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.


a cut above the sludge that Hollywood usually calls "scary"   February 16, 2003
 53 out of 60 found this review helpful

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"!


Psychological Horror   April 3, 2004
 40 out of 57 found this review helpful

For those who like their horror with spurting blood and ear-piercing screams, "The Ring" will disappoint since its disturbing eeriness stems more from psychological tension and creepy images. That's not to say it doesn't have its gory moments, though. Naomi Watts plays Rachel, a reporter, who sets out to decipher why her teenage niece died unexpectedly. When she hears rumors of a deadly videotape, she tracks it down and watches it alone in a cabin. The tape itself is not frightening - not at first; it's a surreal collage of striking, bizarre images. But immediately after seeing it, Rachel receives a phone call that sets everything in motion.

The pacing is superb as no scene, no moment is wasted. Director Verbinski makes sure that the viewer must pay attention to every word, and this intense demand on the viewer increases the tension. The videotape itself evolves as the film does, making its initial strangeness transform into real horror. As Rachel discovers the meaning of each image, the suspense mounts, especially when her friend Noah (Martin Henderson) and her small son Aidan (David Dorfman) become involved. Watts does an admirable job keeping her character grounded and real, and that goes a long way in upping the stakes for the viewer. Little David Dorfman plays her adorable but creepy son Aidan with just the right amount of wide-eyed expression and deadpan delivery. Just wait until the next time you slip a VHS tape into a player, or flick on the television. You will immediately be taken back to this film with a small jolt.

This chilling film relies heavily on atmosphere and anticipation to evoke its horror. Watch it at night in a darkened room for maximum creepiness. Viewers with overactive imaginations will be freaked out, and shouldn't watch it alone. Skip this, however, if you don't find cinematic mind games creepy enough. Although most people won't find "The Ring" heart-palpitating terrifying, they will come away from its viewing with its disturbing eeriness under their skin.


Modern horror's finest hour...   January 30, 2003
 34 out of 40 found this review helpful

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.


How awful.   November 25, 2002
 26 out of 83 found this review helpful

Well, having seen the Japanese version the only way I can in the US, downloading it (a case could be made for buying an all-region or region 2 dvd player, but that's ridiculous), I then saw this. What a mistake. This remake ( would be more appropriate considering their choice to hide the fact that it is based on a far superior Japanese film) is terrible; unnecessary and laughable additions were made and much of interest was dropped (like, those character thingies, who are like people. but who needs any sense of real characters anyway?) such as the ability to use REAL suspense and SUBTLETY in favor of cheap shocks that weren't even shocking. Acting was...awful. I expected better of Naomi Watts, and knew nothing of the rest (except for the fact that they were in a relatively successful film now, I wouldn't expect to see much more of them either).
The movie is an insult to American audiences --or perhaps American screenwriters. Ambiguity (no, I'm not referring to the pointlessly unanswered questions it DOES have) and subtlety were thrown out the window, as if to suggest American audiences wouldn't understand them (considering recent "horror" in the states, this is a somewhat understandable assumption). That, or the screenwriter was unable to use such techniques.
The great and famous (nearly) final scene of Ringu was horribly corrupted and nowhere near as disturbing and frightening as the original, and even ruined in advance (it's far more unexpected in the Japanese version).

And by the way, the Japanese version (based on a book, which is even MORE different yet) is unavailable currently in the states, despite being four years old (Which is not "a long time ago" as one other reviewer thought).