Ring (DVD)

Gore Verbinski's "The Ring" is a masterful attempt at remaking a foreign language film. "Ring" was a big hit when released in 1999 and was quickly followed by two inferior sequels. Japan is capable of making spine tingling films, "Audition" and "Freezer" come to mind, but "Ring" had a central premise that quite frankly borders on genius: What if there was a videotape that killed? "Ring" was a stark atmospheric film that mixed urban legend with classical horror to great effect. Gore Verbinski is not remaking a masterpiece of cinema but is merely translating a foreign language commercial horror film ...  Read the complete review

It has been a while since I watched a horror movie which actually managed to freak me out. Western horror movies seemed to go through a stage of either being ultra gory(before being clamped down on), then slipping into self-parody and have now spun full circle back to the old, tired slasher movie genre which has even made someone believe the 9th sequel to Friday the 13th was a great idea(it wasn't - arrgh!). Hollywood seems almost completely devoid of new ideas when it comes to horror flicks, seemingly content with picking over the bones of past successes and parodying its own inadequacies, going for the cheap shock tactic as opposed to truly unnerving the audience ...  Read the complete review

Ring was a massive success in Japan, and yet its cinema distribution upon release in Britain was tiny. Now you have the chance to find out what you missed… THE FILM A video exists, and whoever watches it receives a telephone call. That person then dies one week later, apparently because their heart simply stops, with a look of complete terror on their face. The video itself contains relatively innocuous images such as a woman brushing her hair, a close-up of an eye with a symbol superimposed over the dilated pupil, some people crawling around awkwardly, etc., but it obviously has supernatural powers of some kind and this is what Reiko, a reporter, ...  Read the complete review

Horror films seem to be getting worse these days. Ok, so it’s a sweeping statement but the world of horror in the eyes of directors and screenwriters these days seems to be made up of quick shocks and lots of blood. This, in my humble opinion, is what’s known as a ‘bad move’. I was reminded about this the other day when I had a chance to catch the showing of Ring and Ring 2 on Channel 4 over the last week. The first of these films is probably one of my most highly rated horror films of all time and its utter lack of reliance on blood and ‘shock’ scenes is a fresh and welcome experience. Ring is a Japanese film by director ...  Read the complete review

Scene 1: night. A teenage couple are making out in their car in a wood. The radio is on. It is playing something ironic like ?Killing Me Softly? to make it seem like we are intelligent filmmakers. The music lowers as they speak. Cindy: I do love you Brad/Chad/Corey, I?m just not ready yet. Brad/Chad/Corey: Come on baby, you don?t want to die a virgin, do you? As he finishes his sentence, a knife appears in the middle of his chest. It has gone through the car window and his back. It is a very strong knife. Cindy screams. Obviously. Sound familiar? And I am supposed to be the ?core audience? for this tripe. As a cynical member of the teen market I am ...  Read the complete review