Well made horror

Rating: 8/10 (26 April 2014)

This starts with Becca (Rachael Bella) and Katie (Amber Tamblyn) watching a scary movie. There is an urban legend of a haunted videotape. After watching it, the person gets a phone call claiming that person will have only 7 days to live. It's a classic horror movie intro right down to the girls' school uniforms. It works surprisingly well for such a try and true setup.
Rachel (Naomi Watts) is a single-mom reporter with a troubled son Aidan (David Dorfman) who lost his close cousin Katie recently. Rachel decides to help out by investigating the mysterious death. Only the mystery deepens when she gets a hold of the tape. She watches it and receives the creepy call from Samara (Daveigh Chase) telling her "7 days".
The movie is able to carry the classic horror styles all the way through. It maintains the creepiness from the well made opening. Everything from the set design to the actual tape is made with the same creepy vibe. It also delivers something new to this genre. The Japanese original started the idea but this is a better made film. Even washing out the colors with blueish green creates its own unique creepiness. Naomi Watts is just so compelling, and David Dorfman looks so sickly. And the use of the ring motif also works. Just about everything works.