The Ring - 2002
Quick Summary
When her niece dies of fright a week after watching a mysterious video tape, Seattle journalist Rachel Keller decides to investigate. With the help of her ex-husband Noah, she discovers that the tape carries a strange curse: anyone who watches it is doomed to die in terrible circumstances.
Rachel takes the risk of watching the tape anyway. Then the phone rings and the clock starts ticking: the young woman has only seven days left to save herself and her son. Seven days to try to thwart the Circle's spell...
My Thoughts
"The Ring" is an American remake of the Japanese film "Ring" released in 98. As I haven't seen the original, I'm not going to compare the two, but only focus on "The Ring", the 2002 film.
Directed by Gore Verbinski, this film has become a horror classic, and we've all seen that strange Samara with her face hidden behind her hair.
The film's plot is absolutely fascinating, because unlike many horror films, here there's a real script that's been researched and worked on. This is a horror film that could just as easily have been a thriller. Also, one of the advantages of this film is that it relies on a well-known and committed cast.
The atmosphere is so tense and anxiety-inducing that there are few moments when you can relax. Even so, I don't think it's necessarily very scary, but that doesn't mean the horror film isn't a success.
The direction is clean and the visual effects satisfactory. There are quite a few interesting details, such as the fact that the colour grading is turned blue throughout the film to reinforce the anxiety-inducing atmosphere, or certain hidden images that last a few hundredths of a second and are almost subliminal.
In short, this film has all the makings of a good horror flick, and doesn't even need screamers every ten minutes to scare us.
To Watch or Not to Watch
I absolutely recommend this film, which is a horror classic.