Disappointing

Rating: Null/10 (2 December 2002)

**WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS!** When I first saw the Japanese version "Ringu" way back in 1999, I anticipated to be scared out of my wits because I was taken in by all the hype surrounding the film then(in Asia..it was BIG and reports claiming that it made people scream and run out of the theater!). When I actually sat down and watched the movie..I was DISAPPOINTED..It was dull and sleep-inducing..the characters talked in monotonous voices, slow paced but the ending (the GRAND FINALE) spooked me out big time!! It was the way the 'jinx' ('Samara' in the American version) moved and crawled out of the TV that spooked everyone out- BIG TIME!! The 'jinx' had the spookiest 'face' ever on any ghost (actually she doesn't have a face, just hair all over her head but then...again..) and then there's the infamous 'eye'- the very thing that killed people (in the Japanese version). I ended up pretty spooked for a week after that and remember thinking, "IF only Hollywood will make a version of this movie..I'm sure it will be very good"..Imagine my elation when I read that Hollywood was INDEED going to make this movie! Imagine my anticipation and finally when the movie opened..I was one of those first to line up for the tickets...Hmm..now my comments for "The Ring"..aka American version.. In all fairness, I must admit that the American version was much more interesting than 'Ringu'..in the sense that the characters were better acted out (at least the actors did not sit and talk and talk in monotone voices for most of the whole movie and showed their emotions a whole lot better)..faster paced and unlike what some reviewers say..it was NOT confusing at all (try watching 'Ringu', you'll know what 'confusing' means). I actually liked the whole movie until the end..what supposedly to be the scariest part ( the GRAND FINALE ) was actually a major DISAPPOINTMENT! Again I was anticipating to be spooked out of my wits..and again I was disappointed! Somehow the American version was not able to capture the creepiness exuded by the Japanese version . The Japanese was successful in making the 'jinx' aka 'Samara' extremely spooky but this is not the case with the American version...with all the so-called high tech-ed special effects which Hollywood is capable of.."The Ring" just fall flat!...Also another disappointment was the video (the 'culprit' that kills)..in "Ringu"..it was both creepy and mysterious with its unexplainable segments but in "The Ring"..it looked like a music video...*yawn* The conclusion is..IF only they made "The Ring" by copying exactly "Ringu" (esp. at the end) IT will be a very good and SCARY film...too bad..just too bad...