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The Ring (Widescreen Edition) Customer Reviews (79 - 81 of 102 Reviews)

A stylish and genuinely scary horror film
"The Ring," directed by Gore Verbinski, gets off to a solid start as two characters discuss a truly intriguing phenomenon: a videotape which, if you see it, will somehow bring about your death seven days later. It's a premise that sounds like a classic urban legend.

Naomi Watts stars as Rachel, a single mother who investigates a death seemingly linked to this cursed videocassette. The film is a mystery that tantalizingly unfolds as Rachel goes on her bizarre and frightening odyssey.

"The Ring" is a really creepy film that is shot with visual flair. The filmmakers succeed in creating an oppressive, unsettling atmosphere. Watts is a solid heroine, and the supporting cast is also fine. I was especially impressed by young David Dorfman as Rachel's son; his is one of the most disturbing child performances I've ever seen.

In the end, I don't think that "The Ring" fully lives up to its fascinating premise and solid opening sequences. But still, it's a solid film that combines cinematic artistry with palpable menace; it also examines such issues as longing, fear, paranormal phenomena, and the existence of evil. "The Ring" is a jigsaw puzzle of a movie that I look forward to viewing a second time.

Technically well made, but lacking everywhere else....
So, you've paid into the hype and decided to check this movie out, huh? Well, let me give it to you straight: This film, well made in a technical sense (direction, production, acting), falls painfully flat when you try to dissect its incoherent plot. Story, story, story... Does it exist somewhere in this mess of a script? Sadly, odds and ends are apparent, but as a concisive whole, it's noticably lacking as to what the point of this thrown together bits of spookiness is supposed to mean. In my personal opinion, audiences found this film to be incredibly spooky because of it's visceral nature whereas any attempt to decipher the theme, meaning or ,really, any element of the story will result in an aneurysm because the script is cobbled together from bits and pieces of ghost story gibberish with a splash of esoteric Eastern views on the nature of horror sprinkled throughout (i.e. this results in a monotonous, boring film with a few scares or jumps before descending into non-sensical garbage). I personally think it's just the fact that most people didn't understand the film, therefore, they think they liked it because of a few genuinely creepy parts. I know what you're saying, you're saying "You just didn't GET the movie, James..." No, I did "get" the movie and it's crap, pure and simple. The scares happen for no apparent reason (no attempt at explanation is given), characters do things that seem out of character with what we've seen from them earlier in the film (the little "Sixth Sense"-esque kid? Please... I hope he dies in the sequel), half-@$$ed explanations on what the girl from the video is (she's pure evil, get it? The Japanese love this concept and they use it all the time in other films and books and sometimes better, I might add). All in all, it's worth a look if you don't actually think about what you're seeing (the film is brain candy, pure and simple. Entertaining at first, but hardly fulfilling). The only "psychological horror" you're gonna get out of this film is trying to decipher any hint of plot, theme or meaning from the poorly-written script. Oh, and Gore Verbinski? Shame on you. I expected better and all I got was this lousy, overrated, lame "horror" film.

Unforgettable and beautiful chiller
"The Ring" is a stylish and consistently chilling flick centered on a mysterious videotape. Whoever watches it dies. Rachel Keller (the always shocking Naomi Watts) is an investigative reporter who looks into the mysterious case of the tape when her niece falls victim (her heart just stops, her face frozen in some expression of limitless fright). Along with the niece, several of her friends also turn up dead - succumbing on the same date and time. Very much a reporter in the tradition of that guy on "The Incredible Hulk", Rachel trudges off to a remote island cabin where the victims were last together - and finds the tape. Though containing only a short movie, the tape is nightmarish - scary without resort to shocks, it's a pastiche of ominously surreal images (dark landscapes, torn fingers, an old well, a woman combing her hair in front of a mirror that doesn't reflect a camera, another falling off a cliff, worms, ladders, flies - very Dali-esque). Immediately after watching the tape, Keller gets a phone call - a childlike voice tells her she has seven days. Rachel turns for help to her young son, a gifted but incredibly dark boy who seems to have an affinity for the dark force that threatens Rachel. She also reaches out to an ex-boyfriend, a video engineer whose initial skepticism guarantees that he too will watch the tape. Soon she begins to succumb to the power of the ring - pictures of her are distorted, she finds herself blackening out faces on pictures as her niece had, and she has nightmares. Racing the clock (okay, the calendar) Rachel pieces together the cryptic images into a chain of clues, which lead her to a dark island (the flick was filmed both in the Pacific northwest and in Massachusetts, but manage to consistently bring out the creepier aspects of each) and a secret that won't stay hidden.

I loved this flick, and couldn't disagree more with the amazon.com review that found it burdened by "lofty pretensions" (doubtlessly Jeff Shannon enjoyed "Se7en", an overblown chiller which was pretentious, overburdened by cheap thrills and a reliance on Hollywood's stereotype of the apocalyptic biblical psychopath). The script preserves a perfect sense of dread between the shocks, while the cinematography doesn't resort to cheap chills (it's both chilling and refreshing that shocking imagery is unaccompanied by shocking sound effects - the film could have been titled "Silent Scream") and actually understates its jabs. You may spend most of your viewing time just scanning frames (and it's worth it, more reason to spring for the DVD) to capture its enigmatic and disturbing visions. Rather than pretentious, the script taps into primal emotions - fear and regret - bred by the chaotic lives people quietly live. In a jab at the teen-scream movies, "Ring" starts off with Rachel's teen niece and her bitchy friend swapping tales of the mysterious tape - hinting that we're up for some more of "I Know What You Screamed at the Faculty". Quickly shifting gears, "The Ring" becomes a different movie entirely - a well-paced shocker that gets by without having its characters toss out zingers, or otherwise plump their dialog with references to older (and more original movies). While the climax relies on the "fake ending" (it's not over!, It's never over!!") one of the oldest horror-movie clichés in the book, I have to say that it was actually one of the most effective uses of that device - mostly thanks to the young star who plays Rachel's son.

The script isn't overly wordy, nor does it have Rachel try to turn the tale-of-the-tape into a metaphor for some typical Hollywood philosophy. The editing may look sloppy - there are numerous scenes which don't otherwise fit into the plot, signs of scenes or sub-plots which were never finished or simply cut (like a scene in which a horse goes berserk while being ferried to an island)and some sound effects clash with the onscreen images (like the scream we hear from a girl on the ferry, despite the fact that she's covering her mouth), but I think it's a deliberate effect meant to highlight the entropy at the edge of Rachel's life, and remind us that there's more going on then we can see with our own eyes. Though much of "The Ring" may come off as nonsensical, the script weaves a complex yarn - like a puzzle, its pieces uncannily come together. With its many visual cues, the film is incredibly re-watchable, and come closest to that cinematographic ideal of telling a story entirely with pictures. The producers took a big risk - it would have been painfully ironic to have a flick centered around a killer video, but lacking any memorable images - but it paid off. From the first frame to the last, nothing in this movie escapes you. I haven't seen "fear.com" but don't feel the need to compare this flick to it. If you need a good chill, embrace the power of the ring., but make sure you catch it in wide-screen.

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