Where Was The Ring Filmed? Naomi Watts’ Phenomenal Supernatural Horror Flick!

The story of The Ring (2002) might sound like just another urban legend, but once you watch the movie your whole perception changes. If you’ve seen the movie, you have an idea of how thrilling it is. The psychological supernatural horror film follows a journalist who investigates the death of four teenagers who died after watching a mysterious videotape. In this article, I’ll discuss the movie and tell you where was The Ring filmed.

Naomi Watts stars in the lead role. She has not been in many horror movies, but The Ring was certainly a great choice, as she did an amazing job with the movie. Watts is undoubtedly one of the finest actors in Hollywood. She is a two-time Academy Award-nominated actor and has worked with some of the top Hollywood filmmakers like David Lynch, Alejandro González Iñárritu, and David Cronenberg.

The Ring also stars other notable actors like Martin Henderson, David Dorfman, Daveigh Chase, Brian Cox, and Shannon Cochran. Well, Brian Cox certainly does not need an introduction. The veteran actor is a powerhouse when it comes to acting. Cox recently starred in the highly-rated HBO Max original series, Succession.

Now let me tell you where was The Ring filmed. The psychological supernatural horror film was shot in Washington, California, and Oregon, United States of America.

Helmed by Gore Verbinski, The Ring premiered at the Hollywood Film Festival on 2 October 2002, followed by its wide release in the US on 18 October 2002. The psychological horror film is a Vertigo Entertainment production distributed internationally and in the United States by DreamWorks Pictures. However, let’s dig deeper and learn more about the filming locations.

Where Was The Ring Filmed? The Ring Filming Locations!

Gore Verbinski’s The Ring was a blockbuster and a box office success. The movie earned over $249 million against a production budget of $48 million. Chicago Sun Times’ Richard Roeper gave the psychological horror movie a “Thumbs Up” and called it “very gripping and scary.” Whereas IGN’s Jeremy Conrad praised the movie for its extraordinary cinematography and atmospheric setup. 

Film Threat’s Jim Agnew described The Ring as “dark, disturbing, and original”. With such excellent reviews, it became one of the best horror movies in 2002. Verbinski, without any doubt, did a fantastic job with the movie. The Ring got a rating of 7.1 on IMDb and a score of 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, let’s get into where The Ring was filmed.

Washington, United States Of America

The supernatural psychological horror movie The Ring was filmed primarily in Washington. The production team also filmed a portion of the movie in California and Oregon. Verbinski chose to shoot on location since the movie is set in Seattle. The cast and crew moved around quite a bit, filming across different cities and towns in Washington.

The scenes involving Katie and her friend at Shelter Mountain Inn, where they watch the mysterious videotape for the first time, were filmed at Camp Firwood South Cove at 1740 Lake Whatcom Boulevard, Bellingham, Washington. Remember the Morgan Horse farm scenes where Rachel goes to investigate? Those scenes were filmed at 23200 Emerald Glen Farm, Yeager Road, Monroe.

The scene in which Noah buys Chinese food from a shop was shot at 709 S King Street, Seattle, Washington. The original name of the shop is Gom Hong Co. The scene where Rachel calls Aiden from Moesko Island was filmed at Dungeness Landing County Park, which is situated at 298 Oyster House Road, Sequim. Rachel’s apartment scenes were shot at Harbor Steps Apartments at 1200 Western Ave, Seattle, Washington.

The scene in which Rachel drives to Noah’s apartment was filmed between Western Avenue and Seneca Street in Seattle. Scenes involving the Moesko Island ferry entrance were shot at Port Townsend Ferry Terminal, located at 4375 Erin Street Port, Townsend.

Some other sequences in Washington were filmed at multiple locations, including Deception Pass Whidbey Island, Stanwood, Fort Worden Historical State Park at 200 Battery Way Port Townsend, Bellingham, and Monroe.

California, United States of America

The cast and crew filmed several important scenes in California. Filming took place at multiple places across the state. The opening scene of the movie was shot in Hancock Park, Los Angeles. The scene where Rachel talks to Dr Grasnik was filmed at Malibou Lake, Agoura Hills. The library scenes in the movie were shot at Mudd Hall of Philosophy, University of Southern California. It is situated at 3709 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles.

Katie’s house scenes were filmed at 413 S. McCadden Place, Los Angeles. Remember the newsroom scenes? They were taken at Orange County Register at 625 N. Grand Avenue, Santa Ana, California. Dr. Grasnik’s office scenes were filmed at 29175 S Lakeshore Drive, Agoura Hills.

The production team shot a handful of scenes at Sony Pictures Studios which is situated at 10202 W Washington Boulevard, Culver City, and a few other scenes were shot at Chandler Valley Center Studios at 13927 Saticoy Street, Panorama City.

Oregon, United States of America

Oregon was the last and final filming location for The Ring. The production team shot a few scenes at Newport and Columbia River Gorge. Yaquina Head Lighthouse was used as a stand-in for the Moesko Island lighthouse. It is situated at 750 NW Lighthouse Drive, Newport. A couple of sequences were also filmed at Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge.

Plot Of The Ring (2002) | Time Is Running Out!

The story of The Ring revolves around Rachel Keller, played by Noami Watts. Rachel is a journalist from Seattle. She gets a call from her sister and finds out that her niece, Katie, a teenager, has died in a mysterious incident. At her funeral, Katie’s mother asks Rachel to investigate the case and get to the bottom of it. Rachel promises her sister that she will try her best to find out what exactly happened to Katie. 

As Rachel starts her investigation, she discovers that on the same day, three other teenagers died, including Katie’s friend. After chasing a few leads, she finds out about the Shelter Mountain Inn, where Katie and her friend watched something on a mysterious videotape. 

She gets hold of the tape and watches it. It contains frightening imagery, and within a few minutes, she gets a phone call from an unknown number. When she picks up the call, Rachel hears a whisper saying, “Seven days.” Soon, she discovers that whoever watches the videotape dies within a week. Rachel must find out the truth before she runs out of time.

Final Words

I have mentioned all the filming locations of The Ring. The movie was filmed across multiple states. So, if you wish to check out the filming spots, I would suggest you start with Washington, as most of the filming took place there. However, if you happen to be a sucker for good horror movies, then try not to miss out on The Ring.