Not at all.
Becca asked Katie in the beginning is she had heard about it, obviously meaning it's been around.
Mr Morgan also asks Rachel if there was more than one copy, sigmifying he was aware of the tape as well.

I don't recall Rachel having a vision about her own death at all.. Only Katie mentioned to Aidan that she didn't have enough time ..To think of it, Katie was a horrible baby sitter HA.

I don't recall Rachel having a vision about her own death at all.. Only Katie mentioned to Aidan that she didn't have enough time ..

Samara gives them the abilities to be able to predict their own deaths. Its in the movie. And you might be right about Richard's reaction. Maybe he was the one who first found out the cursed videotape and didn't want to do anything about it by isolating himself.

and how would Josh know that this video kills. The call only says "Seven days" without any information. Which brings me back to the ring (no pun intended) of Richard Morgan's reaction when he heard that Rachel made a copy.

Becca stated that she knew about the legend from Revere so it was probably from one of her friends who heard the rumours that was being spreaded by Josh (Katie's boyfriend) and his friends.

Well, let's not forget that Becca is the one who brings up the video in the conversation and says that it kills people.. So obviously, Katie and her friends were NOT the first ones to watch it.

If Katie and her friends were the first to see the cursed videotape according to one very defensive OP, maybe Richard was psychically communicated by Samara since he was her adoptive father? Samara shows people "things" and she only does that to people she's very connected with and Richard is one of them.

I know that one poster strongly disagrees, but I still think that it's pretty obvious that other people have seen the video and the father knows about it.
That hexagon-face bitch, she's so passive-aggressive.

I guess so.. But then when Rachel tells Mr Morgan about the copy, he seems to be aware of how the whole thing works.. Plot hole ?

It's never stated that Katie and her friends brought the tape with them.
If anything, it's more implied that they took the tape from the front desk when they checked in, hence it being back there when Rachel finds it.
That way I understood it was that they grabbed the tape (most coverless tapes at the time were considered blank tapes to record things on) and tried to record the game over it, however, as it was the cursed tape, it didn't work.
It's never once stated that Katie's friend purchased a tape and brought it with them.

A great fact that the filmmakers seem to have forgotten about in the sequels. Her crawling out of the television is shown ONCE in the original film, and merely implied with Katie. The other three teenagers had different forms of death according to the reports that Rachel finds.
Meaning she can kill you without you being near some sort of screen.
Furthermore, it does beg the question of what exactly did Rachel finding her in the well do? Aiden implies it was wrong that Rachel helped her, but why? What has now changed?

Yeah exactly she "shows them things".

Yes, I made a bit of a theory about how Rachel opening the well and setting the spirit free changed the way the victims die on the 7th day.
While not full-fledged omnipresent, she seems to imprint her mark on the minds of whoever watches the tape, holding their lives at stake. A couple of the victims who died at the hands of the 7-day curse were not near televisions on the 7th day; however, they may have suffered a heart attack, another vital sign stopped, or their minds assaulted to oblivion with frightful imagery, in the middle of whatever they were doing, which led them to their death. One of the victims was driving and they got into a fatal accident; another apparently fell from a roof or another high point.
This goes in line with the nightmares, visions and other manifestations Rachel and others experienced after watching the tape. It's also a heck of a way for the spirit to work within its limitations.

Oh that makes sense. That's why when Rachel retrieved Samara's body from the well, she actually released the demon spirit within her into the world which is what made Aidan panic so much. Maybe the demon spirit is from her father's side and if this is the case, how can she kill her victims if they are nowhere near a TV on their 7th day? Is she omnipresent or something?

I don't believe it's the girl Samara herself who is the demon, but rather the demon spirit took over Samara's body as a host (either at birth or shortly thereafter), going by the sequel. The spirit still takes Samara's liking whenever it appears, but this might be attributed to the fact that the girl Samara died while the spirit was still within, and it was trapped in that body for so long, thus it adapted to her form. Alternatively, the demon induced its host to take its form as she grew. We see that it takes over Aidan's body, but Rachel succeeds in freeing him of it without killing him.

It would be hilarious if Samara kept tallies on the walls of the well to determine whether or not it is time to kill her next victim. I always thought that Samara was an omnipresent entity but I think that's too far of a stretch. Wasn't she half demon?

The same way she imprinted imagery on a videotape even though she was inside a well. It's the same kind of telepathic power, though the application on phones is a lot less common. As for how she remembers who and how many watched the tape, you're thinking too much in the real world about a fictional character who possesses supernatural powers.

So how was Samara able to make a phone call inside a well and keep a tracklist of the people who are cursed? Does she make the calls through telepathy?

I already went over why she "waited", which is not necessarily what she was trying to do. She struck at the very soonest opportunity, which unfortunately for her was decades away. Based on what the movie shows to the viewer, the spirit's power works in the confines of that telepathic power, or needs to involve it. She can't just conveniently place the curse on a tape, or other piece of media, whenever she wants and wherever said tape is. It needs to be within the functional range of her power (therefore, the well). That part, I also went over in previous replies. In extension, we only know that she employs thoughtography. Nothing in the movie remotely suggests the spirit uses other powers, or anything that works beyond the vicinity of the well. Assuming such is only speculation.
Maybe she could have snapped in a murderous rage, but that was if Samara was still alive (ie, outside the well and not confined). In fact, her power is actually broadened and less limited when Rachel physically unsealed the well and "set [Samara] free", which Aidan condemned at the end.
I don't think it was Samara herself who became the ghost/spirit. Personally, it is more likely that this evil spirit that dwelled within the body of Samara took her form subsequently, including in the decomposed, terrifying form that attacked Noah. This is in line with what happens and is revealed in the sequel.

I kinda agree with you but this still doesn't explain why Samara would wait so long for her revenge in the well. She looks like a person that would easily snap in a murderous rage and I used to think that during her time in the well, she was using her hate and powers to keep herself alive (like the Japanese version) or was mutating into a humanoid ghost.

That's a very plausible scenario. To add to it, it could also be that whoever of the other 3 friends who told the story did not do so until near the end of their 7 days. This would be fitting because they, like Katie, may have still been shaken up by what they saw; so they may have spread the story much later, when they felt a bit better after some time had passed and warmed up to the possibility that it was a prank. Hence, the story may not have gained traction right away, but certainly soon enough to make the rounds.
In the context of Katie, you're right, it was a difficult situation for her. She couldn't confide what happened as that would have to include disclosing spending the night with Josh, which she didn't exactly want to talk about.
I kind of feel like that sleepover was somewhat on Katie's request, as she may have been afraid about what might happen to her on that 7th day. And again, she couldn't really speak to anybody (save for Aidan) about what she was experiencing. So imagine the dread and terror if one of your close friends recounts the cause of your troubles as if it were an urban legend; just as you thought it was safe to unwind.

Ok now I get the gist. I was thinking about this earlier but maybe why Katie was so shocked about Becca retelling an experience she already experienced with her friends was because she literally isolated herself from the world in those 7 days, hence why she didn't know how the story became so popular. As you can in most of Samara's victims, they often isolate themselves and become paranoid with nightmares and mindlessly draw images of her so its safe to presume that Katie had to skip school because of it. And this probably explains why Katie was able to confide to Aidan about her experience with the curse even though its obvious that a popular high school student involved in a secret love affair like her would lack the time to geuninely spend some alone time with her relatives, let alone one that is a child.
Teenagers often have to talk with younger people because they're obliged to by their parents but in the case of Katie, its a different situation so that further proves my point on how serious the situation she was in. Man, its sad when you realise that Katie died on the day she finally got to have fun and hang out with her best friend on their sleepover on a fricking Saturday night.

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