For the sequel, director Gore Verbinski has handed over the franchise to the man who made the Japanese originals, Hideo Nakata. He, perhaps a bit too close to the material for too long, seems to presume that the spectator will have committed the previous chapter to memory, or, if not, will be satisfied with an incoherent series of crisply photographed creep-outs. The spectator should indeed be satisfied with at least a couple of highlights: a herd of aggressive computer-generated stags (same software, it would appear, used by The Hartford in its TV ads) and the herky-jerky climbing technique of the Ghost-in-the-Well. Naomi Watts, back in the ring for Round Two, maintains her intensity; and Elizabeth Perkins, Sissy Spacek, and Gary Cole make the most of their evanescent roles as, respectively, a hospital psychologist, a mental patient, and a dementedly upbeat realtor. With David Dorfman and Simon Baker. (2005) — Duncan Shepherd
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