scary stuff - plot holes or no!

Rating: Null/10 (5 November 2002)

By reading the comments on this film, it occurs to me once again how diverse is human reaction to the same stimulus. Apparently many didn't find The Ring frightening at all - a response I have to believe but find utterly unfathomable. My husband and I saw this film in a packed theatre (yes, with many teenagers), and it was one of those intense audience experiences in which you can almost hear everyone breathe (or not) at the same time. Movie snobs (and my god, there are a lot of you out there! I'm sick of reading "another poor American version of a brilliant foreign original") and cynics might go to this movie determined not to be frightened by it simply because others said they were, but I think the vast majority of filmgoers would (and do) find this movie effective and disturbing. Does it make perfect sense? No, but I can honestly say it's been only in retrospect that I've been concerned about discrepancies and ambiguities; while it was going on, I had to keep reminding myself that this was just a movie . . . So, I guess my final word is, It's just an entertainment, for crying out loud! And entertain it does - if you let yourself enter into the film's nightmare world.