Mind Blowing!!!

Rating: 10/10 (25 March 2005)

Of course different tastes will cause some people to feel differently about different films. I think The Ring is quite possibly one of the greatest films of all time, and needless to say my favorite or at the very least top three. Horror films, and I have seen hundreds, tend to lack extreme intelligence, they can be campy, crazy, senseless but still fun to watch. The Ring doesn't even fall into that category. Instead the American remake of the Japanese Ringu (also brilliantly made) is one of the most intelligent horrific and terrifying movies in existence. It doesn't just frighten, it gets under the skin and terrifies.
The Ring is the story of a reporter named Rachel Keller, who's niece and three of her teenage friends quite suddenly die, their heart just stops. Rachel speaks to several people at her niece's funeral and discovers that many of them believe in an urban legend of a killer video tape that supposedly her niece and friends had watched. Rachel is determined to get to the bottom of the mysterious deaths and goes to the place where her niece supposedly saw this tape, an inn in the mountains. She finds the unmarked tape, and not believing the legend pops it in and is instantly caught in a downward spiral, no pun intended, of a mysterious, terrifying mystery. Suddenly a believer of the legend she calls her ex-boyfriend (possibly husband) and father of her son who is some sort of a video expert and shows it to him. He doesn't believe the stories at all until he gradually begins to realize he too is dying. They desperately piece together the clues from the killer video tape but not before their son, Aidan, accidentally gets hold of the tape and watches it as well. Now they're not only fighting for their lives but the life of their son. They uncover a horrible curse that started with an adopted daughter of a man and woman who were horse breeders. It seemed that the woman murdered her daughter after losing her mind. Despite the fact that they seemingly have figured out the mystery, they've got it all wrong and the evil won't go away.
How incredibly easy it would be for a plot like this to do one of two things. 1. Become so incredibly confusing that it would be hard to follow and make no sense or 2. be completely cut and edited to shreds to "dumb it down" for the movie going public. Somehow, brilliantly, Gore Verbinsky managed to do neither. The film fits together perfectly, and leaves so much open to discussion, imagination, or further stories of this deadly curse. The cast is all around brilliant. Naomi Watts, who until this film I would have figured not a good enough actress to pull off such an emotional role is so excellent as Rachel. She shows confidence, fear, and breakdown all at once. Her boyfriend played by Martin Henderson is equally as great in his role and their relationship is handled with dignity and charisma. And huge hats off to young David Dorfman who plays Watts' son Aidan. Dorfman's character is diverse and very strange. He seems to carry a connection with the evil Samara, and perhaps has some sort of abilities himself. He is much more grown up than he appears. Dorfman engulfs this role and is just startling and creepy and adds to the mood. He does a great job. So why is The Ring so great?? It's terrifying, that's why. This is done first and foremost by brilliant writing, the story itself is terrifying. But Verbinsky also created a very dull, Grey, rainy, dark setting that is constant and never breaks for comedy or "lighten up." The killer video itself sends shivers down your spine and you finish the movie wondering if your phone is gonna ring with a proclamation of "SEVEN DAYS!" As in the original Japanese film, the time line is fast paced and you feel the anxiousness knowing they only have a short time to solve the mystery. The Ring is genuinely creepy and I don't suggest ever watching it alone. But I do suggest anyone a fan of remakes or horror or suspense, you MUST MUST own The Ring. I cannot wait another minute to see the follow up. There is so much more to this franchise!! HUGE 10 out of 10