The American adaptation of Ringu, called The Ring, actually followed the plot of Ringu extremely closely, though it added a catchphrase in the form of “Samara’s” whispered “Seven days.” (This phrase does not appear at all in Ringu – in fact, the aspect of the phone call is greatly exaggerated in the American film, possibly to make the character more iconic.) But the sequel to Ringu, Ringu II, not only emphasizes the cyclical nature of Sadako’s afterlife, but amplifies it. Sadako has not only killed Reiko’s father and several other victims of the tape, but she can reach people who she has only touched indirectly: she haunts the best friend of Tomoko, who was present at the time of Tomoko’s death, and the girl’s fellow patients in the mental ward feel the effects of this haunting, as well. While connections are drawn between Yoichi and Sadako (they may share similar psychic powers, but Yoichi is “saved” because of the love he receives from his parents, even after death), Sadako herself shows no real longing for what Yoichi has.
The Ring Two creates a story in which Samara is simply a misunderstood, abandoned child: Samara’s mother, a crazed, unstable woman, tried to kill Samara after she was born. Samara possesses the protagonist, Rachel’s, young son, attracted by the strong bond he shares with his mother, and tries to live out her life as a normal child.
While she kills a young high school student at the beginning of the film through the tape, she quickly abandons this to focus on becoming Rachel’s child. The only other casualties in the film are a social worker and Rachel’s would-be boyfriend; they are both obstacles to Samara’s goal. This negates Samara’s indiscriminate, onryou¬-style killings in the first film, and creates a method that is less malevolent and more focused: Samara is simply a lonely, misunderstood child going about things the wrong way. And unlike Sadako, who will most likely continue to wreak vengeance through the tape (Yoichi is saved, but there is no indication that she will stop there), it is implied that Rachel and her son have defeated Samara for good.
In the differences between these two films, a difference in values between the Japanese horror story and the Western horror story can be inferred. In Western horror, there is an in-depth reason for the ghost’s actions. There are painful emotions at the core of the haunting, and most don’t wish to harm the protagonist, but wish to be helped and acknowledged. And even if there is no way to sate the malevolent spirit, there is always a way to fix things. But in Japanese horror, the grudge of an onryou is, like death itself, unstoppable.
