Ring 2 (1999)
Country: JAP
Technical: col 95m
Director: Hideo Nakata
Cast: Miki Nakatani, Hitomi Sato
Synopsis:
While the first film ended, Terminator-like, with the heroine setting out to free her son of the curse of having seen the fatal video (as it turns out by showing it to her father), this sequel begins by following another thread entirely, that of the deceased ex-husband's former assistant/lover? who is investigating the latter's death and soon becomes psychically entwined with the Sadako-inspired energy field coming from both the young boy and the sister of a previous victim. Got that?
Review:
Only partly a re-run of the chilling device central to Ring (the video from beyond the grave) - for which originality it is to be commended; now it becomes apparent that non-receipt of the ominous phone call, here not a feature at all, by no means guarantees one from elimination. This has the effect of making the underlying logic of the whole intrigue far harder to grasp for the viewer, but also of introducing the idea of psychological damage as a consequence of witnessing the horrific events; hence the extra frisson for the viewer afforded by making him a witness to the video is replaced by that of implying he might also be vulnerable in a more secondhand way from being a party to Sadako's revenge. On the down side, not easy to follow and somewhat irrelevantly titled; on the plus side, containing terrifying moments such as the climb out of the well with Sadako in hot pursuit.
Country: JAP
Technical: col 95m
Director: Hideo Nakata
Cast: Miki Nakatani, Hitomi Sato
Synopsis:
While the first film ended, Terminator-like, with the heroine setting out to free her son of the curse of having seen the fatal video (as it turns out by showing it to her father), this sequel begins by following another thread entirely, that of the deceased ex-husband's former assistant/lover? who is investigating the latter's death and soon becomes psychically entwined with the Sadako-inspired energy field coming from both the young boy and the sister of a previous victim. Got that?
Review:
Only partly a re-run of the chilling device central to Ring (the video from beyond the grave) - for which originality it is to be commended; now it becomes apparent that non-receipt of the ominous phone call, here not a feature at all, by no means guarantees one from elimination. This has the effect of making the underlying logic of the whole intrigue far harder to grasp for the viewer, but also of introducing the idea of psychological damage as a consequence of witnessing the horrific events; hence the extra frisson for the viewer afforded by making him a witness to the video is replaced by that of implying he might also be vulnerable in a more secondhand way from being a party to Sadako's revenge. On the down side, not easy to follow and somewhat irrelevantly titled; on the plus side, containing terrifying moments such as the climb out of the well with Sadako in hot pursuit.
Country: JAP
Technical: col 95m
Director: Hideo Nakata
Cast: Miki Nakatani, Hitomi Sato
Synopsis:
While the first film ended, Terminator-like, with the heroine setting out to free her son of the curse of having seen the fatal video (as it turns out by showing it to her father), this sequel begins by following another thread entirely, that of the deceased ex-husband's former assistant/lover? who is investigating the latter's death and soon becomes psychically entwined with the Sadako-inspired energy field coming from both the young boy and the sister of a previous victim. Got that?
Review:
Only partly a re-run of the chilling device central to Ring (the video from beyond the grave) - for which originality it is to be commended; now it becomes apparent that non-receipt of the ominous phone call, here not a feature at all, by no means guarantees one from elimination. This has the effect of making the underlying logic of the whole intrigue far harder to grasp for the viewer, but also of introducing the idea of psychological damage as a consequence of witnessing the horrific events; hence the extra frisson for the viewer afforded by making him a witness to the video is replaced by that of implying he might also be vulnerable in a more secondhand way from being a party to Sadako's revenge. On the down side, not easy to follow and somewhat irrelevantly titled; on the plus side, containing terrifying moments such as the climb out of the well with Sadako in hot pursuit.