The Ring (2002)

Is she still in the dark place?

After the mysterious death of her niece Katie, journalist Rachel Keller starts to investigate an urban legend about a videotape which kills you seven days after watching it. With dire consequences coming her way if she can not solve the mystery....

The sentence, English language remake of successful foreign horror film has been known to instill fear of the wrong kind in many a genre fan. So when it was announced that Gore Verbinski was to remake Hideo Nakata's terrifying nerve shredder, Ringu, the reaction in horror circles was akin to someone urinating on your chips. Refreshing to report then that The Ring is a candidate for best American remake and proof positive that remakes sometimes can be a good thing.

Starring Naomi Watts (who is terrific) as Rachel, Verbinski and writer Ehren Kruger (adapting from Kôji Suzuki's novel) successfully transfer the atmospherics of Nakata's piece to a dank and eerie Seattle. It's with atmosphere that The Ring starts to play on your nerves, because after viewing the creepy and unsettling tape itself, we ourselves have been set up for the race against the clock theme that is driving Rachel on. So as the mystery starts to unravel, and sadness threatens to take a hold, the story quickly shifts direction to give horror one of its most baddest and cruelest characters. It's the kind of impact that crawls under your skin and refuses to move when you are trying to sleep at night.

Though the story has been streamlined from its source, The Ring still has a bit too much filler in its meaty structure. Feeling a need to give Watts a quest among quests, Verbinski almost over cooks the mystery essence of the plot. However, with much relief he reins it in to stop any sort of scooby doo like nonsense detracting from the creepy sense of dread that has been built up previously. The ending here works a treat, but it is a tone down from the source and with that it's not even close to Nakata's version, and just maybe it has something to do with Dream Works wanting to secure a PG-13 rating?

What is left though is a truly suspenseful and unsettling thriller - come horror film. One that even on revisits manages to bother and keep one on the edge of the seat. It made an $80 million profit in America alone, ensuring that a sequel was sure to follow. Now was that one a bad idea! 8/10

Was interesting and special effects were good but all comes down to story and they lost the plot at the end, sorry. Didn't make sense they seemed like they had a good idea and wanted to make a horror out of it when the obvious ending would have worked out better. Nice try!

Now this is a good movie.Acting and story is very good.You kind of know what will happen but it makes you watch it till the end in one shot without problem.Like a Grudge.Similar for me.Very good. /.7/10

**This is probably the best supernatural horror film of all time.**

I first saw The Ring in 2006 while house sitting alone one evening. After seeing it in their DVD collection I decided to watch it to overcome boredom.\
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Without really saying anything about the movie, it was a very disturbing experience all the way through, and after it finished I realized I had made a mistake to watch it alone in the dark at night for the first time. It was the most terrifying horror movie I had ever seen, with psychological effects lingering hours and days later. I was unprepared for what this film was about, which is why it affected me very deeply and I needed time to recover. I've watched it a few times since, and while the experience isn't as impacting as the first time, it's still an effective psychological film.\
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This type of horror is definitely not for everyone though, because it's a rare moment of cinematic excellence that can really affect the viewer. With that said though, the filmmaker and crew did an excellent job. I never encountered a film like this before or since, and even compared to the original Japanese film, Ringu, The Ring wins hands down.\
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I had hoped other films would raise or surpass the bar this film set. But in 15 years I've yet to see it. As a result, I believe this film will continue to remain among the best horror films of all time.