THE SCARINESS ONLY 'RINGS' ONCE IN LESS-INTENSE SEQUEL.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

THEY'VE TOSSED some malevolent deer and a lot more water at ``The Ring Two.'' But the main components that made the first film in this franchise so intriguing - palpable eeriness and surreal media satire - are in short supply this second time out.

There are also too many, too-obvious borrowings from other suspense subgenres. Naomi Watts plays a more concerned parent this time, as if she were in a sequel to ``The Hand That Rocks the Cradle,'' instead of reprising ``Ring's'' ever-so-slightly neglectful Rachel Keller. And David Dorfman as her unnerving son Aidan seems even more haunted than before - by Haley Joel Osment.

The story is presented fairly intelligently; Ehren Kruger wrote the script, as he did for the previous ``Ring.'' But it never really builds up gripping momentum. Maybe that's because the film is trying to include too many surefire fright elements that have worn out their shock value. And maybe it has something to do with antler attacks, among other incidents, that have no explanation or relationship to anything else in the story line.

Which goes something like this: After escaping Samara, the ghost girl from the well whose videotapes spell doom to all who watch, Rachel and Aidan move from Seattle to the small seaside town of Astoria, Ore. But wouldn't ya know it? One of the tapes pops up at a local (and swiftly dead) teen's house. Rachel destroys it, but that somehow releases Samara's spirit into the world - or, at least, into any bathroom Aidan tries to use - and Rachel once again has to figure out how to fight for her son's life.

Sissy Spacek makes a guest appearance as a wild-haired madwoman (yes, they got in a ``Carrie'' reference, too). Simon Baker fills the Expendable Adult Male slot. And as a real-estate agent with a haunted listing, Gary Cole provides welcome comic relief from the relentless intensity Watts and Dorfman ladle onto their scenes.

If only some of that intensity bled over to the filmmaking. For reasons unknown (call it interference static from the Hollywood system, maybe?), Japan's Hideo Nakata, who made the first couple of ``Ringu'' movies on which this series is based, can't get his creep on in his first American production. You can see him trying, with gray-blue color palettes and brooding camera work and all that threatening water all over the place, ruining flooring and ceilings. But ``Ring Two'' just doesn't strike enough scary notes, or hit them hard enough when it does.

Bob Strauss, [phone]

bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com

THE RING TWO - Two and one half stars

(PG-13: violence, children in jeopardy, language)

Starring: Naomi Watts, David Dorfman, Simon Baker, Sissy Spacek.

Director: Hideo Nakata.

Running time: 1 hr. 51 min.

Playing: Wide release.

In a nutshell: Leisurely sequel to the horror smash substitutes extra motherly paranoia for the cool fear-of-technology theme that dominated the first film. More psychological substance but fewer scares, so who cares?

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The scary girl of the first movie seemingly escapes in ``The Ring Two,'' and Naomi Watts is none too happy about it.