In the last 20 years of horror cinema history, there have been few villains as terrifying as Samara Morgan of The Ring franchise.

Now, the long-dormant series has received a reboot more than a decade since its sequel, marking the return of the malicious spirit of a girl who lives in a video tape that kills anyone who watches it after a week.

Contortionist and actress Bonnie Morgan, who performed stunts as Samara in 2005's The Ring Two, takes on the role in full for the latest film and, according to her costars, took the job very, very seriously.

In a recent interview with Cosmopolitan.com, Matilda Lutz, who plays protagonist Julia in the film, revealed that Bonnie horrifyingly remained silent and in character throughout the filming.

'It was pretty scary. But then one day, I walked in the make-up trailer and I saw the whole process [of getting her ready],' she said.

'It was fascinating to see that. The guys are artists… I'm pretty sure that if they pranked me, I would be scared.'

Matilda, 26, is likely referring to a recent prank devised by the movie's producers that involved creating a false wall in a New York City electronics store and having Samara creepily crawl out of a TV.

The prank saw customers screaming and running in terror as the character tries to approach them.

Matilda also revealed that her auditioning process for the movie - her American debut - involved her submitted photos of herself screaming and some of the scenes during the filming were so spine crawling that even the film crew were made uncomfortable.

'When I shot the scene [where I'm] pulling out the hair from my mouth, the camera operator was turning his head because he couldn't even look.'

The new film debuted on Friday and subsequently came in second at U.S. box offices during Super Bowl weekend with $13.5 million.

The first Ring movie opened to $15 million in 2002 on its way to a $129.1 million domestic gross, while its followup, 2005's The Ring

Two, kicked off to $35.1 million, ending its stateside run with $76.2 million.