The Ring Two

The sequel to 2002’s The Ring retains star Naomi Watts and David Dorfman as her son, but after the opening scene it drops the original plot (a videotape that causes its viewers to die a week after seeing it) in favor of a standard possession story: The little dead girl Samara is trying to take over Dorfman’s body. That’s the basic thread, but it actually makes even less sense than the original film. Directing this time, from a script by Ehren Kruger, is Hideo Nakata, director of the original Japanese Ringu, which started this whole thing going in the first place. Nakata establishes a nicely creepy atmosphere with a minimum of cheap scare tricks and draws strong performances from Watts, Dorfman and the supporting cast, but the story’s confusion and illogic make the movie off-putting and dull.