The Ring Two

Infobox_Film
name = The Ring Two


caption = A promotional poster for "The Ring Two", which recalls a scene from the first film.
writer = Ehren Kruger
starring = Naomi Watts
David Dorfman
Simon Baker
Elizabeth Perkins
Sissy Spacek
Kelly Stables
Daveigh Chase
director = Hideo Nakata
producer = Walter F. Parkes
Roy Lee
Laurie MacDonald
movie_music =
distributor = DreamWorks SKG
released = March 18, 2005 (U.S.)
runtime = 108 Min./ 128 Min. Director's Cut
language = English
budget = $60 million (est.)
music = Henning Lohner
Martin Tillman
country = USA
awards =
preceded_by = The Ring
followed_by = The Ring 3
amg_id = 1:290590
imdb_id = 0377109

"The Ring Two" is a 2005 American horror film, and a sequel to the 2002 film "The Ring", which was a remake of the 1998 Japanese film of the same name. It was directed by Hideo Nakata, the original director of "Ring".

This sequel is not based on any of the previous Japanese sequels to "Ring", and is an original storyline, continuing from "The Ring".

The movie was filmed in Astoria, Oregon and Los Angeles, California. It was released on March 18, 2005, and opened with a strong US$35 million its first weekend, more than doubling the opening weekend of "The Ring". Its final $75 million gross was far less than the original's $129 million total.

Plot

The sequel takes place approximately six months after the events of the first movie. Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) and her son Aidan (David Dorfman) have moved from Seattle to the quiet coastal community of Astoria, Oregon. Rachel begins a new job at the "Daily Astorian", a local newspaper, working for Max Rourke (Simon Baker). Before long, there is news of a teenage homicide in town. Rachel investigates, finding the dead boy's face shows a deformed expression of horror just like the previous victims of Samara Morgan's cursed tape. Upon finding the boy's corpse, she also has a vision of Samara grabbing her and declaring "I found you."

Back at home, Aidan starts to develop hypothermia, and his body is suddenly covered with bruises. His behavior grows increasingly odd and distant, and while driving one day, the car carrying Aidan and Rachel is repeatedly attacked by deer, nearly killing them. Strange occurrences within their house (including visions of Samara, a burn mark in the wall which resembles the tree from the cursed video, and seeming poltergeist activity) frighten Rachel, leading her and Aidan to flee. Rachel subsequently asks Max if she can take care of the increasingly sick Aidan at his house.

Max says that Aidan's condition merits a trip to the hospital, but Rachel, knowing that his illness is unnatural, is adamant that traditional doctors cannot help him. When Rachel attempts to give Aidan a warm bath at Max's, a series of paranormal events leads to Rachel seeing Aidan's body replaced by Samara. Max walks in when she attempts to drown Samara, and sees her trying to drown Aidan instead. Suspicious, he insists on taking Aidan to the hospital against her wishes, stating, "You wanted my help, now you're getting it."

Based on the bruises on Aidan's body, the hospital staff, particularly psychiatrist Dr. Emma Temple (Elizabeth Perkins), suspect child abuse on Rachel's part, because Rachel reveals she suffered from PPD, and won't allow her to be near her son. Desperate for answers, Rachel flees the hospital and travels to Seattle to dig deeper into Samara's past. She discovers that Samara was not Richard and Anna Morgan's biological child. She tracks down Samara's birth mother, Evelyn (Sissy Spacek), who tried to drown Samara as an infant and has been living in a mental institution ever since. Meanwhile, the possessed Aidan/Samara inflicts a psychic assault on Dr. Temple for not letting him/her see Rachel, forcing her to commit suicide so that he/she can escape the hospital.

Evelyn advises Rachel to "listen to her baby" when she seeks advice on how to deal with Samara. Max goes to Rachel's house to check on her, only to find Aidan watching TV alone. When Rachel returns home, she finds Max's car parked outside and his dead body inside with the same warped expression of Samara's other victims. Disturbed and unsure of what to do, Rachel then goes inside to face her possessed son.

Rachel tells Aidan/Samara that he should go to sleep. Aidan responds that he never sleeps. She suggests she make him something to eat. Rachel goes into the kitchen, preparing two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. On one sandwich, she puts sleeping medication, intended to make Aidan unconscious. After ingesting the sandwich, Aidan soon falls asleep.

Rachel fills the upstairs bathtub with water and holds an unconscious Aidan underwater. Samara's spirit leaves his body, and Rachel is then able to revive him. However, Samara attempts to come back into the house through the TV set. Rachel grabs onto Samara as she is emerging, and is pulled into Samara's well inside the world of the cursed video. Looking up, Rachel realizes that the well lid is always left open. Rachel begins climbing out, pursued by Samara, who emerges from the water below and also ascends. Rachel is able to get out barely ahead of Samara and when she reaches the near top she cries "Mommy!". At that point Rachel whispers "I'm not your fucking mommy" and slams the lid shut.

As Rachel wanders the monochromatic world of the cursed tape, she hears Aidan's voice and walks toward it, only to come to the cliff where Anna jumped to her death. She hears Aidan calling her name below. Determined to follow Aidan's voice, Rachel jumps off the cliff and ends up back in her living room with Aidan, where they embrace.

Releases

In the Unrated Edition DVD release, a few extra scenes were included that were not in the theatrical release. These scenes included conversations with Rachel's new neighbor (and neighborhood gossip), numerous additions in which Max shows a romantic interest in Rachel, more scenes with Samara prior to her possession of Aidan (including one in which she is shown to enter him in the restroom at the local fair), and the short film "Rings" (which was also included on a special edition of The Ring releases just before The Ring Two arrived in theaters). A scene in the theatrical cut in which Aidan first encounters a deer while wandering the local fair (prior to the deer attack) has also been removed from this version. Also, some musical cues were changed such as when Samara leaps out of the well in the opening scene.

External links

* [http://www.ring2-themovie.com/ Official site] . The site has now been taken down as well as the official site of The Ring
* [http://www.theringworld.com/ The Ring World] - a fansite covering all aspects of Ring works.
* [http://www.obrasilero.com/ring/ the Ring AREA] - Contains of the cursed videos of the Ring cycle and their scene-by-scene analyses, as well as lots of other useful information.
*imdb title|id=0377109|title=The Ring Two
*rotten-tomatoes|id=ring_two|title=The Ring Two
* [http://www.tribute.ca/player/enhancePlayer.asp?isWM=1&isQT=1&filePath=Trailers&fileName=thering2 trailer from Tribute.ca]
* [http://movies.dvhardware.net/review/the-ring-two A short review of The Ring 2]
* [http://www.she-is-here.com She Is Here] , a roleplay website where characters discuss their experiences with the cursed video. Originally created by Dreamworks as viral marketing, this site has spawned several spinoffs by fans who knew Dreamworks would eventually remove the site. The site is now run by fans of the franchise.

Box Office Leaders USA
before = Robots
date = March 20
year = 2005
after = Guess Who