Sophisticated horror

Rating: 8/10 (14 November 2002)

The PG-13 rating got me thinking the film was going to be another awful teen slasher flick, and for the first 30 mins. that's what I though I was in for. However, after the first time the audience sees what "The Ring" (i.e.video) can do, my expectations were raised, as was my attention. The editing is wonderful; fast-paced, cutting, almost violent. The film relies on this among other excellent methods of filmmaking. The film's use of dak color allows for a macabre, creepy, morose, and unsettling feel. The fluidity of motion sustains the high level suspense. What you think is just another ferry ride turns into a first rate chase scene featuring a horse gone mad from an unknown, but malevolent force. This is why the filmmakers could get away with a PG-13 rating. The film is sophistcated; a cut above the rest of other low-grade horror movies because it doesn't need obligatory, bloody, body gashing scenes to provide the audience with a scare factor. The "video tape" is itself a wonderful example of filmmaking. It has an edgy, artsy feel to it. In fact, some of the images in the video aren't fully explained. Some of the images are simply weird and disturbing, but because the images are so striking, they deny need for full explantion. There are a few aspects of The Ring that aren't explained at all, but because they are so visually appealing and shocking, the need for detailed explanation is often not necessary. What I thought was most powerful about the film was the antagonist. It is truly evil, and evil for so many reasons including the fact that the evil is almost omnipotent in nature. It knows where to get you. Victims are killed mercilessly not because they are torn apart or cut in half by some hockey mask wearing man, but because death is the only thing that's certain when the onslaught of The Ring's power is unleashed. The victim is faced with a raw, merciless, and ugly death. And because the origin of the evil is not explained, this adds to the omnious enviroment the film is saturated with. This film is disturbing, and that is where the film's power comes from. Watch The Ring for the adrenalin rush; don't try to make sense out of it. Let it take you where it will, and you will enjoy it much more. The Ring stirs the senses, making us supremely aware of all the things in our world we can't explain. And what we have no explantion for, we are often at the mercy of.