Ringu 2 Review (1999) Worth Watching?

It's about a woman whose boyfriend's death is linked to a cursed VHS tape that kills a week after you watch it. As she works to uncover the source of the curse, she catches the curse herself.

Ringu 2 was directed by Hideo Nakata (who also directed Ghost Theater and Chatroom) and stars Miki Nakatani (from Loft, Ringu), Fumiyo Kohinata (from Casshern, Dark Water) and Y?rei Yanagi (from Helldriver, Don't Look Up).

Ringu 2 came out one short year after Ringu, which blew up in Japan and kick started the J-horror craze. Ringu was an original idea that freaked people out on many levels. So, unsurprisingly, the sequel was green lit and rushed into production. Often, this tends to result in weak sequels that just regurgitate the original for a quick cash grab. Ringu 2, however, is very different.

Ringu 2 double downs on the horror that Ringu created. It took the thick dreary atmosphere and made it even more so. It also takes advantage of the fact that the concept of the cursed VHS tape, and Sadako's purpose for it, already exists. So rather than spending time catching everyone up, the investigative aspect of the film kicks in from the get-go. This really helps with the pacing and resulted in there being no dull moments.

I personally found Ringu 2 to be way scarier than Ringu, despite the first benefiting from original concept. More emphasis seemed to be placed on disturbing imagery and creative editing than on backstory, which worked beautifully considering the backstory was still fresh in everyone's minds. The score was also an improvement over the original, it's very haunting and very intense.

One especially freaky aspect of Ringu 2 were the practical effects. The movie starts with investigators finding Sadako's skeletal remains and later molding clay over her skull to try to identify her. Well, Sadako's spirit later possesses this clay rendering which was creepy AF.

There's not many horror sequels floating around that are better than the original, and Ringu 2 is one of them.