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The Ring, a remake of Ringu, a 1998 Japanese
film, is the best "scary" movie I have seen in a long
time. The premise: Anyone who watches a mysterious homemade video tape
dies seven days later. The first victim is
Rachel Keller's (Naomi Watts) 16-year-old niece Katie, whose
heart stops beating out of fear. She is found dead with a look of pure horror
on her face.
Rachel, an investigative reporter in Seattle, is asked by her
sister to look into Katie's death. Rachel soon learns that
Katie and three friends recently stayed at a cabin in Shelter
Mountain and her three friends have died mysteriously too.
It all leads back to a video tape the four watched while in
Shelter Mountain. Rachel hunts down the tape and watches
it and becomes convinced that she has seven days to live before
the tape somehow kills her too.
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I enjoyed watching this movie unfold, as Rachel
races to figure out how and why watching a video tape can kill a
person. Rachel being an investigative journalist, it is easy to
believe she has the skills and tools to piece together the
puzzle of the video tape. Naomi Watts plays it straight
and makes you believe that this implausibility could actually
occur. She is vulnerable, tough, and determined, sometimes
all at once.
As Rachel's son Aidan, David Dorfman is quite a spooky little
guy. He brings a sense of unease to his role and you're
never quite sure if he knows more than he's letting on or if
he's just a weird kid. I won't give away the ending, but
he has a line that sent a chill through me!
As Rachel's friend/boyfriend Noah, Martin Henderson is
equally captivating, playing the role with just the right amount
of skepticism and toughness.
The Ring has a suspenseful pace that keeps you guessing.
Just when you think you have figured out what will happen next
there is a new twist that takes the story in a different
direction. All the while there is the countdown of the seven
days, which adds urgency to the plight of the characters. This
combined with the use of surreal and dreamlike imagery makes for
a very entertaining and unreal journey through the world of the
supernatural.
As I was watching The Ring, I couldn't help but make
comparisons to Fear Dot Com - watching a video tape
spells death vs. logging onto a website spells death.
However, The Ring does what Fear Dot
Com doesn't: engages the viewer and features a cast that's
captivating and interesting.
Being very gullible, I was a little nervous to watch this
movie, but I watched it on DVD, not video, so I'm
safe!
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Aidan
(David Dorfman)
Rachael
(Naomi Watts)
Katie
(Amber Tamblyn)
Noah
(Martin Henderson)
Samara
(Daveigh Chase)
Imagery from The Ring
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