''Rings'' is a 2005 American supernatural horror

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

directed by Jonathan Liebesman, who co-wrote with Ehren Kruger. It serves as a

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to '' The Ring'' (2002) and a prelude to the opening sequence of ''

The Ring Two ''The Ring Two'' is a 2005 American supernatural horror film and sequel to the 2002 film '' The Ring'', which was a remake of the 1998 Japanese film '' Ring''. Hideo Nakata, director of the original ''Ring'', directed this film in place of G ...

'' (2005), both written by Kruger. The film was initially released on March 8, 2005, as an extra disc with a re-release of the first film on DVD.

Plot

Sometime after the events of '' The Ring'', Samara Morgan's videotape has spread, as each person who sees the video makes a copy and shows it to someone else. A

subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture, cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures ...

has grown surrounding the video: people wait to see how close to the seven-day deadline they can get. When they grow too afraid to go on any longer, they show the tape to the next assigned person. Groups that have watched the video are called "rings". The film is focused on Jake Pierce, the latest member of one such ring. The ring has recruited its next member, Tim, who will watch the tape when Jake cracks. Jake is amazed at what he experiences but it soon turns sinister, as he starts seeing visions of Samara, and has a dream (similar to one that Rachel Keller had) of Samara grabbing his arm and leaving a bruise. He cracks on the sixth day, but Tim refuses to watch the tape. Unbeknownst to Jake, Vanessa, another member of the ring, forced Tim to refuse, as she wants to see what happens on day seven. By the next day, Jake has become so desperate he tries to play the video at an electronics store but is caught and thrown out. Jake thinks of Emily, a girl he goes to school with, and invites her over. He experiences a vision in which Samara arrives; she reaches through the screen on his video camera. An hour before the deadline, Emily, encouraged by Vanessa, agrees to come, leading to the opening sequence of ''

''.

Cast

* Ryan Merriman as Jake Pierce * Emily VanCamp as Emily * Kelly Stables as Samara Morgan * Alexandra Breckenridge as Vanessa * Josh Wise as Timothy "Tim" Rivers * Justin Allen as Eddie * Andrew D'Amico as Store Employee

Release

''Rings'' was released in the United States on March 8, 2005, by DreamWorks Home Entertainment. It initially appeared in a DVD re-release of ''The Ring'' as a pack-in bonus disc.It was later included with the DVD release of ''The Ring Two.''

Reception

The short film garnered positive reviews from both critics and audiences who purchased the special edition of the first film; released shortly before ''The Ring Two''. Felix Vasquez Jr. of ''Cinema Crazed'' said, "...a very sleek and morbid short film, and one infinitely more enjoyable and tense than the sequel could be".

References

External links

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She Is Here
- the DreamWorks viral marketing site {{Portal bar, Film, United States, Speculative fiction, Horror, 2000s 2005 films 2005 direct-to-video films 2005 horror films 2005 short films American teen horror films American horror short films Direct-to-video interquel films DreamWorks Pictures films Techno-horror films Films directed by Jonathan Liebesman The Ring (franchise) Films with screenplays by Ehren Kruger 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language horror films English-language short films