Disturbing, yet vague

Rating: Null/10 (4 November 2002)

****POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT****
While I found this film to have a few disturbing images (i.e. the fact that Samara'a victims all looked as though they had died alone and forgotten in a well), there was simply too much disjointed symbolism to satisfy me, the best examples of such being Samara's sudden manifestation with the Morgans, Aiden's seeming powers of clairvoyance/precognition, and why Anna Morgan went mad to begin with. The film hinted, of course, that Samara was responsible for all of the madness, after all, if she can make pictures appear on x-ray film, then why couldn't she have driven her mother to madness? As an intelligent adult, I don't feel the need to be spoon-fed every little detail, however, I left the theatre with the distinct impression that I wasn't seeing the bigger picture. I am more interesed in obtaining a close translation of the novel (being a firm believer that no matter how good the movie, the book is always richer), than I am in seeing Ringu, the Japanese predecessor.
Of course it is entirely possible that I missed some of the crucial clues as a result of the overwhelming numbers of teenyboppers that filled the theatre. Not only did I have to deal with juevinille shrieks every time the scene changed, but then there would be a good 5 minute discussion about "Omigod! I am like soooo freaked out!" afterward. My friends and I all agreed that it should have received an R rating, if only to keep the 14 year olds out.
At the end of the movie, I admit to being more than a little haunted by the imagery (Samara climbing out of the well at the end of the tape right before Noah bites it is a chilling image), but I just can't help feeling that there were too many loose-ends and not a strong enough plot to induce me to spend any more money trying to figure them out.