Before you die you see "The Ring"

Rating: 9/10 (19 October 2002)

A combination of the visual chill of "Stigmata", the remote horror of "The Blair Witch Project", and the otherworldly, alien evils of H. P. Lovecraft, "The Ring" is a well-crafted, visually-arresting examination of how one act can inspire madness in everybody.
Naomi Watts is Rachel, a journalist who discovers that four teenagers, including her own cousin, have died a week to the day after watching a disturbing video tape. Rachel tracks down the video and watches it herself. Immediately following the last frame of the video, she receives a phone call telling her that she will die in seven days. Desperate to stop whatever is causing this, she enlists the aid of her ex-husband. Her mission is fueled by the fact that her own son has also seen the video, and they are both being visited by a malevolent and insane entity.
Watts is fantastic as Rachel, reminiscent of Nicole Kidman in "The Others," a stable woman slowly losing her grip on the real world. Gore Verbinski, a director who's previous work ("The Mexican") I could describe as wasteful, shocked and amazed me by the stunning visuals and sparse yet horrifying special effects. The video itself is an emulation of the surrealism of Maya Deren and altogether disturbing by itself. Other fine performances include Daveigh Chase (the voice of Lilo in "Lilo & Stitch") as a disturbed young girl who may be the entire key to the mystery of the malevolent video tape.
I fault the movie briefly for David Dorfman's performance as Aidan, Rachel's son. We have seen too many overly precocious, psychic children in horror movies since Haley Joel Osmont in "The Sixth Sense." Enough already.
This was based upon an acclaimed Japanese thriller, and I would be highly curious to see what has been changed in the American version. However, I would highly recommend "The Ring" for anyone looking for two hours of surreal, insinuatingly creepy horror. 9 out of 10.