Imagine if you were the Devils Mother, because that is how Anna Morgan felt when she brutally murdered her young Daughter Samara 18 years ago on Shelter Mountain.
Anna and Richard Morgan lived on Moesko Island and had been trying for a child for so long, and then one Winter in 1978 after over 67 miscarraiges they went away and later returned with Samara, they said to the locals that Samara was adopted and that a Doctor on the mainland had helped them after Samara's real mother had died from mysterious circumstances. It wasnt all fun and games once they had settled into the ranch though, not for the parents at least. Cracks began to emerge when the Anna complained of having mental images burnt into her mind and soon Samara was to blame, and so Richard resorted to hiding her away in the barn in an iscolated room, Samara was trapped. But one day the horses began to run to the ocean and commiting suicide, and the Morgans were distraught, it is said that horses sense things before humans, but what did they sense?
Samara was sent to a psychiatric home as a recommendation from the local doctor on the mainland, because Samara was never sleeping, because the horses kept her awake, but once the psychiatrists had examined Samara they discovered that after taking x-rays of her all they got back were strange pictures that Samara had made, evil pictures. The problems persisted so one day whilst on an outing to Shelter Mountain Samara was singing by the well watching the horses, Anna, her mother approached her from behind, shoved a black bag over her head and suffocated her, telling Samara she was all she ever wanted before shoving her down the well and leaving her for dead. Anna then sealed the well and forgot that Samara ever existed.
After this Anna commited suicide and Richard was left on his own, but this is not where the story ended.
Once the Morgans had returned home people noticed Samaar wasn't with them and so they told the locals she had died in a fire, but they knew this wasnt the truth.
In modern times, stubborn journalist Rachel Keller played by Naomi Watts, finds out that her niece Katie has mysteriousley died through her heart just stopping, and so Rachel decides to take matters into her own hands by figuring out what happened with the help of her ex and father of her son Aidan(David Dorfman), Noah Clay played by Martin Henderson.
The story slowly unfolds to reveal that Katie and 3 of her friends all died at the same time on the same night from watching a video tape, a video tape that came from nowhere. As you may have guessed the tape is from Samara and it is her way of letting the world know what happened to her and she wont stop until everyone knows, and if you dont copy it and show it to someone else, Samara kills you.
Rachel, after watching the tape has 7 days to discover all of this information in what is the best horror film i have ever seen. It is exciting and pulse racing and has some great scenery and script. It is well written and has great acting from Naomi Watts and Daveigh Chase who plays the creepy child, Samara Morgan.
This story is bound to get your heart racing, especially when you see some of the more disturbing bits, but especially when you discover Samara wasnt dead when she was in the well, a young girl trapped!
If you are interested in buying this film you can purchase it from Play.com for £14.99 and it has some great dvd extras including a trailer and scene access, also you can see some unscreened footage with more of the story in it.
With all of this i don't see why you shouldnt see this gem of 2002, and if you liked this version you will love Ringu, the japanese original of this american remake, and vice versa. Also in Japan there are 2 other Ring films but what a lot of people dont know is there are actually 4, as the original Ringu sequal was not very good and so they redid it, so look out for that one, but if you cant find it settle for Ringu 2 and Ring0. Also they are making a sequal to the american Ring, this one in question, but it will not be anything like the original Jpanese sequal as the director said he would like to take the film into another direction. Another fact is that the rumour mill has churned and Daveigh Chase will not be appearing in this American sequal and so there will be no Samara :( but it is just a rumour so fingers crossed!
The make up and effects in this film are outstanding especially on the dead bodies, it will creep you out!
One final point i would like to make is that this film really does make you think hard about the story and it is very intriguing, i also felt i could relate to Rachels angst and pain within her 7 days of hell, and also you feel sorry for Samara because of what happened to her.
Now i will tell you a few little extras about the film that help explain some of the more complicated bits, these include the fact that they have 7 days is because Samara only survived 7 days in the well and the video was found at Shleter Mountain inn because cabin 12 was built above the well which Samara died in. If you like the sound of all of this check out the website, www.ring-themovie.com for some cool extras, or buy the movie, cheers, and i hope you liked my review. Tom x