Halloween Viewing Party 2018: The Ring

Rating: 8/10 (6 April 2019)

The Ring has a reputation for being one of the scariest movies of the early '00s. Lets get it out of the way, it's not the traumatising masterwork that the hype would have you believe. That being said, I really enjoyed this film. This was my first experience with The Ring and I have to say it is extremely entertaining. This is a film full of interesting set-up's for scares and great set-pieces, at points I found myself more impressed with the visual aesthetic than scared by the subject matter. There are a handful for pretty great scares as well, personal favourite moments include Naomi Watts puling the fly out of the TV, the horse jumping of the boat and Brain Cox appearing behind Watts when she discovers the second tape. These moments are genuinely tense and visually unique. I feel I need to talk about the ending however, the last 20 minutes are the reason that this movie is so iconic. The revel that Samara had been evil all along is perfect after the slightly cheesy "helping her" sequence in the well. The shot of Samara climbing out of the TV is burned into everyone's subconscious who has ever seen this movie.
It's not at terrifying as the hype makes it out to be but it is really entertaining. A great start to Halloween!