This is what a scary movie should do to you..."Its a videotape of someones nightmare"

Rating: 9/10 (10 November 2002)

None of us likes to admit to being scared. Maybe a little uneasy, maybe a little tens, but not scared, not grown up me. The truth is, we all experience fear, embracing that fact is what makes the Ring so enjoyable.

In my view the best scary movies are the ones that really start to get scary after the credits have rolled.
The ones that are at their most frightening in that last moment before you turn the bedside light off... That are at their most frightening when you walk down the darkened hallway to your bedroom after turning the lights off... That are at their most scary when you wake to a noise in the night KNOWING its just the house cooling... That are at their most frightening when their memories come to you in the moments before dawn. Images that take only a few seconds to pass on big screen but have the time to stir languidly in our dreams, making us toss and turn.
The ring may not be a scarefest, nor gory, not lighthearted. But it is un-nerving, a rare treat in this age of the feel good flicks. The kind of movie children should not watch, for it will give them nightmares. The kind of movie that will raise the hair on you back from time to time as another frightening scene is recalled (especially the video of "the nightmare").
As with all great movies there is passionate discussion as to its value, but only a dullard could see no value in the well directed and ultimately disturbing and frightening piece of work.
Spoiler: One point many critics have touched on is the supposed scariness of the tape and why the child would even make a tape. I implore you to watch the film again and listen to what she has to say in her interrogation, and note who her only "friend" in the barn loft is alluded to being. This film does make certain sense, and that is what is all the more frightening.