Rating: 
Summary: "Seven Days....."
Review: Finally, the Japanese horror flick Ringu meets the American horror culture, and the results are better than one would expect.In this movie, Naomi Watts, plays the character of a reporter who is doing a research on a videotape, that is said to have caused the death of the all the people that watched it , exactly seven days after they originally saw it. She gets to know the case, due to the sudden and inexcplicable death of her sister's daughter, and as she goes deeper and deeper into a case she considered a prank from the beginning, she understands that strange forces are at work. As she searches more and more on the videotape images she comes across a woman called Anna Frank, a horse breeder who, with her husband, had adopted a girl, named Samara. However, things were not as the couple had expected and the girl somehow drove the woman insane. And here is the big question mark. How does this little girl fit into this whole case? How could girl's gift (or rather, curse) get into a normal videotape? The Ring, is not your average slasher movie like Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer. It's a really clever, and "deep" movie, and unlike most movies, it requires from you to watch it carefully , because everything means something. I believe we are talking about one of the year's best films!!!
Rating: 
Summary: good but hardly great
Review: i dont understand the hype behind this movie. i saw it expecting to be scared out of my wits, but was only mildly disturbed. its still a fine movie and all -- well worth the time to watch--, but more of a mystery/thriller with only two brief scenes that were meant to be a lot scarier than they actually were. plus, too many questions remain unaswered.
bottom line-- it's the pefect movie to rent for a night with your friends, but not a dvd that you need to own. buy the original japanese version, ringu, instead.
Rating:
Summary: WEIRD BUT NOT SCARY
Review: THIS MOVIE WAS HAILED AS "....THE BEST SCARY MOVIE SINCE 'THE SIXTH SENSE'." (I DISAGREE! I ENJOYED "THE SIXTH SENSE," TOO, ON SOME LEVELS, BUT I DID NOT FIND IT TRULY SCARY--CALL ME CRAZY!!! I THOUGHT IT WAS AN INTELLECTUAL THRILLER!!!!)) AND IN THE END, IT WAS TOO PREDICTABLE (ATLEAST FOR US MOVIE BUFFS WHO SEE EVERYTHING :)) AND ANYWAY, PLOT TWISTS IN THE ENDS OF MOVIES ARE BECOMING CLICHE'. YOU SPEND 2 HOURS TRYING TO "FIGURE IT ALL OUT." FORGET IT. JUST ENJOY THE $9.00 FLICK!!!! THE PREMISE FOR "THE RING" WAS GREAT; THERE WAS SOOOOOOO MUCH POTENTIAL THERE--A KILLER VIDEO CIRCULATING THE WORLD; THOSE WHO WATCH THE MOVIE DIE IN 7 DAYS--MYSTERIOUS PHONE CALLS FROM EERIE LITTLE CHILDREN'S VOICES, MURDERED TEENAGERS, CREEPY CAMPS/LODGES THAT JUST HAPPEN TO POSSESS A VIDEO LIBRARY WITH THIS "KILLER VIDEO" IN IT. HECK, THERE WERE EVEN INSANE HORSES JUMPING OFF BOATS AND FREAKY LITTLE CHILDREN LIVING IN PADDED CELLS, BARN LOFTS AND AT THE BOTTOMS OF WELLS. THE ONLY REALLY CREEPY PART CAME NEAR THE END WHEN THE LITTLE GIRL CRAWLS OUT OF THE TELEVISION AND INTO THAT GUY'S LIVING ROOM. (OOPS! DID I GIVE TOO MUCH AWAY?) ANOTHER URBAN LEGEND. GREAT! I LOVE URBAN LEGENDS! BUT THIS ONE WAS JUST NOT UP TO PAR. THE ACTING WAS BAD, THE ENDING WORSE. AND WHAT WAS THE DEAL WITH THE VIOLENT OLD MAN AND THE BATHROOM? PURE "SHOCK FACTOR" (HAHA)--SENSATIONALISM AT ITS WORST! I THINK THE DIRECTOR ONLY ACHIEVED ABOUT HALF OF WHAT HE HAD PLANNED TO DO. HE MADE US JUMP, BUT HE CHEATED US IN THE END, BUILT US UP AND THEN DROPPED SUCH A PREDICTABLE ENDING IN OUR COLLECTIVE LAPS. BUT I WON'T TELL YOU EXACTLY HOW IT ENDS. IT'S OUT ON RENTAL ALREADY! GO SEE FOR YOURSELF.
Rating: 
Summary: Beware of the videotape
Review: I thought this movie was pretty good but I felt it was missing something. It follows a reporter's attempt to solve the mystery of a videotape that killed her sister. The videotape was a weird tape that was supposed to be about a girl trying to express herself to the world after having a bad childhood. The videotape was located at cabin at a local inn right above the girl's watery prison. Her adopted father commited sucicide shortly after a visit from the reporter. Her nephew who seems to be possessed draws pictures of the ring from the videotape. She and her boyfriend uncover that their pictures get messed up after they watched the tape. They visit the cabin and find where the girl has been locked up. After they think the mystery is over her boyfriend dies. She decides to broadcast the tape so the little girl's voice can be heard. I thought this movie was good but it was really weird.
Rating:
Summary: Very cool stuff
Review: I've never seen "Ringu", but I get the feeling I'd like it, since I really like this. I agree with what seems to be the general sentiment in that you should watch this more than once to catch everything and truly appreciate it. Stellar performance from Naomi Watts. This was her first movie in which she played the main character, and she carries that weight very well. Martin Henderson was good, too, as the more laid-back of the two investigating the mystery of the tape. I say watch "The Ring" every Halloween. You're bound to be creeped out.
Rating:
Summary: "Horror" fans rejoice!!!!
Review: A creepy well-made "Horror" movie. You don't see many "Horror" movies these days so if you're a fan of the genre, don't pass this up.(Note how i emphasize on the word horror) Naomi Watts has become one of my fave actresses. Not only is she very beautiful but she's a wonderful actress as well. One of the things i liked about this movie is that you actually don't completely understand the storyline until the very last moment which will keep you on your seat till the end of the movie. Definitely one of the best "Horror" films in recent years besides "The blair witch project".
Rating:
Summary: pure evil
Review: This movie is scary. The scenes are creepy, and the atmosphere really wrecked my nerve. However, the most scary point to me is about the pure evil mind of a child. When Rachel saved the girl out of the well, I almost felt sorry for Samara. She got abandoned, betrayed and, even worst, murdered by her parent. She didn't die right away in the well. She tried to crawl back on. Eventually all hopes were gone, she died lonely in the dark. I'd like to kill a bunch of people to release my agony if I were in her place.
However, that is not the reason she kill. Neither is it the reason Rachel's being saved, more accurately, spared. At the end, we learned that Samara kill because she likes to kill. You think she spared Rachel because Rachel bring her back on earth, so she can peacefully rest in peace? No, just because Rachel bring more prey for her. That is it. She doesn't need your sympathy, and she will slaughter a couple more if she has chance. Simple, but horrifying evil.
Rating: 
Summary: DVD Review
Review: I'm very dissapointed with this DVD... and if they are planning a special edition they are really torturing the fans, because this movie has been out on DVD for about a year now and still no special edition... what are they waiting for the extras and commentaries and all of that stuff, the Tenth Anniversary?... or maybe to complete a trilogy or something... and it's at the same price than many other dvds that bring tons of extras...
Rating:
Summary: Scary Movie Watcher
Review: The Ring is an excellent movie. It's the best I'm sure glad I waste my money on it.
Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable and beautiful chiller
Review: "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.
|
