!! Than we're served a full quarter of suspense, exciting cinema and good character development. After that, it's downhill again till the end-credits role. A real shame actually, because those short 15 minutes of highlights really proved that there still was a lot of potential to continue the original story of Ringu. The plot involves the mind and will of the little boy from Ringu - Yoichi - taken over by the evil little girl Sadako. To itself, not a bad starting point but poorly executed. You're most likely to read a lot of comments that state Ringu2 is scary and full of suspense. Well, I think some people confuse suspense with complexity. Ringu 2 is nowhere near scary and I think slow and everlasting are more appropriate words. If you're interested in seeing a really scary Japanese movie, I suggest you check out "Audition" by Takashi Miike or even "Dark Water" by the same director who directed this film. Ringu 2 can easily be skipped

Above average, but must be viewed as part of the Ringu series

[BrandtSponseller · 8/10 · 19 March 2005]

Taking place immediately after the events of Ringu (1998), Ringu 2 features Mai Takano (Miki Nakatani) continuing the investigation into the events of Ringu. At the beginning of the film, Reiko (Nanako Matsushima) and Yoichi Asakawa (Katsumi Muramatsu) are still in "hiding"/"on the run" after their ordeals in Ringu. Both the police and Mai are hoping to find them. Meanwhile, Masami Kurahashi (Hitomi Sato), one of the two girls from the beginning of Ringu, is now in a mental hospital, the police have the remains of Sadako Yamamura's (Rie Inou) body, they're trying to recreate her living appearance through forensic modeling, and they've located a man who is supposedly Sadako's father, Takashi (Yoichi Numata).

Series note: As should be apparent from the above description, it's imperative that you watch Ringu before seeing Ringu 2. You may also wish to watch Ringu 0: Basudei (2000) before Ringu, and for fun, the original "Ring 2", Rasen/Spiral (1998) before or after this "replacement sequel" (this one was produced when audiences were dissatisfied with the very differently toned Rasen/Spiral).

Unlike Rasen/Spiral, Ringu 2 is so close in tone to Ringu that it seems more like a "second half" than a sequel. Also unlike Rasen/Spiral, I think that Ringu 2 is much more uneven. There are long swaths where the film is extremely bland. But there are also moments of brilliance, plus there is added value from the momentum of Ringu. They all average out in the end so that Ringu 2 earns an 8, or a "B", just as Rasen/Spiral did.

Many fans were dissatisfied with Rasen/Spiral heading off into sci-fi territory, on the way providing something of a scientific explanation for what turned out to be a "Ring virus". They thought it ruined some of the mystery from the first film. It's curious in that light that many of those same fans like Ringu 2 much better. There is also an attempt here at explaining the curse, and it also ends up in sci-fi land. There's even a seen that amusingly resembles sci-fi elements from John Boorman's underrated Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977). For much of the film, the Ring curse is more or less abandoned while the focus becomes Yoichi as a surrogate villain, perhaps as "possessed" as Regan was, just by a slightly different force.

Admittedly, though, the explanation for the curse in Ringu 2 is much different than it was in Rasen/Spiral, and despite the sci-fi, the strong mystery genre "investigation" elements that many loved so much in Ringu are woven throughout the plot. The sci-fi here is more psychological than Rasen/Spiral's medical sci-fi. There is a lot of talk of intentionality and theories of intentionality being physically manifested. The film's ontology has it so that "mental energy", emotions and thoughts can be suppressed and subsequently "concentrated" to such an extent that when released externally, they can be dangerous to others. Sadako, the chairperson of the Ringu villains, is the principal, most focused example of this, primarily because she's had 30 years in a veritable isolation chamber to effectively bury her thoughts. Is this an attempt to provide a subtext about the suppression of one's "real feelings and desires" in Japanese society? Maybe, but it doesn't work very well as such because the points are so shakily, ambiguously and infrequently realized in the film.

So we have to evaluate Ringu 2 more on its surface level. A lot of the film is a fairly pedestrian drama. Early ostensibly horrific events--such as the perusal of Reiko's apartment, deaths of supporting characters, possible "ghost" appearances, and the supernatural events surrounding Masami in the mental hospital--too often come across as a bit flat, almost banal. Ringu 2 is nothing if not a slow cooker. It improves, but very gradually.

By the time we get to one particular, very significant death, the film is cooking with full gas, but that's nearly an hour into a 90-minute film. Before that point, Ringu 2 is much closer to a 7, or a "C", if not slightly lower. I won't mention who dies in this pivotal scene, but it is beautifully realized. We never really see the body, but instead Nakata shows us bright red blood slowing flowing across pavement, trickling down cracks, filling up depressions.

From here to the end, Ringu 2 is much more even, often a 9 or above. The bulk of the "atmospheric" or "creepy" material arrives in this last half hour to forty minutes, such as the videotape of another young girl suddenly changing, her head bizarrely, violently shaking similarly to an effect first made popular in Jacob's Ladder (1990). Another standout moment is at the Yamamura family "hotel", when both Sadako and her mother eerily appear.

By the time the climax rolls around, the film is quite exciting, and Nakata forgoes dramatic sci-fi for more focused, horrific surrealism. Like Ringu, there is a climactic scene in a well, this one much more enigmatic, possibly meant to be a symbolic journey to the core of the pent-up emotions associated with Sadako (opposed to a more "journey to hell"-styled symbolism of Ringu), with the emergence from a light-filled "ring" representing the physical manifestation and release of the emotions through a person's eye (eyes are important ring-like metaphors/symbols throughout the film). In the finale, Nakata also more literally combines the ring symbolism with the series' ubiquitous water symbolism--water more than likely being used to represent a kind of unifying "spiritual" ("kamic" might be a better word) ether that permeates the world. Of course, he still leaves an opening for another sequel as well.

Unlike many films, Ringu 2 is impossible to evaluate "properly" in isolation. It must be contextualized with Ringu. It may be far from an excellent film on its own, but it's certainly above average when viewed in conjunction with the series.

Wonderful atmosphere and expert direction can't quite save "Ringu 2" from a wonky, oddball script. Not bad on its own, but it can't hold a candle to the original...

[TedStixonAKAMaximumMadness · 7/10 · 12 September 2014]

Ah, the "Ringu" series. (Also known as the "Ring" series.) Very loosely based on the wonderful horror/Sci-fi novels of Koji Suzuki, the franchise became a phenomena in the late 90's and early 2000's. In part because of the strength of the original film, and because it's one of the few films to get the Western remake treatment and actually come out all the stronger for it. As the remake not only was a good, quality film, but increased worldwide awareness for its source material, paving the way for more audiences to discover the terrifying and exquisitely well-made original film.

What many people don't realize, though, is that this sequel ("Ringu 2") isn't the first attempt at a follow-up to the original film. No, it's actually technically the second sequel. An original follow-up, "Rasen" was released alongside the first "Ringu" in Japan, to a lukewarm, underwhelming reception. While it stayed somewhat truer to the original Suzuki novels, "Rasen" did clash with the first film stylistically and tonally, giving the series a bigger lean on science fiction. (And the novels definitely are science fiction, though the first film made some alterations to accommodate a more classical ghost- story.) And it didn't sit well with people.

So "Rasen" was quietly eschewed from the continuity of the movie- series and became a relatively "forgotten" film, while this follow-up was made and basically marketed as the "true sequel."

And to be honest... I have to say that in the grand scheme of things, while definitely more in line with the first film from a tonal and stylistic standpoint, I think that this film isn't necessarily any better than "Rasen." Both are quality-made movies with good performances and great direction. (And heck, both even share a common lead character.) But both also have some issues with their wonky scripts. Both try to introduce new concepts that sort of clash with the first entry in the series, and both have their share of moments that will leave audiences scratching their heads and letting out an audible... "Huh?! What?"

"Ringu 2" follows Mai Takano (Miki Nakatani), the young assistant of Ryuji Takayama, as she attempts to solve the mystery of his death. She eventually encounters survivors Reiko Asakawa (Nanako Matsushima), Ryuji's former wife, and their son Yoichi (Rikiya Otaka). Yoichi, it seems, has inherited some sort of twisted psychic abilities following the events of the first film. Strange abilities that make him dangerous... even potentially lethal. And it is up to Takano to try and solve the mystery of what is happening, and to help save the life of Yoichi from the tormented spirit of the vengeful Sadako Yamamura.

I feel that for the most part, the performances are quite good. As they are in most of the films of this franchise. Nakatani is absolutely charming as our new lead, with her role greatly expanded from the first film. (And ironically enough, she was also the star of the "forgotten" sequel "Rasen." She obviously made quite the impression to be hired back to reprise her role again, and it shows!) Matsushima is wonderful here, much as she was in the first film, albeit with a smaller role this time around. Still, she is able to leave an impression and build off of the audiences love for her character from the first time film. And for a child actor, Otaka is quite talented... even if it's hard to take him as a credible threat thanks to his character's newfound psychic powers. (In scenes where he's meant to be threatening, I wanted to reach in through the TV and pinch his cheeks, because he was just a bit too cute to be frightening.)

Direction courtesy of Hideo Nakata (who directed the first film) is top-notch. I went to some effort to explain his expert work in my review for the first film, but it bears repeating- Nakata is an absolute master of good, creepy, subtle horror. Even though his films are fairly hit-and-miss, the man knows how to tell a good story and deliver absolute frights. And from a directorial standpoint, he doesn't disappoint here.

Unfortunately, what does disappoint is the script by Hiroshi Takahashi. And it's a shame, because there are some wonderful ideas. And the opening sequence- an eerie little diddy in which we discover that Sadako supposedly was alive inside of her well-prison for thirty years before she died- does set a great tone of dread, horror and intrigue. But the film doesn't maintain itself. I honestly thought that opening sequence was arguably the most frightening scene between the first two films, because the implications are just so dastardly and frightening to comprehend, and I feel this movie peaks afterwords. Now, I'm not saying the script is terrible. Characters are well-developed and the pacing is good. But there aren't any other truly eerie moments, save for one or two good scares near the end.

I also felt that Takahashi's script went to some interesting but unfullfilling places with the story. Much like "Rasen", there is a slight Sci-Fi leaning here (albeit nowhere near as much of a leaning), and it just doesn't quite work. I also felt that the plot line involving Yoichi's psychic abilities wasn't developed quite enough, and the stakes weren't quite as high as they could have been.

But despite those pretty big issues with the script, I do find myself enjoying this film quite a bit. It doesn't quite "work" as a horror film, and things don't gel properly, but it's undeniably well-made and well-acted, and the moments that do work, work exceedingly well.

I'm giving this a pretty-good 7 out of 10. If you're a fan of the original film, then most definitely this is one to check out. You might end up loving it. But for those unfamiliar with the franchise, or those who were not thrilled with the original film, this is one you can probably skip.

Extremely Disappointing Sequel

[dfa120374 · 2/10 · 18 January 2015]

Following up from the events that surrounded the death of Ryûji and the disappearance of his ex-wife, Reiko, Ryûji's girlfriend, Mai, is trying to conduct her own investigation into what happened. Teaming up with local reporter, Okazaki, who has been looking into it all also, she discovers that the spirit of a woman named Sadako has supposedly been behind the spate of killings using a video tape as an outlet for her murders in that anyone who watches the tape, will die one week later. As time passes, however, Mai realises that Reiko's young son, Yôichi, has been developing very similar powers to that of Sadako. Mai must now find away to stop Sadako so that she and Yôichi don't become Sadako's next victims.

Having enjoyed Ringu I was looking forward to watching this sequel, but unfortunately I was bitterly dismayed with the outcome. To get straight to the point, Ringu 2 is exceedingly slow and very dull. All the elements were already there for a really good, scary follow-up, but it's like they weren't taken advantage of.

Apart from the end scene with Sadako, there is no real creepy moments....in fact, the moments that are supposed to be creepy are, well, not, and they definitely don't deliver the same kind of uneasiness that Ringu delivered.

The film starts off decent enough, building on what Ringu had ended on, but it gets to a certain point where it just stalls completely only for it to eventually drag on to the end. For me, usually the original Asian versions of these films are better (or equally as enjoyable as the American versions) but that is definitely not the case here. The American version of this movie was FAR better and FAR scarier, and for anyone to think the opposite must have been watching a completely different film to what I saw.

Ringu 2 is a very disappointing sequel that had so much promise but failed to deliver....big time.

I perfect sequel to the original blow away movie

[dexshirts · 24 July 2003]

Ringu 2 for me has to be one of the best sequels made. It has all the feel of Ring and also refers to back to the original movie. The scene at the hospital with the kid from the original who is too frightened to see a TV was a brilliant piece of look back setting.

It is definately a movie that makes one think that Ringu & Ringu 2 were one whole movie split into two separate ones. There is no indication of a budget increase, or special effects to impress existing fans, and definately holds the Ringu style strong.

With clever use of the original cast and elimination of them when needed and the introduction of newer characters makes this film seem as though you have already seen it but are reminded, that you have not.

Yes it is scary, yes it delves more into the mind of Sadako and Yoichi in brilliant technique and yes it will continue your nightmares. I think that something very clever has gone on with the directors in how they want to leave the audience thinking. The original movie left the audience thinking about something coming out of their TV. Then, in the second, tries to create a fear of TV all together and combined with what we see in the original and now in the sequel, does a bloody good job.

I am personally fearful of an "off" TV in a dark room alone. I know nothing is gonna happen, or that Sadako is not real. However, because of the shear impact that this movie has had on me my imagination can create a fear so bad that I must sleep with the TV on.

A jittery-bodied Poltergeist comes back to finish a job once and for all.

[noizyme · 6/10 · 19 April 2005]

Well, I just saw Ring 2 and had to comment on this somewhat confusing film. If you're like I am, you would've forgotten to rent the original film (if you don't already own it), and, therefore, you might be confused as to what's going on with the beginning of the film. I know I haven't seen the other one since it opened, and there were confusing parts abound (like the importance of the lady's kid in the first movie).

It seems that the ghost of Samara is back to haunt the main character, Rachel, even after she finds the copy of "the film" made in the first Ring (the same one that marks people's impending doom after they watch it). This time, the ghost targets Rachel's youngster that she watches after (I forgot if she had the child or was stuck watching him, but from the way the kid acts, she might not have delivered the child). This turns the Ring story into more of a "Sixth Sense" story mixed with moods borrowed from "The Omen" and "Poltergeist." I got turned off from this similarity between the films, but there were modern movie-making oddities thrown in, like a herd of angry deer that attack Rachel's VW just after she avoids hitting one of them...basically, the writer loves terror in numbers this time around.

So I liked the haunting of the deer and the weird effects displayed inside their house as Samara has her way with Rachel's thoughts by attacking her child and their home. The story is a little stretched and unneeded, but the public probably wanted this film more than the writers, I would assume. I hope this ends the Ring fascination before it goes any farther because horror movies always fall into this trap that the Ring might go into later on (did we really need another Chucky film?). The look of how this film ends, there's no apparent continuation point, but you never know, because I guess that that there aren't enough Japanese horror movies about long, black-haired creepy-looking girls to continue on this run.

I gave it a 6/10 because of it's interest factor in where they were going with this film, but it lost a little bit by taking a bit from other films and giving it a creepy kid factor. Go check it out when you've seen the other spring-movies out now, but I wouldn't see it again.

Unneccessary but decent nevertheless

[Red-Barracuda · 7/10 · 30 November 2021]

Ring didn't really need a sequel but since it was a massively popular horror movie, it got one anyway (and several others after this). This one picks up immediately after the conclusion of events in the first movie and has characters investigating further the mysteries of Sadako. Aside from being unnecessary, I guess one of the main issues is that the more you explain about Sadako, the less scary she becomes - the unknown element works in the first movie's favour, allowing us to fill in the gaps. Nevertheless, this is still quite decent, with some very effective sequences; chief amongst them being a scene where the protagonist has a dream that replays events from the weird videotape showing Sadako and her mother by the moving mirror. It's a super creepy sequence and along with several other nicely sinister moments, ensures that Ring 2 is worth watching.

I missed The First Five Minutes ....

[Theo Robertson · 4/10 · 2 November 2003]

.... So I don`t know if this is a factor of not being able to make head nor tail of this sequel . To my mind it plays out entirely different from what I was expecting , where the original movie ended led me to believe this sequel would involve the most dangerous pyramid scheme in human history - and unless you`ve seen RINGU that last sentence will make no sense - but here we have something that threatens to come close to the Brian DePalma films CARRIE and THE FURY and I bet that Gore Verbinski and Ehren Kruger will milk that aspect for all it`s worth in the Hollywood remake.

It`s good in places with a scene involving aura photography being very chilling especially with creepy music being played over the soundtrack and the ending does answer the question I had about the ending of the Hollywood version of THE RING , but this is still an inferior reworking of the original that left me confused with scenes like the bit in the swimming pool , just what was all that about ?

Some people on this page are pleading not to see a RINGU 3 produced . I couldn`t agree more . I give RINGU 2 a mere 4 out of 10

Disappointing

[The3Extremes · 6/10 · 11 October 2005]

The first film was a brilliant chilling masterpiece, and this is a good little follow up considering that sequels to classics are a bad idea usually. However as the film progresses it gets gradually worse and then you realise it is just another example of bad sequels to classics. There are, however, some chilling scenes e.g, the scene where the mirror on the wall reflects Sadako's mother combing her hair and that eerie tone kicks in. Then there's the scenes that just go too far with the supernatural ideas and result in being near fantasy. The end is by far too much of a muddle and the whole idea of water being transferred through the mind is too far-fetched. However, despite what i've just said, I urge you to watch this instead of the remake which is ten times worse!

Absolutely awful

[alanpuzey · 1/10 · 14 May 2002]

'Ringu 2' is slow boring, not a bit horrific and has some totally inept cinematography within. Witness the scene near the end when some is climbing out of a well using a rope. In alternate scenes you can see the rope, then there is no rope, then the rope is back again. Truly a film to forget.

better than i thought it was going to be

[s_sonjay · 7/10 · 23 May 2002]

Possible Spoilers There is no sence comparing this film with the first one they are completely different movies. The first movie is an exercise in horror and scaredthe crap out of me, the sequel (although there are a number of scary scenes, when they see the manifestation of sadako and her mother for example) is more of a thriller come mystery movie. The only really major disappointment in this movie is how sadako is manifested, in the first she was a faceless unstoppable force but in the sequel (except the scene in the well when she is quite literally faceless) she is portrade as a normallish girl........just a disapointment.

Confuse the hell out of you instead of scare the hell out of you.

[CharltonBoy · 5/10 · 21 May 2002]

Let me start by saying if you didn't see the first film dont go anywhere near this one because you need to know what happened in the first movie to get anywhere near what this film is about and even then this sequal could still confuse the hell out of you instead scare the hell out of you. What they failed to realise is that in the first film the simplicity of the story was was enough to make it scary.In this it tries to complicate things and gets away from the scary aspect of the first which is , the watching of the video,then the phone call,then the waiting a week for the death to happen. There are a couple of scary moments but not enough for this to be called a good horror. Only for true lovers of the first movie. 5 out of 10.

More plot, more scares, more idiocy

[Jerry-93 · 8/10 · 22 October 2002]

Even though Sadako had been around for a long time (there were Suzuki Koji's source books and two previous TV movies), it was the theatrical version of Ring that made her huge. So, of course, there has to be a sequel (which, oddly enough, wasn't based on the next book in Koji's series; different filmmakers had already adapted that as Spiral). It's a daunting task to make an effective sequel to one of the all-time creepiest movies, but the filmmakers pull it off. Unfortunately, a lot of stupidity gets in the way of the scares.

A lot of plot in this one. The movie opens a week after the first one ends. Reiko's dad has just died, and she and her son have gone into hiding. Mai, who found Ryuji's body at the end of Ring, is investigating her boss'/boyfriend's death. She thinks Reiko and her son hold the key to this mystery. So she teams with one of Reiko's co-workers (who's still working on the story of the cursed videotape) to try and track Reiko down. At this point, there's already enough plot for a movie, and I haven't even mentioned the return trip to Sadako's old home, the doctor who thinks he can get rid of Sadako, the burial of Sadako's physical body, the girl the co-worker betrays (and literally comes back to haunt him), and the weird, scary "exorcism of Sadako" finale. Plot, plot, plot.

Before I tear this movie a new one, let me say one thing: minute for minute, this one has more scares than the first one. In fact, the filmmakers have realized that Sadako has become so commonplace (a Sadako doppleganger appears in almost every Japanese horror movie made after the first Ring) that they need only show her trademark hair to invoke fear. And it works. But the massive, ridiculous plot nearly kills this movie. While it tries to explain the occurances of the first movie, it raises more questions than it answers (why does everyone suddenly have psychic ability?; why are people who haven't even seen the tape haunted by Sadako?; how does that girl see the tape if all the copies have been destroyed?) Still, with all of these potholes, the movie still works. It's also nice to see almost the entire cast of the first film reprise their roles (even the dead ones). An effective thriller, even though it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Fans of the first one won't be disappointed.

Much more chilling than the first

[dave-658 · 6/10 · 4 December 2002]

If someone were to ask me what was the most disturbing, deranged, scariest moment in a movie, I would have to say the scene where the reporter tries to erase some segment from his interview with the trusting girl Kyoko Fukada (Kanae). When I saw this, I thought that I have seen something from the other world in the most striking of ways. Her head and hair frizzing and shaking, looping back repeatedly in a fast rising cadence on the tv screen, I knew I was watching the most frightening thing one could ever see. There are no words to describe this, except that this idea must have come from hell itself.

The ending of the movie was somewhat of a letdown, all movies that end with a pool seem to be a bit cheesy (Ala SwimFan, Gremlins), but Ringu 2 is a definite must see if you've seen Ringu. The movie is great.

A lame, uninvolving sequel lacking the superb suspense and creepiness of the original

[willywants · 3/10 · 26 September 2005]

Reiko and her son, returning from the first film, are in hiding after the unexplained deaths of both her father and her ex-husband, while the authorities continue to search for her and Sadako's curse continues to claim victims unfortunate enough to watch the ever-circulating cursed video. I loved the first Ring. It was the first film to ever truly scare me, it was weird, unsettling and atmospheric as hell. I waited a long time to see the sequel, and now that I have, quite frankly, I wish I hadn't. I like to start my reviews positive and thus I'll begin with what I found effective about the film. While there were no scenes that genuinely haunted me the way the fist film did, there are a number of effective moments to be found here, the most notable being the unsettling "tape erasing" and "mirror" scenes. There are a few genuinely unexpected plot twists as well, the most startling being the death of a very important character from the first film. The actors were all fine. Hideo Nakata's direction, as true of the original, is solid and the atmosphere he creates is strong and often creepy. This, I hate to say, it where the positive aspects end. As with many other J-horrors (Ju-On: The Grudge and Uzumaki being perfect examples), the film thinks it can forgo any type of narrative and substitute a plot with creepy images. Note to J-horror directors: THIS DOESN'T WORK! Without a story line that the audience can follow, or characters we give two scents (for the lack of a better word) about, one neither cares for nor is engrossed by what's going on on-screen. This is especially true of the last half-hour of the film, which is silly, lame and surprisingly cheesy, not to mention confusing as hell.

I really wanted to like this movie. I was excited about it before seeing it, but after it ended I was left thinking, "Jeez, what a lame movie". Shame.

3.5/10.