A sufficiently scary and disturbing film

Rating: 7/10 (13 July 2003)

I'd like to preface this review by saying two things: Firstly, I have not yet seen Ringu, yet I understand that it is superior to the remake, The Ring. Secondly, part of the reason that I have not seen that film is because just the trailer for Ringu terrified me while watching the DVD of The Ring.
It took me a long time to see The Ring. I am notoriously a lightweight when it comes to horror films, a trait that still baffles me as I was a horror film junkie when I was in my teen years. Having heard the premise of the film, I was intrigued - I thought it was an interesting idea, an urban legend in the making. However, finding someone to watch this film with me proved an impossible task - they had either seen it and were freaked out enough by it to wait awhile, or they were so offended by it's very audacity to try to compare itself with the original. But, see it I finally did, and I'm glad that I did.
From the start, Gore Verbinski directs the film with immense style. The cinematography is the visual embodiment of despondency, and it works. The atmosphere is incredibly dreary (you never see the sun shining, and rain is the forecast for much of the film) but it *should* be as such. These elements, added to some incredibly disturbing imagery made me feel like I was in a dentist's chair waiting to have a tooth pulled: The tension was palpable.
**Spoiler Within**
This is not a `fun' horror film to watch, however. Perhaps if I had watched it in the theater it would have been different, but I remember seeing House of 1000 Corpses and having a great time because the audience was getting into it. This was a horror film that kept me at rapt attention, and I didn't laugh once, even nervously. It did, however hold surprises for me: There were not a lot of `BOO!' type scary scenes, I can actually only think of two where I jumped, rather the imagery itself was extremely disturbing. The actual `video' is comprised of several frightening images with jump cuts that at first made me harkens back to my student film days, but became more disturbing as I thought about said images. Additionally, the movie was a surprise to me in that it wasn't just a horror film; it actually could be deemed a mystery/suspense film as well - with life and death depending on its resolution. It also contains one of the scariest sequences I have ever seen, when Samara is crawling out of the well and out of the television. This was the second time I saw the film, and I was just as scared during this part, if not more. There are few people I have encountered who saw the film who did not acknowledge that this scared them, just a little.
The Ring is far from a perfect film. The acting is wooden, the characters have no substance and I'm getting a little tired of the cliché creepy kid with a `sixth sense'. It also had a pretty weak ending. However having said that, I feel that some of the most common complaints regarding The Ring are a bit unfair, and most of those complaints are those that say that Ringu is the better movie. My thoughts on this? Then watch Ringu. There is absolutely nothing wrong with remaking a film that has been recently produced. It is obviously a good story that Hollywood deemed worthy to put their own spin on, like it or not. I can't make my own comparisons until I have seen Ringu myself, and I won't deny that I relish in the fact that foreign films are more liberal with `unhappy endings' than Hollywood films, but I feel that The Ring was a decent film on its own merits. If anything, Ringu loyalists should be delighted that The Ring gave Ringu so much press that it is now available to buy or rent just about anywhere. I heard rumor that a sequel to The Ring is in the works, and if it does half as well as Ringu 2 and Ringu 3 did in Japan I think we are looking at a franchise here. Hopefully it won't follow in the tradition of most franchises and sacrifice quality for quantity.