Scary, but nothing special

Rating: 6/10 (20 July 2013)

I have to say that the ring was one of the most interesting films i have ever watched. The 20 minutes at the start are brilliant, the director changed a few of the elements from the Japanese original for the better thanks of course to the higher budget. The end of the film is great too, one of the most inventive and genuinely frightening conclusions i have ever seen.
Its these final exhilarating 20 minutes that almost make you forget about the painfully slow, dull and boring middle of the film. If ever a film has drawn attention away from what in the original was a great story this is it !!! Where as the Japanese version went by with a quick pace never dwelling on small details that have little bearing on the characters the Hollywood version labors over and over. I was honestly on the verge of tears when i thought the film was concluding.
However, the ending saves what for first time watchers will agree was almost one of the biggest anticlimax's ever. All in all i can only say that if Hollywood script writers are struggling with the translation from japan to USA just set it in Japan. Better that than create a ridiculous insert in the storyline which not only bores viewers but at times makes no sense whatsoever.
Is this film a horror ?..... yes ! is it scary ?..... not particularly ! 6 / 10