OVERBLOWN, OVERRATED HYPE

Rating: 2/10 (2 February 2003)

I just viewed The Ring at the local $2.00 theatre and I'm glad I didn't spend any extra money. Who said this movie was good?

This movie, starring Naomi Watts as Rachel, Martin Henderson as Noah and David Dorfman as Aidan has little suspense, horror or thrills. The movie begins with Katie (Amber Tamblyn), the neice of Rachel, and Becca (Rachael Bella) sharing information about a tape that, if watched, claims you will die within seven days. Surprisingly enough, the rumor is spreading amongst the high school crowd (courtesy of Becca and others).

Katie, along with three of her friends rendezvous at a cabin retreat and view a non-commercial VHS tape of mixed messages and images. From what I've gathered (unless I missed some crucial dialog), this rumor was amassed without anyone actually dying. How many VHS tapes of The Ring actually exist? If the Katie and her friends weren't the only viewers, when did other viewers die where a rumor (or facts) could be built? If the only available copy existed at the cabin retreat, how did Becca find out about it and share the rumor with Katie who actually saw the tape and, no doubt, received the phone call that vocalized her future demise? If symptons developed after viewing the tape, such as a bleeding nose, or a blurred face in a photograph, wouldn't Katie have noticed these things prior to her 7th day and shared the information with Becca? I could go on with the unanswered questions, but I need to redirect my energy.
Dreamworks, this is what I call good promoting. It's an overblown production that produces below average results.
Thrills, suspense and horror? Give me the first two Alien movies. In fact, Deep Rising was a better horror movie than The Ring and it's current rating is averaging a full 2 points less; and Deep Rising had clever humor where The Ring failed.
I hope they don't produce a sequel because this was garbage. In fact, please don't.
2 out of 10 because I did jump during the millipede scene. But, I'd jump even if the millipede scene was intermixed in a comedy because I don't like bugs.