Naomi Watt's second triumph!

Rating: 9/10 (9 June 2003)

After her pitch perfect emotionally devastating performance in 2001's "Mulholland Drive". Naomi Watts comes up with another triumphant film, which is "The Ring". Although "The Ring" is not as powerful and inspiring as "Mulholland Drive". "The Ring" deserves the highest possible accolade as well.
The direction is simply superb. Once you see this movie, it gets its hooks in you. I saw it at midnight about two months ago, and I thought I'd fall asleep, but I didn't. The story was so clever, that it doesn't let people close their eyes for a minute.
The opening sequences are excellent; you really understand the story once you see them. You see two young girls kidding each other about the videotape that supposedly kills people, and they find out it's true and then they get killed. Then, Naomi Watts' presence in the film makes you watch without getting bored or annoyed for a second.
The surrealistic video is so interesting, as well as the whole story. It's not a movie in which monsters kill others, but a psychological horror story that'll make you think a great deal about the complexity of Samara's personality.
It also has the most unpredictable and brilliant scenes in film history. For instance the scene where the horse is chasing Naomi's character is great. You'd never expect that. You say in your mind, "Wait! It's not her time to die yet". This scene is so full of horror, mystery, seriousness, etc. Another excellent scene is when she tries to find out about Samara's life and then a man kills himself in the bathroom. However, the best and scariest of all is when Rachel falls into the well and also when Samara gets out of the TV.
What scenes! Besides its wonderful and dark photography, and strong acting by the majority of the cast, this shows the dark side of a little girl who could be so tender, but has reasons to kill even the nicest person. It'll make you think of how far a person can go because of being ignored by their family or other people.
The final scenes are very unexpected, and understandable. If you really pay attention to this movie you'll understand the whole thing. Without a doubt "The Ring" is one of the most interesting and clever psychological horror movies ever made! I could say it's the best movie of 2002, since most of 2002 movies are very bad. An example would be the corny "The Hours" and the overrated "Lord of the Rings".
Naomi Watts has become one of my favorite actresses. She's reached perfection and respect with "Mulholland Drive" and "The Ring". She's given the roles of a lifetime, and she'll be getting fantastic offers, which she obviously deserves. 8.5/10