The Ring vs. Ringu

Rating: 10/10 (6 November 2003)

I just don't understand people who say that The Ring was just a crap Hollywood remake or that it was remade as a movie for the teen slasher crowd. Did these people see the same movie I did? Apparently not. I have also noticed that whichever version people see first seems to be the one they prefer. I myself saw The Ring before I saw Ringu, and at the time I thought The Ring would be pretty hard to top. After seeing Ringu, I honestly don't see how the original is supposedly superior. While it is a good movie on its own, I found the remake to be much more effective. Here are some of the reasons (WARNING: Spoilers ahead):
1. The atmosphere of The Ring was just dripping with dread and foreshadowing throughout. Ringu, by comparison, seemed much more calm and normal, which isn't exactly what I'm looking for in a horror film/ thriller.
2. The characters and story seemed much more developed and fleshed-out in The Ring, particularly the characters and story of Samara and her parents, which made Samara much scarier, and all of them much more tragic. In Ringu, there was hardly any time given to the back story of Sadako or her parents at all, so they seemed much less developed, more two-dimensional, and in turn less scary.
3. The dreaded videotape itself was longer, more fleshed-out, and far creepier in The Ring. Some of the same images appeared in both movies, but there just seemed to be a lot more going on and a lot more disturbing content in The Ring's version. Ringu's version was very short by comparison, with almost none of the dread or impact. The "ring" itself - the lid of the well as seen from beneath - was barely even visible in Ringu. In The Ring it became an effective visual motif.
4. The production values in The Ring were much better than in the original, lending so much more to the atmosphere. Of course this is where many accuse it of being "too Hollywood" or too slick. If adding a lot of atmosphere through cinematography and some minor digital effects is "Hollywood-izing" it, then in this case it's a good thing. The horrific effect shown on the first victim, the little touches like the strange video fly, the extended surrealistic scenes in the video, the lone red tree, and the scene where Samara comes out of the TV with digital enhancements, are all fairly minor things that really added quite a bit to the atmosphere, and in turn to the movie's effect on me. In Ringu, the "film negative" effect that's shown when the victims meet their fate is rather cheesy and not scary at all.
The only complaints I have about The Ring are the exaggerated creepiness of the boy and the over-the-top death scene of Samara's father. But those are easily overlooked annoyances. I honestly don't see how the remake plays to the teen slasher crowd. To me this was anything but that. It was one of the most intelligent, effective, and freaky movies I've ever seen, and it should be applauded for that. Pre-conceived notions, expectations, and prejudices from other movies should be left by the wayside when judging this excellent movie. Watch it with an open mind, and you won't be disappointed. While it didn't give me nightmares, it certainly got under my skin and gave me the heebie-jeebies for a few days afterwards.