Very frightening - excellent atmosphere & symbolism (some spoilers)

Rating: 10/10 (5 November 2002)

Last night I read another member's comments, which basically reduced The Ring to a series of cheap shots or 'jump out and scare you' moments. Nothing could be further from the truth. I found it to be lastingly frightening - independent of those few adrenaline moments. (I saw it on Saturday and I'm still counting my seven days!)
A few 'scare you' moments -are- part the film, but they don't carry it. They're entirely appropriate and consistent with plot elements. The last major one (with the TV) is completely earned and still gives me chills when I think about it.
The real success of this film is in its repetition of symbolic elements, its soundtrack and its use of lighting. These build an atmosphere of dread and hopelessness not unlike that found in films such as 8mm or Industrial Symphony No. 5, or even in an H. P. Lovecraft story. Visually, it could be compared to some of Wyeth's darker paintings, or to one of Robert Rauschenburg's moodier "combines".
In terms of plot, the film had set me up for a very serious disappointment in its first few scenes -- starting off with all the polished teen gloss of a Wes Craven type flick. However, it diverged from that path rather quickly, leading instead to a storyline that used elements of, but completely subverted, the now thoroughly worn out 'heros put the ghost to rest' theme. It's about time that someone did so, and did so well, in a major film.