Its been five days since I received a mysterious phone call. Some freak called me and said "Seven days", thats it. It must have been a joke, a hoax, it couldn't have been real. The nerve of some people. All of this happened after I watched a video tape with these freaky images. My friend was telling me about an urban legend involving a video like the one I had watched. I didn't believe her. I mean come one... who believes urban legends? Right? Now I'm kind of freaking out... If you've watched this video please contact me!
Just joking... But I had you going didn't I? lol
The purpose of this review is just to introduce you to the film 'The Ring' (2002) and it is not intended to spoil the ending of the film. So its safe to read on knowing that you can watch the movie for yourself and thus be enthralled by its twists and turns.
'The Ring', is directed by Gore Verbinski, and stars Naomi Watts as Rachel Keller, a journalist who travels to the Pacific Northwest to investigate the mysterious death of her niece after watching a video tape. Its the English
language remake of the highly acclaimed Japanese horror film 'Ringu' (1998) based on Koji Suzuki's popular novel.
The videotape is full of eerie images. Once you watch the video the screen goes blank and the phone rings. When you pick up the phone an eerie voice says "seven days". Seven days later the viewer will spontaneously die. Some notable highlights of the video are:
- the reflection of a woman brushing her hair in the mirror. - a chair spinning upside down. - a ladder in the middle of nowhere. - a nail piercing through a finger. - a centipede. - something that looks like a string or intestines coming out of some ones mouth. - a horse blinking. - a three legged goat. - a sealed up well.
What does all this mean? Well this is where the movie gets interesting. As the movie goes on you start to understand that the images in the video actually mean something. The movie can get very complicated at times and does require you to concentrate. If you don't really care what all of that stuff means then you can just sit back and enjoy the eerie visuals of the film and just get a basic understanding of what happens.
Unlike many horror films, there isn't a psycho running around killing people randomly. The movie isn't like your typical horror film. There isn't any teens running around a house covered in blood being chased by a freak with a chainsaw (Although I do recommend you watch the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre). This film's horror is centred around intense imagery just like the original 'Ringu'.
What I really enjoyed in the movie was how it draws you into the position of Rachel. You follow her journey to reveal what is happening to her. As the days elapse you get as freaked out as she does. Furthermore the ending isn't given to you on a platter. You need to do some investigating for yourself and work out how everything fits together.
Naomi Watts' performance was fantastic, I'm surprised she didn't get nominated for an Oscar for this movie. Some other notable performances are the freakish children actors. David Dorfman (Aidan Keller) and Daveigh Chase (Samara Morgan) were outstanding. There's something about children in horror films that freaks me out.
I've included short filmographies on the director and cast just in case you'd like to watch some of their other films.
Director:
---- Gore Verbinski: Pirates of the Caribbean 2 (2006) (pre-production) Weather Man, The (2005) (completed) Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) Ring, The (2002) Mexican, The (2001) Mouse Hunt (1997)
Cast:
---- Naomi Watts ---- Rachel Keller
King Kong (2005) Ring Two, The (2005) Stay (2005) Assassination of Richard Nixon, The (2004) We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004) 21 Grams (2003) Divorce, Le (2003) Ned Kelly (2003) Mulholland Dr. (2001)
Production Year: 2004 - Horror - Director: Zack Snyder - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer
when i first saw this, i was so scared I couldn't sleep for ages, but that were probably cos i was really young! lol!! probable shoudn't have watched before i was 15!! lol. oh well, i learn the hard way!!! good review!!!!!!
Egdelwonk 15.02.2005 15:37
heard that this was a real deep horror film and it wud b different from the usualy crap. it wasnt really. i hate horror films. good review
Deru 30.01.2005 18:01
I've not seen the original Japanese ones but I've seen this one and I enjoyed it. Found it quite creepy.
![The Ring [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78488210.jpg "The Ring [DVD]")
Dec 2nd, 2004
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