After investigative journalist Rachel Keller’s 16 year-old niece, Katie, dies in mysterious circumstances, Rachel (played by Naomi Watts) vows to get to the bottom of the death. Rachel discovers that three of Katie’s friends are also dead; chillingly, all four teenagers died at 10 p.m. on the same night.
Rachel’s search for the truth leads her to Shelter Mountain Inn, a secluded holiday retreat, visited by all four teenagers, just a week before their death. There she discovers a horrifying video tape which contains a series of haunting and terrifying images. Her shock at the contents of the tape has barely subsided when she receives a chilling phone call: “You will die in seven days.”
With the help of her friend, photographic expert Noah (Martin Henderson), Rachel tries to track down the secret of the video and tries to avert her impending death. Her search takes her to a secluded island and the mysterious Morgan Ranch, of which only the reclusive Richard Morgan now remains. Once a successful horse ranch, the horses are long gone, after
a mysterious disease drove them mad and caused them to run suicidally into the sea. What was the cause of this strange illness? What is the story behind the tragic suicide of his wife, Anna? And what happened to their daughter Samara, who disappeared as a child?
Time is running out for Rachel, who has only seven days to save herself, and now Noah has seen the sinister video tape. Rachel’s horror is compounded when she returns home to discover that her young son, Aidan (David Dorfman) has also watched the tape.
The build up to the death is signified by the victim seeing each of the images from the video tape in turn: a dead horse, a falling ladder, a wooden chair, a box full of severed fingers, a plague of maggots, an old-fashioned mirror... The final, mysterious image, which gives rise to the film’s strapline “Before you die, you see the ring” is a strange bright ring of light. The video, to me, is a fantastic piece of work, which demonstrates just how some fairly innocuous images can become horrifying and disturbing when shot in a certain way, and interspersed with more unpleasant images.
This was a gripping and original horror story. Based on a Japanese hit movie, “Ringu”, and directed by Gore Verbinski, it is a stylish, well directed and genuinely terrifying movie. At the beginning, it appeared to be a classic teen horror movie, but was nothing of the sort. Although there are some classic “jumpy” moments, this film’s horror is in its powerful, haunting imagery and the suspense which it provokes. Therefore horror fans should not be put off by its 15 certificate. This is certainly not an indication that the film is not scary – it is just that its horror does not come from violence or blood shed.
What appeared to be a fairly clichéd happy ending was subject to a sudden, shocking twist which made the film even more enjoyable. The ending is also very clever, almost making the viewer a part of the film itself! There are some particularly shocking scenes and although I am not normally affected by horror films, this one was genuinely disturbing and stayed with me for some time afterwards and images from the video tape flashed in to my mind on more than one occasion.
The casting is adequate and the characters well-acted, although no performance was outstanding. The plot contained a couple of minor flaws at the beginning: Rachel’s connection of the deaths with Shelter Mountain Inn and the video tape seemed too quick, and Rachel and Noah’s research was always very successful: internet searches throwing up only one result, inch thick documents falling open to the correct page – but these were nothing but minor irritations for me, and on the whole it was a thoroughly gripping, thought provoking and entertaining film.
It did, however, leave me with a lot of unanswered questions. Fortunately, the DVD (a Region 1 copy, purchased on holiday) includes another short film (around 10 minutes) directed by Gore Verbinski, comprising deleted scenes interspersed with imagery from the film. The scenes were presumably deleted because they gave away too many secrets of the plot too early on in the film, but they serve well to explain some of the secrets of the Ring. This short film is entitled “Don’t Watch This” – and this is sound advice for anyone who has not yet watched the film, as it will at best make no sense, and at worst ruin the film for you. Once you have watched the film, however, I’d recommend watching the short film, as it may help you piece together some of the jigsaw. The film itself also probably lends itself well to a second viewing, as clues and significant events may not seem so at the time and will not seem relevant until you know the outcome of the mystery.
The film may not appeal to everyone. If you are easily affected by horror films and prone to nightmares then it is definitely not for you. But if you enjoy a chilling and genuinely terrifying film, which explores the concept of real, inherent evil, then you should definitely watch this.
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The imagery does stay with you for a while afterwards doesn't it? I'm glad I watched the Hollywood remake as the original would probably have scared the living daylights out of me if it's as scary as people say - and this coming from an avid horror fan! I thought the story was good, but couldn't really invest in any of the characters though. x
spikkle2004 26.07.2004 20:02
well some may say im stupid but i am calling your ring review exceptional because its so well written and imformative, and for someone like me who is such a big fan of this film, i think you gave it 100% justice, well done, this is a really good review! Tom x
eve6kicksass 12.12.2003 00:18
I had very mixed feelings about this film....let me put it this way, I laughed as much as I was scared by it!!! I love Naomi Watts as an actress (she was even better in MULHOLLAND DRIVE, which you should check out), but what annoyed me about her character (not her perf) is that we dont seem to learn anything about her except the fact that she is a reporter...so i was difficult for me to care about her character. Still, it was overall a good film....I'm sure you are waiting for THE RING 2, which is coming out in the UK next November!!!!!!!!! A glowing review, to be sure!!! Chris xxxx
Advantages: supernatural horror, done in the best possible way Disadvantages: it makes you think, it's not gory (couldbe disadvantages depending on who you are)
pesky33 26.05.2004 (30.05.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of The Ring (DVD)
Advantages: Loads. Great film all round - tense, disturbing and very scary. Disadvantages: So good that it's actually unsettling and not easy to watch.
Howiemon 07.03.2003 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of The Ring (DVD)
Advantages: Loads. Great film all round - tense, disturbing and very scary. Disadvantages: So good that it's actually unsettling and not easy to watch.
Howiemon 07.03.2003 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of The Ring (DVD)
![The Ring [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78488210.jpg "The Ring [DVD]")
Oct 13th, 2003
exceptional by (2%):
very helpful by (98%):
