Beautiful and frightening!

Rating: Null/10 (23 July 2009)

The Ring is a very well-made mystery thriller. First off, the writing is very good for a film of this genre. Sure, there are some flaws in the screenplay, but ultimately, very well written with touches of drama, suspense, and mystery. Namoi Watts is a strong leading lady, and she gives a great performance here, touching on all the emotions her character should go through. A small cameo from Amber Tamblyn is great, she is truly a strong young actress. Martin Hendeson is good, but nothing special. The true standouts in this film were Brian Cox, David Dorfman, and Daveigh Chase. Brian Coz is one of the strongest older actors working today, and he does the best with his small screen time. Both David Dorfman and Daveigh Chase give two of the best child performances I have seen in recent years. Both are genuinely very creepy and mysterious.
The Ring is technically perfect. Gore Verbinski is a really talented director, and he makes the film be as creepy as it is. Another aspect of the film I found to be masterful was the photography and cinematography. There are so many beautiful shots in this film. Some are scary, some are mysterious, some are just well-crafted. I think this might be the best shot 'horror' film in the last 10 years. There is so much depth and color to each shot. The film is also very high on atmosphere. It might also be the most atmospheric film of the decade, even more-so than The Others from 2001.
Overall, The Ring is a beautifully shot suspense/horror film, with some really scary scenes. It is flawed, but it achieves so much. It has all the elements to become a future horror classic, among films like The Exorcist and Poltergesit.