The Ring – 8
Director – Gore Verbinsky
Cast – Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, David Dorfman, Brian Cox, Jane Alexander, Lindsay Frost, Amber Tamblyn, Rachael Bella, Daveigh Chase, Shannon Cochran
Release Year – 2002
Reviewed by John of the Dead
A lot of us balk at these recent Asian horror remakes Hollywood has been putting out, but who can forget the film that started it all…The Ring. Denounced by some, this film nonetheless was one of the creepiest films I’d ever seen when it debuted in 2002, and is one of the few remakes to be just as good, if not better than it’s original.
The Ring stars Naomi Watts as Rachel, a journalist who’s young niece died mysteriously after viewing a video tape exactly a week prior. After doing a little research she learns that those who saw the video with her niece also died mysteriously at the exact same time, one week after viewing the video. Determined to figure out what is causing these mysterious deaths, the views the video tape herself, and receives a phone call saying she has seven days to live. Rachel must now race against time and not only learn the story behind the tape, but appease the evil force behind it as well.
When I saw this film in theaters I honestly could not remember being freaked by a film more than The Ring. I’ll let you in on a little secret, I actually waited over 7 days after the films release to see if any of my friends died. HAHA. Anywho, this film did things right and proved to be one of the most successful horror films of the decade. Gore Verbinski’s(Pirates of the Caribbean films) direction in this film is tight, and his grainy and gloomy cinematography sets the tone for this film’s high creep factor. The pacing is good as well, thanks much to this film’s tight screenplay that engages the viewer with it’s development of the story. I really liked the investigative scenes into the background behind the tape. I found all the elements thrown in to be really interesting, which is why this film paced so well.
Of course because this flick is a remake, I must compare it to the original. Unfortunately for Ringu, the original film, it suffered from a very very low-budget. The Ring had a much better budget than Ringu did, therefore the kills in The Ring were MUCH better than those in Ringu. The storyline for the two films is generally the same, with minor details in the development of the story the only difference. One thing I will not is that the girl(Samara) in Ringu is hands down much creepier looking than the girl in The Ring.
Overall, this is a good watch that I recommend to fans of the horror genre, and especially fans of J-Horror. We get some great scares and an interesting plot that helps this near 2 hour film pace greatly.
Rating: 8/10
- I ranked this film #18 in my Top 50 Horror Movies of the Decade(11-20) post.
