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Member since:23.07.2003
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Hollywood is always remaking foreign language films, and they don’t always do a very good job. For example, whilst ‘Open your Eyes’ was critically acclaimed, most people seem to think ‘Vanilla Sky’ is a bit rubbish. It was only a matter of time before someone did a remake of a Japanese horror film, and I was not surprised when they decided on ‘Ringu’, being the most infamous one.
My husband has seen both versions, and suggested that if I wanted to watch the original, it might be best to watch the remake first, as he found some of the original hard to follow (what with not understanding some of the Japanese references, and the whole language for that matter). Being a fan of Japanese horror, I was obviously planning to watch ‘Ringu’ eventually, so I decided to take his advice.
**An outline of the plot, desperately not trying to give away any spoilers**
Journalist Rachel Keller loses her niece in a mysterious manner, and is begged by her sister to find out how it happened. After questioning the girl’s friends, it becomes apparent that she watched a video with three friends from another school a week before, and the other three students died on the same night, and at the same time as she did.
Rachel follows the trail to the cabin they stayed in when they
watched the video, and finds the tape for herself. She watches it, and finds it is a bizarre mixture of black and white images, showing horses on a beach, a woman in a mirror, and other seemingly random subjects. When the tape finishes, she receives a phone call telling her she will die in seven days.
The film follows these seven days, and Rachel’s frantic search for the truth.
**The verdict**
I had tried to stay away from too many reviews of this film, and had only heard that this was about a videotape that killed you seven days after you watched it. I had imagined a series of people watching the tape, and then us seeing their grisly ends seven days later, the method of death changing each time in ever more spectacular ways.
What you actually get is more of a ‘whodunnit’ mystery, a fact that I’ve tried to reflect in my plot section above. It’s not really about the tape that kills everyone; it’s more about someone who has seen the tape struggling for survival. I liked the way this was done – rather than a murderer picking off victims at random, there is a definite reasoning behind why the deaths are occurring.
The other thing I was worried about was that the remake would lose all the best nuances of Japanese horror – as I said, I hadn’t seen ‘Ringu’, but I’ve seen a few other similar films, and the horror is always based more on intense imagery and the soundtrack than any gory special effects. I find this a lot more interesting than seeing fake blood spurting everywhere, or directors just making you jump. Luckily, Gore Verbinski (who also directed ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’) has stayed true to the genre. His camera work is flawless, with every scene lit perfectly to create the mood, and the soundtrack is suitably weird, giving the whole film an unsettling quality.
The other thing I really liked about this film is the lack of concrete answers it gives you. The ending isn’t handed to you on a plate; the film does have a spectacular ending, but you still need to think about what you’ve seen, and fit the clues together in the same way as Rachel has had to. Everything is given to you, but it took me a couple of minutes after the film finished talking about it for me to fully understand exactly how it all fitted together, and once I’d worked it out, it was pretty much perfect.
The video itself that they watch seems like random weird imagery put together for weirdness sake, which is certainly what it might have been in a less clever horror film. However, even every image on the video is there for a reason, helping whoever watches it, in this case, Rachel, to work it out for themselves. As the film progressed, I found myself thinking, ‘Oh, right!’ more than once.
Anyway, I’m making this film sound like a dull mystery, when really at its heart it’s a supernatural horror. The adult actors, Naomi Watts (Rachel) and Martin Henderson (Noah), give solid performances, although Watts did have a tendency to overact at points. It’s really the children’s acting talent which steals the show though; Daveigh Chase (Samara) and David Dorfman (Aiden) are two of the spookiest looking children I’ve ever seen, more so even than Haley Joel Osment, and both give performances beyond their years.
**The verdict from someone who’s seen both versions**
I asked Ian what he thought about the film as he’s seen the original, and he prefers this remake. He said it would have made it easier for him to follow the Japanese version had he seen this one first, and the only thing he enjoyed more in the Japanese version were some of the visual effects involving Samara.
Update – I have now seen the original, and can say that this remake is superior in my opinion. I am reviewing the original separately as well, but in the meantime, here’s a potted opinion.
I found the original Japanese film to be confusing, and not scary in the slightest. The Gore Verbinski version has definitely got a more cohesive plot, with everything happening for a definite reason. I personally thought the effects were not as good, and the whole film lacked any sort of edge. On the plus side, the lighting and music effects were more unsettling, but overall, the remake has a much better story line, better performances, and has an ending which leaves you feeling a lot more satisfied.
**Conclusion**
This film is a fantastically unexpected treat for me; the horror for me was born from the tension created by the creepiness of the soundtrack and the weird visuals. The ending was unexpected, and the whole thing had both a satisfying conclusion, whilst leaving it wide open for ‘Ring 2’ which I believe is being filmed next year.
Rated - 15 (due to the absence of gory effects, although I personally think it should be an 18 as it's fairly disturbing)
Running time - 115 minutes
DVD extras –
Subtitles Chapter selection Theatrical trailer ‘Don’t watch this’ – a cobbled together mishmash of deleted scenes, put together in a nonsensical fashion, and interspersed with scenes cut from the videotape featured in the film. ‘Watch this’ – a trailer for ‘catch Me If You Can’
Pictures of The Ring (DVD)
Rachel watches the tape
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I loved this - it's fabulously eerie and clever; I think the remake is generally very underrated. Did you know Daveigh Chase also voiced Lilo in Lilo & Stitch? A very different role I'm sure you'll agree! Great review :) tom
kirstymack80 02.06.2004 19:28
I kept seeing tiny bits of this as it was on the movie channel when I was in America! I think I saw the middle and end first, then the beginning and it was all too much for the Mack brain! You've made it sound really intriguing though so I may rent it! KirstyM
An unexpected marriage of big-budget production values and low-budget instincts,The ... more
Ringoffers chills to be savoured. Usually when Hollywood indulges its cash-hungry game of remaking foreign films the result sacrifices much of what made the original so...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
An unexpected marriage of big-budget production values and low-budget instincts,The ... more
Ringoffers chills to be savoured. Usually when Hollywood indulges its cash-hungry game of remaking foreign films the result sacrifices much of what made the original so...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
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: Eerie, kind of scary (but more disturbing really), the ending was a real twist - unpredictablity is great! Disadvantages: The horse scene was unnecessary in my opinion
Sarah_Louise 02.04.2003 (02.04.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of The Ring (DVD)
Advantages: Gripping and eerie! Disadvantages: Not enough conclusions made about mysterious videotape and other parts of story, and the explanations that are given are brief
spobz 11.03.2003 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of The Ring (DVD)
![The Ring [DVD] [2003]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78523730.jpg "The Ring [DVD] [2003]")
May 26th, 2004
(May 30th, 2004)
exceptional by (4%):
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