Rating: 
Summary: Disquieting, incoherent, trite
Review: Horror is a genre hard pressed for respect. For many years now, the Hollywood machine has taken great care to surgically remove anything resembling quality in a horror film. The Ring is a noble attempt to change that. Noble, but falls short in the end. Based on the Japanese film, Ringu, which is a cult classic, The Ring weaves a thick sense of dread and uncertainty around the story, which nearly drowns in the films dark and dreary atmosphere. The plot begins with a mysterious video tape that kills you when you watch it (If you watch it, you immediately receive a phone call and someone on the other end informs you that you have seven days to live. And, seven days later, you die.) The images on the tape are banal, yet disturbing in a Marylin Manson video kind of way. This leads to a follow-the-dots murder mystery. And while the sense of fearful uncertainty (essential to any mystery) provides creepy chills, the utter lack of effective characterization, as well as lame plot contrivances, provide a serious distraction. Horror films often treat their characters as two dimensional victims, and The Ring is no exception: Naomi Watts is pathetically gullible with something that provides no worthy evidence of its power; her journey to discover the mystery behind the tape is also a search for herself.....or something. Child actor David Dorfman is a plot device (and reeks of Sixth Sense). Noah (Martin Henderson) is a video producer.....or something....oh yeah, and Watts' ex-boyfriend. The film also commits another serious error: it speaks its insights out loud, so that the film starts to seem like it's spelling out each insidious clue, step by step, not trusting you to make connections yourself. Indeed, ambiguity is often horror's best friend, but in mystery film in which the filmmakers have obviously gone to great lengths to try to explain everything, ambiguity becomes a big problem. And of course, we have the horrid teen-slasher flick beginning that threatened to destroy the film from the very start. Ultimately, and unfortunately, many people will forgive the film's weakness's for its brooding style and cryptic dialogue.
Rating: 
Summary: Before you die, you see 'The Ring'
Review: This is defiently a must see movie! This is one of the most scarriest movies, since the "Sixth Sense". Sixth Sense had nothing on "The Ring"! The Ring is a very scary movie, which should be taken seriously, as it COULD be a real case. Many people know about this movie, thats why Im not gonna go into detail much. But I saw some disturbing images, and when I mean disturbing I mean 'Disturbing'! I have jumped out of my seat more than twice watching the film. But, maybe.. Just maybe, this movie can teach us about real life. I mean, maybe there is such a video that later in life can determine how long we live. And maybe there are little phsychopathic Children in wells, haunting others.This may be true, but It not might not.It makes chills run up your spine just to think that by watching a video, a person can call you and tell you, you have only 7 more days to live! This video was very disturbing, along with the Littel girl. She was most frighting! I recomend this video for ages 13+. The images are too disturbing for a younger audience. This movie is a ride that will take you to the edge of your seat! From watching this movie, many people will now tell you that they will keep away from wells and not watch any strange videos that other people may find. From now on, I will keep away from wells, little girls with Extremly long, brown, hair and Strange video footage found in another place.
Rating:
Summary: Like a nightmare ...
Review: It's the small things that always have scared me most. An unexplained movement within the shadows. A vague face peering in the window at me from the blackness. Always the subtle, always the implied. The paranoia of the unseen and the unknown. The Ring is an exercize in implication, in the imagined, in the string of terrible coincidences that make something so astronomically improbable horribly true. Its very much like a nightmare, an altered sense of consciousness. Is is disjointed? Yes. Nightmares don't make complete sense, but they're still frightening. They progress on suggestion; when you think something horrible is going to happen, no matter how improbable, it happens. And, it isn't even as if The Ring's plot is illogical. One can see how things move from one point to the next; at worst, one might call the plotting convenient (eg. she just HAPPENS to open the right notebook in which there HAPPENS to be the claim-ticket for CERTAIN photographs that lead to the next clue/scene). I just went with the flow, and it didn't bother me. As for questions the movie doesn't answer ... I don't know what questions those might be. It made sense to me. The whys and wherefores weren't overtly stated, but I was able to surmise what had happened in the past, what was happening, and why. How can a video [end life]? Trying not to spoil anything, I must point out that videotape is only a medium. Medium: a conduit through which something passes. For instance, people who supposedly channel spirits are called mediums, right? This is, after all, a SUPERNATURAL horror story, and there are similar myths of curses taking the form of symbols, icons, and other writings and drawings; you read it or examine it too long, and you get the whammy. Me, I like stories about ghosts and psychic abilities and stuff. It's a matter of personal tastes. My only complaint is for the DVD. There's only the movie itself and a side entry with some tarted-up scenes that hadn't made the original cut. I'd recommend waiting for a special edition to be released before buying. But, in all, a veeeeery creepy movie. Much more chilling than The Sixth Sense because there is a definite prevalent malice that The Sixth Sense lacked.
Rating:
Summary: Somebody hold me!
Review: I saw this movie on Halloween night at the theater and HOLY ... is it scary. To this day I don't like the sound of a snowy tv :) Sure, the premise is pretty stupid, but after the characters get sucked into the 'seven days to live' plot it gets pretty interesting. Each scene builds on the anxiety of the one previous until you're left sitting white knuckled. Folks, if the scene near the end...with the dude in the chair...and the video...and the girl...doesn't give you the willies then you just aren't alive.
Rating:
Summary: Twisty horror thriller
Review: Having not been fortunate enough to have seen the original Japanese film (or its sequel) I'm probably not as qualified as others to give an accurate rating of THE RING, but I found the movie to be reasonably good. Basically this centres around a videotape which results in viewers dying bloody deaths after watching it. (No, its not THE SOUND OF MUSIC).
Anyhow this tape falls into the hands of a young couple whose lives are turned upside down, especially after their son views it.
THE RING has a few good ideas, some gross FX, a reasonably entertaining and twisty storyline and a few chills. It's a decent way to kill a couple of hours but after a while THE RING becomes a bit tiresome. My fellow Kiwis will be P.Oed at me if I don't mention NZer Martin Henderson, who does pretty well in this. It's a long way from his SHORTLAND STREET days. (The less said about that show the better.) Check it out.
Rating:
Summary: 7 Days......
Review: This was one of the scariest movies I have ever seen! I didn't see it at the movies, but boy do I wish I had. Excellent! This is one of those tense films whereas it keeps your stomach clenched until the last scene.
Rating: 
Summary: Scary and interesting
Review: The Ring is more of a mystery rather than a horror flick. The plot revolves around a videotape that, when watched, causes the viewer to die seven days later. A reporter, played by Naomi Watts, plays detective and unravels the mystery of the tape while becoming directly involved. The only drawback to the movie is the reporter's psychic, monotone son who seems to be based on a collage of previous horror flick children ala The Sixth Sense and Stir of Echos. The Ring has several genuinely terrifying scenes that will keep the viewers on the edge of their seats throughout. Bring on the sequels!
Rating:
Summary: Watch This One With the Lights On
Review: Before you die, you see the ring. Or, at least that's what the urban legend says in "The Ring" - the movie deemed "the scariest movie of the year". I say it is the best film of the year, of any genre. It was the only movie I saw from 2002 that kept my whole interest up until the very end; the only one where I couldn't wait to see what happened next; the only one that freaked me out so much, it actually accelerated my heartbeat in a few of the scenes. Some people say it wasn't scary at all, but these are probably the people who love all of those slasher films like "Friday the 13th" and "Halloween". "The Ring" is not a slasher film; it kind of follows the same formula as "Final Destination", where people start dying, but nobody really knows why. There is not a lot of gore, nor is there really any good action sequences. It's a psychological thriller all of the way. And such a great one that it sticks in your mind long after it's over. Naomi Watts plays Rachel, a reporter who is investigating the death of her niece - whose demise seems to have something to do with the mysterious tape she and three of her friends watched seven days before they all died. According to the urban legend, anyone who watches this tape receives a phone call afterwards, and a voice on the other end says "Seven days..." And seven days later, you die. We see the tape - it's a very short film that is actually a bunch of strange snippets of different things: a ladder, a tree burning, a mysterious woman brushing her hair in the mirror, and a few other weird things. The whole tape plays out like a silent music video, and it's creepy heck. Just the scenes where anyone is watching the tape is creepy enough. If you like scary movies, you must see this one. And if you like it, you must own it. The only thing about this film that bothered me was that it left me with many unanswered questions. If you've seen it, you may know what I'm talking about. But maybe it just takes a couple of viewings for everything to click. I'm sure the film has its flaws (I noticed a few myself), but it will send chills down your spine - I know it did mine. And I rarely get spooked at movies. I deem it as the most original film of the year (even though it is a remake of the foreign film "Ringu"), and the best film of the year, hands down. I hope I see more films like this in 2003.
Rating:
Summary: Best Horror Film...In A Long Time!
Review: The Ring stars Naiomi Watts as an investigator trying to find out how her niece died. When she finds this tape that supposedly kills you seven days after you watch...she watches it. Little does she know the urban legend is true and she only has seven days to find a way to stop the actions of the tape. The Ring was both suspenseful and visually stunning. If you want a good scare, see The Ring!
Rating:
Summary: Spooky Ring...
Review: I'm not a big fan of horror flicks but this is one of my all times favorites. I lean more toward movies like "Misery" than chop 'em up films like the Friday 13th series or the Halloween series. This film does a lot of scaring without resorting to gaping neck wounds and gallons of blood. And it has an interesting story line. The director uses imagery, colors, and builds the tension in a way that draws the viewer in and fills you with dread for the lead character played by Naomi Watts. This is a great horror film to add to your collection. The dvd comes with extras that are interesting too. Give this movie a try and you won't be disappointed.
|
