The Ring (2002)

“Before you die, you see the ring.”

I would rather have my life flash before my eyes.

Seeing the ring must be horrible. I wonder how it feels to die. I wonder if it hurts. It’s very mysterious, and very creepy. The nature of it all is mysterious and creepy. This reaction can also be said for The Ring, a movie that explores a really pissed off girl.

The film starts off with two teenage girls watching TV one night. The night turns to a uneasy setting when one of the girls mentions a tape that when you watch, you are called on the phone and a voice says that you’ll die in seven days. This changes the other girl’s attitude for the night, and by the end, she is mysteriously killed. Naomi Watts, the aunt of the murdered girl, Katie, is asked by her grieving sister to find out what happened to her daughter. So Watts’ character, Rachel, who happens to be a journalist, sets out along with her former lover and father of her child to find out of the workings of the tape and where it originated. But she doesn’t time; she too saw the video.

The Ring started off right in the middle of the action. It didn’t show the two girls at the start of the night, it didn’t introduce any character officially, it just showed them in the middle of their conversation just prior to Katie’s horrifying demise. After the opening scene, the tone stuck until the end. It was a dramatic look at a woman’s attempt to solve her niece’s murder, but it suddenly turned into a fight for survival. To me, this sudden turn of events can be interpreted into a classic MacGuffin, where a plot element that catches the character’s attention (Katie’s mysterious death) fades out, but comes back to the climax (the realization of the young girl in the well).

The little gore in the film proves yet again that blood doesn’t drive a person to scream and be afraid. If you were ever scared of this film…bravo. If you weren’t, then you have succumbed to Hollywood’s unnecessary method of scaring their viewers, which by the way is sad and tragic; I would hate to be you.

The Ring will get in your skin and start to crawl underneath it. It’s very chilling and does a perfect job of having such a supernatural murder mystery. I give the film a 3 out of 5 and it is out now on DVD.