Naomi Watts stars in the Netflix series The Watcher as Nora Brannock, a woman whose family moves into a new house and receives dark and threatening letters. Watts previously wowed horror fans as Rachel Keller, a journalist discovering a horrible cursed videotape in the 2002 film The Ring. Rachel protects her son Aidan, digs into Samara Morgan’s disturbing backstory, and moves past her fear to do what is necessary.
It has been several decades since the original film, but with a sequel released in 2005 and a third film in 2017, The Ring franchise still draws horror fans in thanks to its eerie storytelling and its main villain, a young girl who is thrown into a well by her terrible mother. When looking back on these three movies, it’s clear that some scenes are still terrifying.
Carter Dies In A Plane Crash
Rings, the third film in the franchise, isn’t as well-done as the other two, but it still has one of the best horror movie opening scenes. Carter is on his way to Seattle and thinking about the tape that he just saw. Before Carter even realizes what is happening, Samara makes sure that the plane goes down and he dies.
This isn’t as memorable as other moments, but it does prove that Samara is powerful and deadly and can even cause a plane to go down. Like the most unnerving horror villains, Samara ensures that no one is safe.
Julia Looks In The Mirror And Samara Has Taken Over
Julia is the main character of Rings as she is dating Holt, and she goes to his college when she is confused about why he’s ignoring her. Julia then discovers the The Sevens, who take a video while they watch Samara’s tape and then send it to someone else.
The final scene of Rings is one of the scariest in the entire franchise, as Julia looks into the mirror and audiences realize that Samara has possessed her. There’s always something especially eerie about mirror scenes as characters always break out into strange grins or see a dangerous ghost standing right behind them. Audiences know that the curse is definitely not finished and things might be even worse now that Samara has the power of Julia.
Aidan Watches The Tape
Part of Rachel’s battle in the first movie is to ensure that her son Aidan doesn’t watch the videotape or, of course, die as a result. Rachel’s wish to protect her young child is put at risk when she realizes that Aidan has seen it.
This scene might not be as disturbing as seeing Samara come out of the TV or even seeing the deadly images on the tape themselves. But it’s still important since Rachel doesn’t know if Samara will kill her child or not.
Aidan Becomes Scared Of Taking A Bath
While The Ring Two isn’t one of the best horror movie sequels as the original still stands out for its introduction to Samara, it’s still a good continuation of the story. Rachel realizes that Aidan is having a tough time when he becomes fearful of baths as he doesn’t want to be near water.
This is awful for Rachel, who realizes that Samara still has a hold on Aidan. In The Ring, Aidan draws several photos of a young girl and circles, which audiences realize means that Samara is trying to get to him. It’s unnerving seeing how Samara gets to Aidan in the second movie and Rachel knows that she might not be able to do anything about it.
Samara Possesses Aidan
Rachel feels even more helpless in The Ring Two when Samara officially possesses her son. The moment when Rachel realizes what happened will send a chill down anyone’s spine since she is powerless, although of course she’s going to try to fight back.
Realizing that Samara can take over the body of a child proves how menacing and dangerous she is. Samara will go after anyone who watches the tape, no matter how young they are, as she feels so many sad emotions that she wants to punish people for. Rachel fights with everything that she has to protect her son, adding a heartfelt element to the story.
Jake Realizes His Fate
Rings might not have the same kind of arresting and memorable scenes that the original film does, but it’s still pretty scary when Jake realizes that Samara is going to kill him. Jake answers the phone and then sees strange black goo coming from underneath a door in his house. He gets mad at Emily, who claims that because she covered her eyes watching the tape, nothing will happen to them.
Jake is terrified because he realizes that Samara is coming for him. This scene is so creepy because sometimes, fear comes from anticipating what is going to happen. In Jake’s case, he isn’t being overdramatic and he’s right to worry about being part of this curse.
Rachel Sees Samara Being Pushed Into The Well
The Ring holds up today and one reason is Samara’s story. The image of a young girl with black hair falling over her face seeming to float out of a well isn’t something that anyone can easily forget. One of the most alarming scenes is when Rachel sees what really happened to Samara: her mother, Anna Morgan, pushed her into the well. She treated Samara horribly and Samara lived for a week, which explains why people die seven days after watching the tape.
This moment is even more powerful given the fact that Rachel is a mother who would never dream of hurting her child. Rachel can’t fathom that someone would treat their daughter like this and she not only fears for her own life but is able to empathize with Samara’s plight.
Rachel Watches The Tape
When horror fans look back on The Ring, it’s impossible not to picture the videotape itself and the various images that are part of it. Rachel watching the tape for the first time in the 2002 film is definitely a contender for the most haunting scene.
From blood falling into an ocean to Samara singing, a lonely chair, a nail, and a tree located at Shelter Mountain, each image in the tape is more awful and upsetting than the last one. Rachel is freaked out about two things here: the fact that people are dying because of this tape but also the actual terrible content of it.
Samara Kills Katie In The Opening Scene
At the beginning of The Ring, like a scene out of a teen horror movie, Becca Kotler and Katie Embry chat about the tape, laughing about how it’s not possible to get a phone call seven days after watching something and then die in a particularly disturbing way. When Becca sees Katie dead with her face distorted, it’s one of the most stressful and scary images of the whole franchise.
Katie’s face is not only gross and unsettling, but this scene drives home how dangerous Samara is and how she can murder anyone that she wants to. Audiences don’t yet know what she’s capable of, but this scene sets up the rest of the movie perfectly. Samara is going to inflict her pain on everyone who watches her tape.
Samara Escapes From The TV And Kills Noah
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The most recognizable image from The Ring is Samara escaping from a TV, and at the end of the first movie, she casually floats out of the TV and murders Noah Clay, Rachel’s ex-husband. This is a visually striking scene where Noah and audiences alike can’t really fathom that Samara could do this. The way that Samara moves her body is memorable, too, as she is super fast yet seems to be weighed down by all of her emotions.
When Rachel sees Noah’s body, she is more sure than ever that it will be a true feat to end Samara’s curse. This scene is so important because it sets up the next two films in the horror franchise and proves that fighting this villain will be a long, difficult battle. Rachel is willing to continue on as she wants to survive and she has her son to think about, which drives home how plucky and tough this character is.
