Movie Left Me Confused - Not Frightened

Rating: Null/10 (20 June 2003)

I rented this video recently after some of my friends told me it was an "awesome movie" and it was "really scary". I remembered seeing the trailer all over TV when it originally came out, and figured I'd give it a try. I'm not a big horror fan, but if there's a decent horror movie, I'll watch it.
The plot is this... Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) is a reporter who's cousin dies recently of mysterious causes. With some investigation she finds out that three of her cousin's friends died the same night, at exactly the same time - 10 PM. She also finds out about an urban myth of a strange video tape that once you see it you get a phone call with a strange voice saying "seven days". Seven days later, you die. Rachel finds the tape and watches it, then brings her ex-husband (I think ???), Noah, a video expert into it. And together they try to track down the history behind the tape.
'The Ring' has a very atmostpheric mood to it, which makes the first hour or so of the movie seem creepier than it is. The video tape is a series of disturbing images which slowly begin to make sense as the story unfolds. All of the actors seem to do a good job in their roles, but three quarters of the way through the movie I got lost. I fell off the "wagon" and wasn't able to catch up with anything that was going on from then on.
The movie's plot is very strange. I know it has something to do with a girl who is adopted by a couple who own a farm on an island. There they breed horses, and the father abuses the child. Then the whole horse disease by-line is introduced and it gets more confusing. And the girl supposedly is telepathic or something. The confusion ruined whatever chances I had at comprehending what was going on with the rest of the movie.
The last ten minutes in particular were horrible. I won't give away anything, but, then again, I didn't quite get the whole jist of the ending anyway.
Overall, a decent horror movie, with an indepth plot which can easily get confusing. There are some truly scary scenes here and there. And there are some scenes that are supposed to be scary that just end up getting confusing. The explanation for the video tape and the young girl's death the writers come up with towards the end doesn't quite add up.
The movie has great cinematography with a moody atmosphere. Acting is good, also. The plot, though, is too confusing - at least for me. And the confusion spoiled the whole movie for me. Rating: 5/10