What a terrible ending!

Rating: 5/10 (24 November 2009)

Based on the Japanese film "Ringu", which is based on the novel by Koji Suzuki, "The Ring" follows a woman named Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) as she investigates the mysterious death of her niece, in the process discovering a videotape that kills all who watch it in seven days. The final twist is not one of your typical Hollywood clichés, but thats only because Hollywood clichés do not negate the entire film, which is what the ending does. There have been so many movies with a little boy who looks and acts similar to Rachel's son Aidan (David Dorfman), that watching all the scenes with Aidan are difficult because you feel like you know exactly what he is going to say and do. The visuals are excellent, but that doesn't make up for the mediocre acting and direction and the terrible ending. When compared to recent horror films, "The Ring" really is not that bad. Just about every horror movie within the last decade or so has been terrible, except for "28 Days Later" and "Dawn of the Dead", and "The Ring" is without a doubt better than something like "Freddy vs. Jason" or "Alien vs. Predator". All the previews said that this was one of the greatest horror films ever, and everyone who saw this said it was so scary, so I expected to be scared. There is nothing in the film that makes you jump out of your seat, which is obviously what most people look for in horror movies. While "The Ring" is probably one of the ten best horror films of a 21st century in which good horror films have been almost impossible to find, there is no way that this film could rank among the truly great horror films of all time.