By There's already enough tension and real-life terror out there in society, so is this really an appropriate time for a tense, abrasive, unsettling thriller? Absolutely. "The Ring" is a perfect escape from endless paranoia about terrorism, maniacs, abductions and imminent war.
It puts the terror back where it belongs: on movie screens.
It hits the viewer with jolt after jolt and maintains a creepy, suspenseful atmosphere from the first scene to the very last. And above all, the fear is confined to the safe zone of a darkened theater, where imagination can run wild but no one really gets hurt.
"The Ring" begins with two girls discussing a videocassette that kills you exactly one week after you watch it. One of them had the dire misfortune to set eyes on it a week before this conversation and is dispatched right off the bat. The other one is left catatonic and confined to a mental ward.
At her funeral, the girl's aunt, Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts), agrees to investigate her death at the urging of her bereaved mother. At the same time, she is dealing with her troubled son Aidan (David Dorfman) and her estranged ex-husband, with whom she still has some reluctant chemistry.
Her investigation into the video (which she also has the misfortune to view) leads her to a mystery about a little girl, her abusive parents and an unclear message from beyond the grave. It reveals its secrets slowly as the plot develops (and the day of Rachel's death draws nearer).
Although it's a remake of a 1998 Japanese film (titled "Ringu"), this is the second movie so far this year to echo loudly "Stir of Echoes." The first was the worthless "feardotcom," but this one manages to be fresh and, unlike the aforementioned movie, highly compelling.
The performances are solid all around. Watts carries the film effortlessly, and Martin Henderson is quite good as her ex. Particularly worth noting is David Dorfman as her disturbed son. This kid is good. He's like Haley Joel Osmont, but without the cloying cutesiness. Keep your eyes on him. As a bonus, Brian Cox (the original Hannibal Lector from "Manhhunter") has a cool little role that allows him to demonstrate both restraint and sheer madness.
The movie does succumb to supernatural cliches here and there with its shenanigans, and it's not terribly original. But it's so slick and excels in so many areas that it's easy to forgive "The Ring" its minor flaws.
From the start, it establishes a deliberate pace and tweaks it throughout to maximize the impact of its scares. Its special effects are solid, particularly the ones involving the little girl on the videotape. There are a couple of scenes involving her that will leave you with industrial-strength goosebumps. What's really admirable about the film's technical side is that a lot of the effects are achieved through in-camera trickery, editing and choreography.
Don't let the film's PG-13 rating fool you. This is a low-gore, high-atmosphere film, but it certainly ain't kiddie-fodder horror. Adults should enjoy it just as much as its teenage target audience.
If anything, "The Ring" sails right over the hurdles of the rating with a few brief but particularly disturbing scenes that left me wondering how it avoided an R.
There's one scene in particular involving a horse's brutal death that shell-shocked even this jaded viewer. Watch out for that one. This delivers everything you could want from a contemporary horror film. If you want a complex character study, try a P.T. Anderson film or Vinegar Hill.
"The Ring" has no illusions about what it is and simply sets out to twist the screws and keep you on edge throughout. It runs circles around other recent horror films and is definitely worth setting aside a dark and stormy night.
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
