RING 2

The only thing more evil than Ring 2 is if we were remiss enough not to show both the original and sequel. In fact, it is only fair to warn viewers that Ring 2 will be very difficult to follow without seeing its precursor. 'Against all odds, the sequel lives up to the original. We know from Ring that the death-inducing video images are a kind of psychic virus let loose on the world. This time the focus is on understanding how the 'virus' breeds and spreads—and on reckless experiments to try to stop it. The figure leading us through a series of escalating horrors is again a woman: Takano Mai, the girlfriend of Takayama Ryuji, one of the early victims of the curse. "Her efforts to investigate what happened to Ryuji are marked first by her sympathy for victims and then by her hostility to the two impetuous men who imagine they can beat the 'Virus' with high-tech equipment. What Mai suspects is that the curse is endless and incurable. Not just a spook looking for revenge, like the ghost in an old Kabuki play, but an existential threat. Watching Ring 2 won't kill anybody, but it could just plant a very disturbing seed of doubt about the way the world works."—Tony Rayns, Vancouver International Film Festival