FINALLY!! Brilliant and dark!!

Rating: 10/10 (21 January 2005)

Just when I thought that the talent for "seeing" horror had died with Stanley Kubrick along comes Gore Verbinski and brings it back to refreshing life! At first I was skeptical about the teen element being involved (usually a cymbal crashing cue for long holds on tight shirts, tons of unnecessary screaming--not to mention screaming while "running" in high heels, and the most unabashed use of one-liners dredged up from every horror flick since the 70's), but thankfully that wasn't the case at all. The Ring was a truly edgy experience! The sound effects alone had me twitching, and I LOVED the puzzle of the video, its solution, and of course Samara's special effects most of all. The cinematography also gets an A+, beautiful work!
As far as the acting, Brian Cox was OUTSTANDING (as usual); Naomi Watts was really believable (especially as an angry/frazzled single mom); Martin Henderson was INCREDIBLY hot.
Now I realize that the only reason this film exists at all is because of the Japanese original (and of course the book) but what I don't understand is how anybody even thought that the original was "scary/terrifying/astonishing/blah blahblah". There weren't any special effects except for those annoying close ups and the screen changing colors (which is sooooo late 60's Hammer I can't even begin to go there). Sudako's "death face" had me on the floor laughing every time. If I'm watching a horror movie that is supposed to be legendary for scares, then I want to be scared; If I want to be stupidly amused I'll watch Freddy, Jason and Michael.
I LOVE films that have plots that make you think and Japan has a ton of them, especially in horror, they're just not directed in a way that I find terrifying. Now the Japanese manga (comic books) based on The Ring series, THOSE are scary.
The American version of The Ring is creepy as hell, and far above its original source.