The Ring Two

"The Ring Two" is for diehard fans of "The Ring". Even then, you may not be completely thrilled with this sequel. It is creepy at times, but the scare factor has lost some of its edge this time around.

Having survived the video terror and TV crawling horror of "The Ring", Rachel (Naomi Watts) and Aidan (David Dorfman) Keller have moved away from Seattle to start a new life in a peaceful small coastal town near Portland. The peace is short-lived, though, as Samara, the scary chick that crawls out of a well and out of television sets, quickly locates them. Determined to actually live, Samara takes over Aidan's body and mind. This leads Rachel on a hunt for more background about Samara's upbringing and the woman that originally gave her up for adoption.

All in all, I think there were probably four pretty good scares in the movie. At the same time, some scenes that were probably intended to thrill become more laughable than anything. Watts is solid as the mother wanting to save her son, and Dorfman has the creepy-kid look going in overdrive throughout. Even when he's not possessed he's creepy. Unfortunately, every other character in the story is either inconsequential or weakly written.

If you didn't see the first, don't bother with the second. Fans of the original, don't set the expectations too high. The result rings hollow. I give it a C+.

"The Ring Two" is rated PG-13 with a running time of 107 minutes.