Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Well, It Isn't About the Hola Hoop!
Have you ever heard the story about the tape that kills you when you watch it? Well, if you haven't, you should listen and listen well because it works like a survival guide in this static empire we call entertainment. Dismissed as an urban legend by some, it showcases the fact that there is actually something that preys upon people that are caught unaware and this thing, it isn't like you or me. It doesn't care who it harms or if you meant to watch it at all, only wanting you to figure out what the tale it tells is before you see the ring. If you don't, well. We begin with a tale of four teenagers spending time in a cabin located amidst postcard scenery, all of them partying and enjoying themselves while taking time to be in the arms of the people they love. Everything seems to be perfect, too, until something happens. While trying to record a football game, they picked up something strange, a broadcast that they never wanted to witness, and then they made the innocent mistake of watching it while trying to see the match-up they taped. Soon afterward, they receive a phone call that tells them that they would die in seven days. Thinking that this was something of a joke (or at least dismissing it as such), the four teenagers began seeing things with their inner eyes, dreaming lexicons of vividly nightmarish dreams, and on the seventh night, well. And thus it beings. As far as the mingling dread and cinematic visions goes, The Ring was an impressively crafted blanket of both moods and ideas, forging a tale around a haunting legend about what happens when evil truly has a tale to tell. From indentions of the atmospheric to mooding set by the candlelight of dread, the story itself propels onward and makes its viewers pay attention, demanding that the audience keeps its eyes forward at all times in order to understand what is taking place. It isn't a table set with little creatures eerily yelling "boo" every now and again either, but is instead a work that manifests itself as one piece, coming together to leave a chilling impression in the spine of those who watch it. The horror within it, although buried, sometimes peeks out and says that it is watching its watchers, making use of cryptic visualizations that are haunting morbid and that demand that you remember them. And remember them you will, because the presentation of the idea is nothing if not scarring. This is furthered by a cast that is actually believable, a feat in and of itself in modern movies, and by the fact that this is not a movie with a happy ending. In fact, the ending of this, well, it leaves enough question marks open to let the viewer think thoughts of doom each and every time they reflect back, knowing that the beastly could always come and say hello. (And the short piece included is like this as well, making it all the more frightening when the exclamation point is added to that retelling). If you are a fan of the genre and you like your plots thought out, then this is a movie that I would highly recommend. Statements proclaiming that this movie didn't make sense are absurd and without merit, and people that say that it didn't set an atmosphere obviously need to upgrade their senses a notch or two. Perhaps, with a fair number of distractions, the movie could be ruined and perhaps, with the wrong setting, the effect wouldn't be as well noted. Still, turning off the lights and sitting in the darkness, letting the little chills walking the stairwell of your back, works well with this piece because it has the ability to be haunting. Many tales, they are scary, but few tales can actually evoke a feeling of dread. To me, movies like The Ring are what tuning in are all about.
Rating: - It Doesn¿t End When You Think It Does!
As a horror movie, The Ring, which is remake of a popular Japanese film of the same name, is very easy on the eyes. The photography, dark and brooding, is outstanding. And the female talent - Amber Tamblyn, who turns green (and who eats it early), and Naomi Watts, who doesn't do either - are both delicious to watch.Amber and three of her buddies (including her boyfriend) catch a video - and they all die within a week, exactly. Naomi watches it too, as do her ex-husband and her son; so she's driven to solve the mystery before she croaks; which she does (solve it, that is), detective style, in bits. The acting in the film is first rate; and Naomi is entertaining to follow with her beautiful green eyes and overly luscious red lips (even though she doesn't kiss another girl, as she did most recently in Mulholland Drive). Without giving everything away, Naomi ties up all of the story's loose ends. (Each person sees a ring before they die, which is but a piece.) The movie, however, doesn't end when you think it does; but it finishes later - before you think it should. (Does that make sense?) Watching this feature reminded me of a Dean Koontz novel. The story is fairly linear, with just a touch of technology and science (medicine) mixed in for fright. The visuals are only mildly gruesome; and all of the fear is generated by acting and pacing, which makes the movie ultimately very satisfying. I'm not usually into horror flicks, but I enjoyed this film immensely. Naomi Watts puts on a sterling performance. Don't miss it!
Rating: - A serverly under-rated film!
"The Ring" is a merciless thriller, threateningly beautiful to look at and eerie to behold. Director Verbinski and screenwriter Ehren Kruger. Every scene and every shot of "The Ring," the smart American remake of the popular 1998 Japanese horror film "Ringu," contains a nearly suffocating feeling of dread. It weighs down heavily on the characters' lives and the viewer's head, refusing to let up. Directed by Gore Verbinski (2001's "The Mexican") with a sharp eye for visual detail and a keen sense of generating suspense, the film is a creepy and considerably unsettling experience that works its way deeply under your skin. The frightening prologue is a real attention-grabber. During a sleepover, two teenage girls, Katie (Amber Tamblyn) and Becca (Rachael Bella), discuss a legend involving a videotape in which, the moment you finish watching it, you receive a telephone call informing you that you have seven days to live. After Katie informs Becca that she watched it exactly a week ago, things grow quite dire. Enter single mother and news reporter Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts), who is asked by her sister (Lindsay Frost) to investigate the circumstances surrounding daughter Katie's mysterious sudden death. Rachel's research ultimately leads her to the infamous tape in question. When she watches it and, to her horror, receives the cryptic phone call, the countdown to her impending death begins. Unless Rachel can find out where the tape originated and put a stop to the curse, she faces the same fate as her unfortunate niece. The Ring" is a superbly crafted horror film that, rare to form, does not lessen the impact or dumb down its foreign counterpart. Not overly violent and with almost no gore, the unshakable effectiveness it mutters up comes from what is hinted at, but not seen. This tactic works magnificently, since the characters themselves are faced with something that they do not understand. The opening scene, for example, has a setup similar to 1996's "Scream," but instead of ending in a bloodbath, opts for nothing more than a horrific sense of not knowing what to expect. Another sequence involving a crazed horse that gets loose on a barge headed for an island is spectacularly tense and imaginative. WARNING: This is for smart people only, not those who liked films like Scream.
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