In the horror franchise, RING series has made its name. It's almost a surprise that it took 12 years for next one to arrive since The Ring Two in 2005. But the wait was not for nothing, since this movie directed by F. Javier Gutiérrez is not too short of what you would expect. This film is written by the Hollywood legends David Loucka, Jacob Aaron Estes and Akiva Goldsman; and starring Matilda Lutz, Alex Roe, Johnny Galecki, Vincent D'Onofrio, Aimee Teegarden and Bonnie Morgan.
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The idea is still the same; one watches the film and dies with in 7 days, unless they pass the "tail" to someone else. And it sen starts with VHS video tape, but moves to digital and email etc pretty soon (UPGRADE!). And the terror starts in a plane, which is quite an interesting scene. We also get to see Samara climbing out of a upside down TV, and even a cell phone (more upgrade!). Most of Samara stuff is not as horrifying and scary as original movie. But its difficult to recreate same horror. But the movie does a good job of creating its own moments.
We also get to meet Samara's real mother and father (played wonderfully by Vincent D'Onofrio), and find out their story. It's interesting to see how the writers are able to continuously explore and expand the story. Johnny Galecki is also there, as a biology professor, and does good justice to his role. Unfortunately, he dies in the movie, so we own't see him in next. Why next? Well, the movie ends with Samara surviving through our lead Julia (played by the beautiful and very talented Matilda Lutz). So yeah, a sequel!
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The casting is good, and so is the performances by the actors. The ones stated above stand out. The film is shot well, and it's not 3D. It's not as visually stunning as the first film, but again, its a difficult mark to cross. If you are a fan of RING or horror movies, you should watch it. Otherwise, a skip is okay. Although I would recommend to watch the first RING.
As part of promotions for the film, we also get to experience "KOMNATA QUEST: ESCAPE ROOM", in NYC. It was pretty cool. You basically get stuck in a maze and you have to escape by solving the mystery, unlocking doors and "fighting" demons. Pretty interesting concept, like your own movie. In homage to Japanese origin of RING, we explored a Japanese maze. I won't spoil it for you here, cuz you need to do it yourself, but here are some video and pics from the exploration. It sure was LOT OF FUN!
