Movie Review--The Ring

"Seven days."
--Samara, The Ring


In anticipation of the upcoming R-rated J-horror sequel to/reboot of The Grudge, set to release in early 2020, one can always revisit established J-horror classics or view them for the first time.  The Ring remains one of the best.  Samara has become an iconic horror figure thanks to this film, the 2002 American remake of a Japanese horror movie that is itself an adaption of a Japanese novel.  More importantly, The Ring demonstrates how imagery, setting, and mystery are more fundamental building blocks of horror than jump scares or blood.


Production Values

The PG-13 rating might preclude certain arbitrary levels of violence or macabre imagery, but the rating does not have to confine directors to non-horror material.  The Ring is a prime example of this.  Images that would strike some people as grotesque are featured, but they are used sparingly and in service of the story--revelation and atmosphere are consistently emphasized over gore.  A unique color scheme is utilized rather well to reinforce a bleak atmosphere that remains with the movie all the way to its dramatic climax.

The primary characters of The Ring are very similar to many modern characters in that the performances behind them showcase genuine skill, but there is little to no developed arc for any of them.  For example, Naomi Watts (a talented actress) plays Rachel Keller very well, and Martin Henderson plays her former lover Noah well, even though their characters do not drastically change throughout the film.  However, given the storyline of The Ring, this isn't particularly problematic, as not every type of movie needs clear character arcs to succeed.


Story

Some spoilers are below!

Journalist Rachel Keller's son Aidan loses his best friend when his cousin Katie dies after accurately predicting the day of her death.  When Rachel learns that several of Katie's friends also died on the same night at the same time, she seeks out information about a tape that allegedly kills you seven days after you watch it, visits the cabin where Katie and her friends viewed it, and plays the tape for herself.

She then receives a phone call during which a female voice says "Seven days" before hanging up.  Showing the tape to her ex Noah, Rachel desperately follows every clue available about the origin of the tape and the young girl it features.  This investigation leads her to the last living member of the Morgan family, a family that once returned to their island home from a trip with an adopted daughter named Samara.


Intellectual Content

As with many other horror stories, The Ring flirts with the epistemology of supernaturalism as key characters begin to realize the circumstances they find themselves in are explicitly supernatural.  Films like The Conjuring 2 do more with the practical and philosophical elements to this aspect of supernatural horror, but its inclusion in a non-forced way still benefits The Ring.


Conclusion

The Ring clearly benefits from its lead performances, unique aesthetic, and emphasis on atmosphere instead of strings of jump scares, serving as an example of how to craft horror films that make the most of the PG-13 rating.  There is always a place for violent horror, but The Ring exemplifies how sound filmmaking results in a more nuanced story than violence alone ever could.  In an era where horror offerings vary wildly in quality, there is always the need to acknowledge the components of well-crafted horror.


Content:
 1.  Violence: A finger is impaled on the infamous video Rachel watches.  In other scenes, long strands of hair come out of Rachel's mouth and a man electrocutes himself in a bathtub.
 2.  Profanity:  The PG-13 rating means that the profanity is significantly less frequent than it is in other contemporary horror movies like the Saw films, but expletives like "bitch" and "shit" are still used.