Quick Reviews!!

Rating: 4/10 (7 March 2005)

One of the worst remakes of recent years, made worse because it should have been so much better. Wooden acting from most-unlike the original, the intro was far to teen movie like-unlike the original, terrible attempts at scaring-unlike the original, and a weak ending-unlike the original. You've probably guessed i'm a big fan of the original, yes, i consider it to be the best horror movie of the nineties, since Elm Street part one, but do not let you think that means i am biased- I had high hopes for this, which were quashed, but I have high hopes for the sequel. I also loved The Grudge remake and felt it was almost as good as the original.
Although this tried to be clever, and gets points for attempting to create some atmosphere, it just falls on its face, reverting to very weak and predictable jumpy moments. Lesson 1- Loud noises may make the audience jump, but they will not be SCARED- in the cinema they have BIG speakers so the sound of a car driving may be enough to make us jump. Is this scary? No. The Ring relies far too much on this- horses kicking walls etc. Eg, you're walking around your house thinking about something. Someone bumps into you when you don't expect it- you are momentarily shocked, but soon forget it. This is not scary. However, if you are walking around you're house with the belief that someone or something is outside, or perhaps inside intending to get you, that is fear. You are scared. Ringu did this for 90 minutes or so, The Ring does it for 0. Naomi Watts is a good actress, and Verbinski is an OK director, but they do not seem comfortable here. He may not have been able to direct her effectively. The rest of the cast is instantly forgettable. The kid, Yoichi equivalent was good in Panic, but here is just another '6th Sense Look Out Scary Kid Alert' kid. Yoichi in the original said little, but he was not the focus, and he still managed to make us uncomfortable. The score in the original is extremely effective and haunting, this has nothing. The story is minimal admittedly, but the original covered this and dealt with what there was with great skill. Here it tries to cover it up by bringing in some nonsense horse side plot which has little relevance and is entirely dumb. And the ending. The original Sadako moment is one of the most frightening things ever filmed, you will feel your whole body become tense the first time you see it, edited perfectly and filmed so excruciatingly slowly that you may almost not be able to bear it. In this it is laughable, far too fast, (again with the loud noises) and we actually cut away from it! We cut away from it!! This takes whatever tension there may have been away from the scene, and then we are set up for another predictable 'jump' moment when the seat is turned round and...! How many times has that ploy been used in movies? Samara herself is not scary, just seems like an annoying little girl. Sadako however is pure rage, unstoppable, and very creepy. Let's hope that Nakata can do something better with the sequel.
4 out of 10