One Of The Most Horrifying Movies In My Early Teens...

Rating: 9/10 (28 May 2010)

I saw this movie when I was only 13 and I didn't switch on the TV for 2 weeks after I saw this movie. I cursed my parents for taking me to watch it in the theatres, I was so afraid. After I actually lived for more than 2 weeks, I was feeling better and have watched it and The Ring 2 many times since then. The Ring 2 didn't match expectations. But that is my next review, I will explain in that. The Ring and The Sixth Sense were the movies which played a huge part in making me a fan of the horror genre. Gore Verbinski directs this movie which is a Japanese movie remake. This film and The Grudge spawned all those bad Asian remakes in the coming years.
Anyway, coming to the story, Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) is a journalist in Seattle city. Her sister's daughter died under mysterious circumstances and when she investigates, she finds out about an urban myth according to which a person after seeing a video dies exactly after a week. Her son had predicted his cousin's death before it had actually happened. She also watches the tape and knows that she is going to die within the week. Along with her boyfriend, she tries to find the reason behind the killer video and finds a strange and creepy story behind it. Can she save her son from Samara Morgan (Daveigh Chase), the girl in the video? Will Samara rest in peace?
The beautiful and talented Naomi Watts captures Rachel's motherly instincts perfectly. Rachel is the only person to uncover anything about the video. So far, all the others simply died without knowing anything about Samara and her adopted parents. The son Aidan Keller (David Dorfman) is actually very creepy because his tone is very adult-like. He is no Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense, Artificial Intelligence), but he really made me nervous. The film worked on many levels, mainly because the director does not go over the top with cheesy special effects. The backstory is really coherent and the film is completely sure of itself and that is a major plus of the film. It doesn't have long pauses in the story just to push the running time, as in many horror movies. For adults, the film may not be that scary, but it works as a thriller as well. Brian Cox as Richard Morgan is also very good. The story about the horses is something I had never seen before and it was amazing. When the plot unfolds and we know Samara's story, it is not too difficult to sympathize with her fate. A very satisfying horror movie which will be classic in the future.
9/10