The professional critics have had their say – now, Coast Weekend readers sound off on “The Ring Two.”

“I’ve heard of ‘dog day afternoons,’ but I never thought I would be spending one at the movies. ‘The Ring Two’ is one sick bow-wow that should have gone straight to the vet’s instead of the Gateway Theater … Thank God for some nice shots of Astoria. Too bad there weren’t more of them.”

– Diane Beeston, Astoria

“‘The Ring Two’ left too much to be figured out on our own. It had many excellent shots of scenic Astoria and the surrounding coast. It was a bit strange seeing Naomi Watts drive the wrong way on every one-way street in town … At least it didn’t show three kids riding their bikes from Astoria to Cannon Beach (Ecola Park) in a matter of minutes like in ‘The Goonies.'”

– Bryan Dick, Astoria

“We caught ‘The Ring Two’ Friday afternoon in State College, Pa. It’s interesting how Astoria manages to remain Astoria in different movies … Director Hideo Nakata did a wonderfully creepy job with ‘The Ring Two’ and managed to avoid simply recycling the original American version and even its Japanese predecessors … Thank you, Hideo Nakata, for not delivering another carbon-copy sequel from the Hollywood machine and for providing some great shots of Astoria. We give it two thumbs up.”

– Jaeson and Jennifer Koszarsky, State College, Pa.

“It has some very good shots of Astoria and local areas, but the story line simply wasn’t strong enough to hold you to the movie, doesn’t have any ties to the first film and has virtually no climax … It has no staying power – I saw kids getting up and running around the theater. Like a bad episode of ‘Gunsmoke!'”

– Gene Hancock, Astoria

“I am almost 64 years old and have been a citizen of Astoria almost my whole life. During the 1950s, I had the pleasure of watching at the Liberty and Riviera theaters some of the classic horror movies of all time. It was a period when Bela Lugosi (Dracula), Boris Karloff (Frankenstein), and Lon Chaney Jr. (Wolfman) roamed the screen, usually chasing Bud Abbott and Lou Costello.”However, the scariest movie, that raised the most ‘goosebumps’ for me, was Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho.’ I saw this movie when I was attending college in l960, at the Broadway Theatre in Portland. It was so scary I think about it once in a while, taking a shower … even to this day …

“As far as my opinion of ‘The Ring Two’ is concerned … I did enjoy Astoria’s scenery. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any ‘goosebumps’ when I left the theater. However, I did find Naomi Watts’ and David Dorfman’s acting interesting. To someone who hasn’t seen the film yet, notice Watts’ facial expressions and body language. She says a lot without saying too much. This girl is a very good actress – plus, notice she says her lines in an American accent, considering she was raised in Australia.

“I was an extra over in McGowan, Wash., during the filming, and I think all the extras who got on the screen, and the ones who weren’t shown on the screen, including Mayor Van Dusen, are wondering, ‘Where was the ‘nosy neighbor’? Why didn’t they show the scene when Naomi and Simon Baker meet?’ I guess we will have to wait for the director’s cut when the movie comes out on DVD.”

– Jerry Olson, Astoria

“The Ring Two”

Rated PG-13 for violence/terror, disturbing images, thematic elements and some language

Starring: Naomi Watts, David Dorfman, Simon Baker, Elizabeth Perkins, Gary Cole, Sissy Spacek

Directed by: Hideo Nakata

Length: One hour 51 minutes

Now playing at: Astoria Gateway Cinemas, Cannes Cinema Center in Seaside and Neptune Theatre in Long Beach, Wash.

Short take: A B-movie premise with grade-A production values, it’s tenser, moodier, scarier and all-around better than you’d expect from a sequel. The spooky Samara is back, and so is Naomi Watts’ character as the target of her terror.

– Christy Lemire, The Associated Press

Rating: Two and a half stars (out of four)

Movie trivia: What gimmick did DreamWorks use to promote the film?

Answer: Copies of the “Cursed Tape” were dropped in public places as a form of promotion. After about five minutes of footage, the viewer is directed to the movie’s Web site.