Creepfest falls short of the mark

Rating: Null/10 (2 February 2004)

This is the second of two films that have had me sleeping with the lights on. The other, in case you're curious, is "The Sixth Sense." But that is about all the two films have in common.
Where "Sense" had an excellent plot and superb acting, "Ring" has plot holes big enough to drive a semi through. Much of the backstory involving the Morgans and their evil adopted child, Samara, is ambiguous. We're supposed to know that Samara's bad but we don't know why or how she got that way.
The entire film appears to have been shot through a blue-green filter, which does make for some interesting cinematography at times but later becomes a distraction. The shots of Samara's victims are suitably creepy, as is Samara's own demise at her mother's hands.
The acting is pretty good, with Naomi Watts proving she can carry a film. Daveigh Chase is not nearly as frightening as some other evil children in films past (notably Damien from "The Omen").
"Sense" had scenes that literally made me jump out of my chair; "Ring" did not. As remakes go, it's all right but not spectacular.