You've Been Maimed ! (The Ring (DVD))

Member Name: utero

Product:	The Ring (DVD)
Date:	11/04/03 (45 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Scary, Un-Nerving, Good Story

Disadvantages: None

There are two types of horror film, one is the kind that goes for sensational gore and death. The other is the kind that gets under your skin and slowly burns away in your mind, playing on your common fears.

The Ring is one of these movies, personally I haven't seen the japanese original but in a way I think that's a good thing as you're not knowing what to expect from this american re-make. The plot takes on slight urban myth and concerns a videotape that contains some bizarre and un-nerving imagery. Anyone who watches the tape gets a phone call with a voice shat just says "7 days". Seven days later the watcher is dead. One of the victims is the neice of reporter Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts). Soon Rachel is on the case of where the mysterious tape came from but she too has watched the tape and may not have much time left. Her investigation leads from the rain soaked streets of Seattle to the wetlands of America. She also puts people she knows in danger from the tape such as her son and his estranged father.

Soon Rachel is discovering the dark secrets about the tape and discovers that before you die you see the ring. To say anymore would ruin the surprise.

The film is very un-nerving and in some ways very un-hollywood. I say that because there could have been a real danger of turning a great concept into the usual genre cliches. But Director Gore Vibinski gets the idea and proceeds to create a film that really moves slowly but all the while keeps you intrigued. We're never shown the full effects of the rings victims, it's all fleeting so you're left holding out in vain hope of seeing the full on horror of the victims. The look of the film is incredibly moody and washed out, it's Seattle but somehow the city looks like something individual. The cinematography is excellent and creates a very foreboding and haunted look.

The acting is also great with Naomi Watts exceling in the lead role while new
comer Martin Henderson is also solid. David Dorfman as the young son is also good and not in the cute kid mould. Apart from Brian Cox there are no other recognisable faces in the cast and that just adds to the whole film by making you buy the story. By the end of the film I was affected and scared, it pulls you into a false sense of security with something you think is the end but actually ends up being the beginning of the real end.

If all other asian chillers such as The Eye are given this kind of treatment when re-made then I'm all for it.

Summary: