The Ring (Widescreen Edition)

"The Ring" is an American adaptation of the 1998 Japanese horror film called "Ringu." The plot is hideously simple: a videotape floating around kills anyone who watches it at the end of seven days. We know this because after the poor viewer gets to the end of the film, the phone "rings" and a voice whispers "seven days." A week later, someone finds the body of the viewer dead as a doornail with horribly swollen facial features. During the final week of life, people who watched the tape suffer from unpleasant hallucinations and nosebleeds. If this sounds like an urban legend to you, you're right on the money. But when this urban legend appears in the form of a movie like "The Ring," it blows hooks hanging off doors or ghostly hitchhikers right out of the water. This movie is full of creepy shocks, claustrophobic atmosphere, and hidden symbols and clues. It even has Naomi Watts, the blond babe from Lynch's schizophrenic "Mulholland Drive" as the main character.

The beginning of the film pulls no punches. Katie and her friend Rebecca are discussing the effects of electromagnetic waves on the human brain when an offhand comment about a videotape that kills comes to the fore. Katie looks fearful as she confesses to her friend that, indeed, she saw the tape in a cabin with some friends. After some playful hijinks, we discover that Katie really did see the tape as we catch a quick glimpse of her final moments of life. This tragedy brings into the story her enigmatic cousin Aidan and his mother, a reporter for a Seattle newspaper named Rachel. At the request of Katie's mother, Rachel begins to investigate the videotape, a task that assumes dire proportions after Rachel watches the tape and realizes she might die in a week's time. What follows is a race against impending doom, a doom that assumes additional dimensions when Rachel's acquaintance Noah and her son Aidan watch the video.

Research into the tape unearths one strange turn after another. A woman who appears in the tape turns out to be one Anna Morgan, a horse breeder who went insane after adopting a little girl named Samara. Moreover, the images Rachel saw on the tape continue to turn up during her investigations. As the mystery slowly unravels, many questions arise. Who is Samara and what is her connection with this dreadful videotape? Is this frightening little girl a ghost who chooses to haunt through the processes of media instead of rattling chains in a house? How can misery transfer itself to an inanimate object? And my personal query, did anyone else find Aidan as eerie as Samara?

One thing is certain: repeated viewings of this film are most helpful. One time through won't do the trick with this movie. You must be patient and pay attention because the answers are do not come easy. I think too many people expected an undemanding slasher film instead of this suspenseful, downbeat exercise in cerebral terror. I for one welcome these fresh attempts to deepen the horror genre. Gory exploitation films and teenage stalker movies certainly have a place (consider how Jason, Freddy, and Michael Myers are now a permanent part of our pop culture), but for those of us who want something deeper and darker to strike us insensate, "The Ring" delivers the goods. The scene where Noah experiences what really happens when one's seven day waiting period expires will stay with me for a long time, and it was all done without a knife, axe, machete, power tool, or whatever else horror film murderers are using to dispatch their victims with these days. I haven't been this unsettled by a little girl since the twins in Kubrick's "The Shining." "The Ring" hits a home run on several levels.

The DVD version, with wonderful sound and a great picture enhanced the horrific aspects of the film. Included on the version I watched was a trailer for the original "Ringu" and deleted scenes that provide additional information about the mysteries of the film, including a chilling alternate ending. Regrettably, there were no commentaries or behind the scenes clips for the movie, although one imagines that a "Special Edition" will soon appear containing such things (for extra dollars, of course). If the Japanese public's response to "Ringu" is any indication, expect a sequel to "The Ring" in our country within a year or two. Sequels often do serious damage to the original picture, but if more films take us deeper into the mysterious realm that is Samara, I welcome them with open arms.

After being barraged with countless trailers and promotions for all the movies that come out, I somehow manage to find only three or four really worthwhile movies that I like every year.

Despite some of the criticisms leveled at The Ring by a variety of disparate sources, I consider it to be (if not a masterpiece) a provocative and entertaining movie.

I watched this movie without the corrupting influence of Ringu to color my views. I have yet to see Ringu (I await its imminent release on the 4th), so I have rated The Ring based on its own merits rather than comparing it to the original (which by the way differed so much from Koji's book as to relegate criticism leveled at Kubrick's "The Shining" for its lack of similarity to King's book to a low level of believability).

I bring up Kubrick to make a point... I consider Verbinski's "The Ring" to be just as frightening as Kubrick's "The Shining." And when evaluating the merits of Kubrick's work, it is unfair to compare it to another source (in this case the book). It is similarly unfair to criticise differences in Ringu and The Ring. Carbon copies stink of redundance... and the twists that Verbinski adds to his work to "Americanize" it should give Ringu fans another perspective from which to view the characters.

The other source of criticism lobbed at The Ring stems from what some consider to be an editing problem on a massive scale. I argue that this was intentional and fit the schizophrenic and unpredictable plot better than spoonfeeding us the whole thing. The whole reason that the movie was frightening to me was that it had all these subtle connections (like the fly on the tape walking in circles) that you had to really look hard to notice. And those little things added to the subtle ghost story that is The Ring.

Upon watching the first scene, I was worried that this was going to be another teeny flick, but then I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the teeny-bop feel of the beginning was incidental and that the plot would be mainly played out by adults. In fact, one of the strongest points of The Ring is that, unlike most horror bilge, it does not use violence to carry the plot. Of the relatively few deaths that occur, I can say that each was in the plot for a definitive reason. There was no ritual "killing of the excess characters" that always seems to be a staple of the more "R-ish" rated movies in Hollywood this century.

And this is the real terror of the movie. There are a few jump scenes (including the infamous final sequence that still makes me nervous when I walk past my TV) but the feeling of dread is constant. I could not distinguish points in the movie when there was less or more dread (as one can usually do in horror flicks to accurately predict such jump moments) so the few BOO!s that there were had me surprised and scared.

The Ring was more than anything else a classical ghost story wrapped in the facade of a modern setting. In fact, I was reminded in some scenes of the last great ghost story to grace the theaters... The Shining. The difference being that the ghostly Samara chooses to haunt our technology rather than be constrained to a specific place. This is an interesting cultural event... our world has been "shrunk" by technology and people are no longer tied to one locale. Neither is the haunting in this remarkably innovative movie.

Overall, I highly recommend this movie for anyone who wants to be frightened sans knowing that a good portion of their ticket cost will be paying for the massive quantities of katchup used to produce the film. Verbinski's "The Ring" is an intelligent movie for an intelligent audience that will neither compare it mindlessly with its predecessor or need the actors to spoonfeed them the whole plot in direct dialogue. So, go watch it. You know, you have to, because... Before you die, you see "The Ring"!

Let me start off by stating the fact that I am somewhat of a horror movie buff, I watch just about any horror movie that I come across and I own a horror movie collection that contains about 75 real gems of pure terror. With that being said , I must say that the only movie that has ever truly disturbed me while watching it would be Gore Verbinski's stunning remake of "The Ring". I found myself on the edge of my seat from the chilling opening scene right up until the mind bending conclusion.

This is in my humble opinion, the best horror film to be released in at least 10 years. Any analysis of the plot would reveal too many spoilers so I will only stsate that if you are a fan of cerebral horror and dont mind the fact that the story will not be spoon fed to you in the style of a slasher film, then do yourself a favor, turn off the lights, and watch "The Ring". Fans of the genre should not be disappointed.

The Ring (unlike its inferior sequel) is a complex, mysterious movie with a deep backstory. However, it is told in a subtle almost evasive way in which the audience needs to figure it out through repeated viewings. The Ring's fascinating yet mysterious story spawned many websites and web forums simply devoted to unraveling its mysteries. If you were ever confused about what in the world this movie was about here are the basic meanings behind the story. Though the movie is meant to be "interpretive" and many create their own explanations to many of the mysteries, here are the ones generally agreed upon by The Ring aficionados. Much of this information is taken from Ring websites and forums. WARNING: Watch the movie first since this will basically give all the major story behind the plot away. You've been warned.

The Backstory of Samara and the Morgan's:
Samara, when alive, was a very powerful psychic child with a terrible sadistic streak. She could implant her nightmarish mental images into photograph film. This specific ability is labelled by Eola County Psychiatric Hospital as "projected thermography". This is what is generaly known as PHOTOKINESIS (the telekinetic ability to create, control, and manipulate light and energy). She also had limited Telepathic powers as she had the ability of implanting thoughts and images into the minds of others (into her parent's minds and the horses at the Morgan ranch), however, she could not tell the future nor read other's minds since she could not stop her own murder. She may have had Hydrokinesis (the ability to manipulate water) and she also seems to have Pyrokinesis (the ability to manipulate fire) -- the wooden walls in her barn room were burned by her. Anna Morgan could not have a child naturally and according to her husband Richard, "was not supposed to". The Morgan's left the island and came back with a very young Samara, "adopted, they said". Afterwards Samara began attacking Anna Morgan (along with the horses and apparently Richard Morgan) with horrific images and hallucinations. Anna was driven almost insane and would spend hours brushing her hair in front of a mirror for no reason. Anna spent some time in a mental ward. Samara was diagnosed by doctors and paranormal researchers. Richard Morgan apparently put a stop to that and tries to hinder any more attention on the "little monster" Samara (apparently out of concern for society). Anna, out of sheer torment and maybe also out of concern for society, kills Samara by throwing her down the well. (Its interesting to note that Richard may have also been there helping since its unlikely Anna had the strength to move the stone lid over the well by herself). After spending seven days slowly dying at the bottom of the well Samara contemplates revenge on all humanity over her horrific death. Anna Morgan commits suicide by jumping off a cliff apparently out of a combination of guilt and persisting hallucinations (probably intensified by Samara's agony and rage directed at Anna while dying in the well).

The documents:
There are shown several documents regarding the whole backstory from which some of the above is based on. There are two interesting ones of note. A certificate of live birth of Samara is shown stating the Morgan's as parents. Another interesting document states that Samara was impervious to physical pain. Neither of these two documents seems to be of any relevance in either of the two Ring movies.


Samara, the present:
Samara, now dead, exists mainly in these 3 primary ways:
1) Her psychic energy persists inside the minds of her victims who watched the tape (in dreams and hallucinations).
2) Part of her psychic energy seems to persists in the physical world mainly in broadcast signals (air waves, phone lines) and magnetic media like VHS tape, (example: the phone rings when you make the connection to her after watching the tape). When alive one could assume that Samara learned or accomplished this while spending months isolated in a barn with only a television as her companion.
3) Around the immediate vicinity of death. Her spirit haunts that place down in the well.

The Tape
The images on the tape are a combination of dream imagery and symbols that representing some aspects of Samara's life, her suffering and death, and the "nightmare images" she likes to come up with. Most prominent was the ring of light created by the well's stone lid that she would stare at for seven days until she died -- hence The Ring.

The Curse:
Samara, now dead, has no power over the world or the living, except down in the well which she haunts. The ONLY way Samara could spread her curse and kill her victims was through the visuals of her VHS tape. The images act as a conduit for her psychic force to infect the minds of the ones who watch the images. If Samara is in your head, she can kill you! (Apparently in the most horrific way causing cardiac arrest and facial deformity.) The VHS tape concerned in the movie had its origin in the lodge that was built above her well where the teens where taping a football game but the "curse" images were taped instead. Samara's angry spirit did it. The victims, with Samara firmly in their brains overseeing them now, were spared death if they made a copy and made someone else watch it, but that is merely a riddle that few can solve in time. Thus, a perpetuator of the curse is spared death but most will die.

The death of Richard Morgan:
Richard Morgan was still being plagued by the hallucinations for years until his death (he states this in the bathtub scene) and somehow knew that now (via the tapes) Samara's curse was out in the world so he kills himself. Richard thought the tape-duping was only the beginning in which Samara would be unleashed on the world.

Conclusion:
There you have it. Take this with you next time you watch the movie, ;). This also does not contradict the inferior sequel's continuity of the story either, even though the sequel seems to diminish the importance of the tape curse (unfortunately). The disappointing sequel is a lot less about backstory, unsolved mysteries and family ambiguities and more about the immediate scenario of Aiden's possession by Samara's spirit and it also tries to add conclusion in the form of a hockey hollywoodesque showdown between Rachel and Samara. The only backstory information we get from the sequel is that Samara's real mother is still alive but insane and Samara's spirit has tried many times throughout the years to posses other children, that's really it.

Ok, let me start by saying that I saw The Ring in the theater and it scared the bejeesus out of me, not so much in the theater as over the next few days in my own home.
How scary is it? It's probably an individual thing. Some people can't stand the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard, for others it's the sound of a squeaking balloon; I thought the Exorcist was a joke, some people call it still the scariest movie ever. For myself, I don't think I've ever seen a movie that freaked me out as much as this one, but that's just me. I guess that what tweaks that sensitive nerve is different in everybody.
There has also been a lot of comparison between The Ring and the original Japanese Ringu, mostly by reviewers whose level of discrimination and taste are, by their own admission, far beyond that of the average American. Please! Most criticism in this area is just snobbery. Ok, I haven't seen Ringu, and I admit that The Ring probably has suffered to some extent in it's adaptation for American audiences. For example, the cursed video contains some images which are meant to be disturbing but which do not have anything to do with the movie, and that probably weakens it. But the original Ringu video (which I've seen) is only about 40 seconds long, too short for an element so central to the film. On the plus side, The Ring's production values are outstanding and the acting is solid. I'm sure The Ring stands up nicely next to the original.
To Verbinski's credit, The Ring doesn't succumb to the temptation to explain everything. That may make the movie seem disjointed and plotless to some, but in my view such spoon feeding is usually just patronizing. Some ambiguity here is probably a good thing.
I can't promise that this movie will scare everyone, but if my TV (which is broken) ever turns itself on and shows static, I'm running!

That's the Tagline that cringes up your spine after seeing THE RING. This movie is a complete Horror, Suspence, Thriller that mixes all of that and more to entice the senses of the Human mind.

THE RING is a story about a journalist who's investigating a mysterious video, that after watching it, you die in EXACTLY SEVEN DAYS.
Naomi Watts does an Incredible job as the main character, so does Martin Henderson (Noah) and David Dorfman (Aidan). You get to understand that each character feels for one another because of the things that happen all through the movie.

With Gore Verbinski, as the director of the film, he kept the creepiness of the original Japanese movie with some minor changes. The score of Hans Zimmer is also Well Done, lots of sudden sounds with mellow moods, adds to the whole unknown feeling of the film.

THE RING has tons of disturbing images, along with the mysterious video, which will stay in your head long after you see the movie. The pacing of the film never slows down because it makes the audience become involved, as if they are really living out the film. Also, the way it counts down from the first day all the way the seventh was very clever.

If you want a good new fright, THE RING is an instant recommendation.

I've seen both the American "Ring" and "Ringu", which I own and I enjoy both! "Ringu" is more subtle. The american version has more gotcha's in it. Comparing the two I can see why the americanized it. Some aspects of the original story just do not translate well, EX: predicting volcanic eruptions. The typical american would just not care about this as part of the story. Other than that difference as a major one, the rest are petty differences. The two movies are almost exact scene for scene in some instances. The American version does move the story along at a faster pace than the original does. Do see the Original version and then the American one and you will see the merits of both.

I had high hopes for this film, since it didn't appear from the commercials and trailer to have much in the way of what I like to call "idiot moments." These are the moments, usually in horror films, when you can no longer suspend disbelief because of a) events that are so completely implausible that they fall clearly outside even a remote realm of possibility, no matter how willing you are to believe the sometimes far-fetched occurrences that have led up to them, or b) characters who act with complete idiocy, defying every conceivable notion of rational behavior or logic. The second one is especially maddening, like having a character or characters travel to some distant town to see someone's grave, have them get there as the sun sets, but instead of checking into a nice Motel 6 and waiting until daylight to see what they're doing, they go on to the graveyard, usually without even a flashlight. Or when they know there's a homicidal maniac in the house, they still go into the basement to look for the missing cat.

There are only a few idiot moments in this film, which makes it a pretty effective thriller by current standards, at least for as long as you're watching it. Just don't give it too much critical examination afterward. For starters, while the basic notion is pretty much implausible, it's done with enough style and is well executed enough that you can and do tend to overlook its faults. The bluish lighting, and constant rainfall of the Seattle locations are effective at setting the mood, and probably don't even need the well-done menu screens that hint at some of the images in the suspect video tape, plus give us a notion that the story involves the institutionalizing of a character, and that alone can be a pretty creepy setup.

*SPOILER-SKIP TO NEXT PARAGRAPH* They also utilize the time-honored but way overused "gotcha" device in which you think the story is over and done with, only to find it's not. In this particular case, it's handled pretty effectively. Not like a supposedly-drowned Glenn Close suddenly sitting up in the bathtub, wielding a butcher knife, which I think we'll all agree is the cinematic equivalent of a 2x4 to the side of the head. In this film, it's much more subtle.

Those are the good things. Now the not-so-good:

The basic story is an OK premise for a late-night campfire tale, but not much more. How does this little girl know you've watched the video, and what celestial phone booth is she calling from? You might also ask about the manner of death that awaits you after viewing the tape, but that's a question that's never really answered. We're led to believe the victims are frightened to death, but in the end, who knows? I will say, Rick Baker's makeup effects for the girl and her victims are very effective, made all the more so by their fleeting, almost subliminal appearances on screen. You see them only in a very few, very brief glimpses. And believe me, you don't want to try to pause on them.

Other unanswered questions pop up after watching the film. The little girl lived some time in the not-too-distant past, but you get the idea it was clearly before the advent of home VCRs, so why does she exact her "revenge" (if that's the right word) through this particular technology? What the hell does videotape have to do with anything, other than to lend an urban legend quality to the story? And why *SPOILER-SKIP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH* should anyone be able to "immunize" themselves just through the act of copying the tape? Maybe it's how she encourages people to allow her to propagate. It's certainly the way the writer set up a potential sequel. And what's the big deal with the "gotcha" moment in which the main character's son is horrified that his mother has "set the little girl free?" As effective as that moment is when you see it for the first time, it doesn't hold up under scrutiny - the girl seemed pretty well able to murder people before being "set free," and now that she's "free" it seems she's still limiting her victims to viewers of the video, so what's the difference now? And what's the whole point of the girl's parents' story? We learn that the girl apparently caused "bad" things to happen, but the only example of that is her parents' horses suddenly turn into equine lemmings and run into the sea to drown. Granted, that could be pretty expensive, and it may be cause to shut her up in the stable/barn ("You'll stay here until you and the horses can get along, young lady!"), but not worth institutionalizing the girl, and then ultimately murdering her. So when all is said and done, what did we really learn from the whole trip to the girl's island home? It made no difference at all in the outcome of the story, other than setting us up for the "gotcha." The film spends so much time on this, though, that I have to think the storytellers expected it to do more, but failed.

I guess the long and the short of it is that it's a pretty visually effective movie (audibly effective, too - Hans Zimmer's score is ultra-creepy). It's definitely better than the usual teen screamer/Chucky/Jason/slasher movies, although the opening scenes make it look like the filmmakers are aspiring to that sub-genre. Just don't expect a lot of substance. And don't expect to remain frightened by the story after it's over and done and you've thought about it for 5 minutes before turning the lights out for the night. That's always been my touchstone for good scary movies. Can you walk away from it thinking that this could happen to you? Not this time.

I went to see this movie the first weekend it came out, keeping in mind that the assumtion was this was going to be just another slasher gore-fest with some ok CG effects. Well, believe me, after the first scene, I couldn't take my eyes off the movie screen. I am goin to break down many of the details and may accidentally give away some of the movie, so if you haven't seen it and would like to get the full effect (which I definitly recomend) do not read this.

Being a perfectionist is hard work as we have to analyze every aspect of the movie. Gore Verbinsky is also probably the same way as he pays an insane amount of attention to detail and keeping the movie from having inconsistencies (I have seen it three times and haven't found one yet). The first scene is probably the best one I have ever seen for starting out a movie, as it gets the audience so involved and pulls them so far into the world that they have no information on in the twilight zone-tradition that almost anyone with a mind has to watch the rest of the movie for closure on why the events happened the way they did. I must salute the director for his use of not-so-common camera angles and strobe-like film cutting because the images I saw I can still recall but not quite describe.

The storyline is amazing considering how outrageous it sounds and how realistic the movie makes it become. I compare this kind of plot to some of the best, including Se7en and Donnie Darko, all on my favorites list. Many people will need to watch the movie a few times over to actually have the plot snap together in their heads.

The best part to me was the audio track and sound effects. Just for fun, the third time I watched I closed my eyes during the first scene and I think I was just as, if not more, freaked out.

I would recoment this movie to people who enjoy watching something that would make them think and entertain them at the same time. Turn off the lights, turn on your speakers, and watch The Ring. Don't blame me for any nightmares...

I want to start out by saying I'm not easily scared. There are only a few movies that have had me peeking through my fingers as I watched it. "The Ring" is one of them. You probably already know the plot, so I'll just tell you what the actual movie is like. Every scene seems to be important or have some frightening part. Even though the discussion at the beginning of the movie isn't even supposed to be scary (about television waves), I already had the creeps. Know why? It was too quiet. There wasn't any background music, there wasn't ANYTHING. Just two teenage girls talking to each other. You never know when something's going to jump out at you. This movie seems to really take advantage of that. Practically the whole movie is quiet in the background. When there is music, it sends chills down your spine. During "THE TAPE", my cousin claimed to have heard "Cha-ching" noises in the background. I've yet to heard this, but I believe him. Everytime you see this film, you notice something new. A lot of the things you notice will scare the heck out of you, too. There are "rings" in a lot of scenes, for instance, when Noah picks up his coffee cup, there is a ring left on the table. I haven't seen the original movie called "Ringu", but maybe it's better that I saw this one first. While a lot of movies (Scream, I know what you did last summer) seem to think that violence equals scary, "The Ring" takes a different path. It scares you psychologically with smart images, a unique story, and terrifying scenes. There's hardly any violence, actually. When I think of this movie, I remember myself huddling down in my theatre seat and closing my eyes. Yet, I never wanted to leave. It's great movie, that's just on the brink of comfortable scary, and a little too scary. It terrified me and everyone I saw it with. But we LOVED it! This movie somehow targets what scares you most and intensifies it for 2 hours. My cousin and I talked about it after we saw it for about an hour. It sticks with you. The last time I saw it was October, and I still think about it! See this movie, if you dare.