All I know is, once the Hot Potato pyramid scheme really falls apart, Samara’s going to be one busy evil spirit. She might have to start varying her schedule.
ok, my question is:
What was Samara doing at Shelter Mountian? How did she get there. It was far away from that island, so what was she doing there in the first place? I thought it might be the mental insitute, but there are horse running around in the background. This puzzled me greatly.
Her “parents” had property on Shelter mountain. It was their summer place, I think. It was burned down (Arson, Samara’s first revenge?) and the parents told everyone that Samara died in the fire.
Obviously, it was later sold and cabins built on the premises.
To clear a couple of things up (I think)
The tape would not run out of victims, as the last person merely has to copy it, not necessarily make someone see it. That tape could lay in some dusty cellar until the end of time, as long as a copy was made. Of course, being an eeevil tape, perhaps it could make itself be found. This would also explain why the heroine put the tape in a place would it would likely be found, she was somehow encouraged to do so.
Also, it seems to me that the form that the tape took (ie. a tape) has to do with the fact that the cabin that was built over her well had a tape machine. Her eeevilness was captured on a tape and passed on that way. Is it significant that television reception is poor there? Also, shouldn’t the owner be complaining of ‘psychic stress’ of some kind?
What else? Oh yeah, in the deleted scenes on the DVD, it seems fairly clear that Samara DOES attack through the television every time.
SPOILER
The dude running the motel is found dead and water is seen under the TV, implying Samara entered from there.
And one observation
The movie shows that people who have seen the tape have their faces were distorted in photos and on video. There is a scene later when the couple finds Samara’s ‘room’ and when they look at her TV, their faces are distorted by the curved surface of her television in a way that is very similar to the distortion that shows up on film. Is this significant?
That’s what I would have thought too, had it not been for the dialogue at the very end. Doesn’t Rachel tell Aidan that they have to show it to someone?
Hooo boy, I love these threads. Both movies were good, but I still enjoyed the Japanese one better. I know the whole business with psychics was a bit much, but at least it explained the little boy’s ability to see spirits and the such. It was inherited, much like Sadako’s abilities, and I think that’s important. As someone pointed out, it shows a rather interesting dichotomy between Sadako’s family and the reporters.
The curse spreads through recording the tape and passing it on. If you make a recording of the tape, give it to someone, and they don’t watch it…you’re still toast (see Ring 2). If one were to destroy all the tapes, I’m pretty sure Sadako’s/Samara’s spirit would just create another one and wait for someone to watch it. There will always be a tape, so long as her anger persists and she’s not “sent on to the hereafter,” or however you want to explain spirits passing on. Also, if the tape does just end up in a basement somewheres, one of the victims will probably haunt someone into finding it and watching it. One of the things I love about the Japanese version is that it explains why the kid watched the video. It wasn’t that “[He] couldn’t sleep,” it was because his dead cousin’s ghost gave him the tape and told him to watch it!
As for the “You weren’t supposed to help her” line, I have a feeling that was simply to have an incredibly creepy moment (and MAN, was that a creepy moment). There’s no such line in the Japanese version, which makes me think it was just a decision by the American writter/director to help set up for the big ending. Finding her body and revealing the truth is supposed to be a way to help angry spirits to find peace and move on. According to beliefs and practices, the curse should have ended, and Sadako/Samara should have been appeased that her death was brought to light and she could now move on. The true terror comes from the fact that she’s not just an angry spirit…she’s f#*^ing PISSED! She’s out for vengence, but vengence against who? Apparently, the whole world. Finding her body and freeing her didn’t make her more powerful (she didn’t do anything new), it just didn’t do what it was supposed to do.
Also, according to the Japanese book and mangas and such, Sadako always appears to her victims, but not always through a television. Any reflective surface will do. For example…the couple in the car. I know some cars have televisions in them nowadays, but their’s didn’t. It did have mirrors though, and a lot of reflective glass. Also, in one of the books, I believe, it’s mentioned that the fourth teen in the original group was riding a motorcycle when he was attacked. He was seen gripping his helmet before he crashed, which means she appeared to him in his visor. All she needs is a reflective surface to appear in, the ability to look at you with that creepy, bloodshot eye, and think “Imma gonna kill you,” and you’re dead.
As for why the horse freaked out…well, Rachel was still cursed, she was just spared a horrible death, that’s all. Note, after she showed the tape to her ex, she still had a nose bleed, saw some pretty creepy images, had a visitation, and coughed up a friggin’ medical sensor! In Ring 2, there are a few people that don’t see the video, but have some contact either with Sadako, or the video. Photographs of them are distorted as well, but not twisted as such. Instead, there’s a streak of light covering their face. I’m sure it formed an image of something I just couldn’t make out what it was. Also, the mother and son are still being haunted, just not hunted. Rachel and her son aren’t free of Samara, they’re just not going to end up rotten, bloated corpses overnight (unless they drive off a pier or something).
Gah, I could go on, but I’ll stop here for now.
I’m sorry, I opened this thread thinking it was talking about a different Ring.
If you have seen a ring, please send it to me, c/o Barad-Dur, Mordor, Middle-Earth.
Thanks!
Great movie!! Very freaky. Some things I wanted to clear up and a few questions and theories too:
- Katie (and everyone else) died in the exact same manner as whatshisname, the video guy. Samara came out of the screen and looked at her and she became a mutilated nasty corpse. How do I know this?
-
the water on the floor. We are shown in video dude’s death that the water comes from Samara’s wetness.
-
Katie was found in the closet. When we last see her, she’s standing in the doorway and she sees the ring on the TV. Presumably, when she saw Samara coming out of the screen, she hid in the closet.
-
The horses go nuts because they can sense evil. Anyone who has had contact with Samara will cause this reaction in the horses.
-
Here’s my question: What did “helping” Samara out of the well accomplish? Nothing seems to have changed. But Aidan seems to think they did a horrible thing.
-
Another minor question: How did Katie’s friend know about the legend of the tape? Has this happened before? Or was this the first tape to get created out at cabin 12?
-
Here’s my wild theory: Copying the tape and showing it to people does nothing. Rachel was not “spared” when her 7 days were up. Samara knocked her into the well and she experienced the same horror that Samara experienced, by seeing the scratches on the wall and finding Samara’s body. She was also sealed in and saw the ring for herself. This was her “death” and this experience allowed her to go on without the video-Samara encounter. Aidan is gonna bite it unless he goes down that well.
“Left alone to rot, unknown and in obscurity. No… I want all of existence to know what it’s like, to be Yamamura Sadako.”
Okay, starting with 3) “Helping Samara out of the well” was supposed to accomplish one thing…closure. There are many stories and the like of angry spirits who were unjustly murdered, and who’s death has gone unnoted, and thus, they roam the earth as ghosts. The only way to set them free is to find the body and discover the truth behind their death. Once this is done, the ghost feels as though their death being publicised has set things right, and it moves on. That’s what was SUPPOSED to happen, and that’s why Samara killing Noah is such a shocking twist ending. His death should not have happened. In terms of “increasing her power” or “setting her free,” finding her body did absolutely squat.
And for 4), Katie probably heard about the tape because the other friends in the cabin spread the story around as though it were an urban legend in order to have some fun. Rumors fly quickly, noone really knows where it started, and it becomes a cool little story to tell.
Now, for the theory that copying the tape has nothing to do with Rachel’s living…in the original story, when the video ended, these words came up on the screen:
“You who have watched this video will die in one week. If you wish to live, here is what you must do. Copy this videotape and show it to someone else.”
Apparently, the kids who first saw it thought it was a silly hoax, so they erased the last line thinking it would make it scarier for the next person who saw it.
Rachel’s finding the body and ending up in the well has nothing to do with why she lived. It SHOULD be the reason, and SHOULD have saved anyone else from dying at Samara’s hands, but as stated above, that’s the real twist.
Also, in Ring 2, the son is saved by making a copy and showing it to his grandfather. The grandfather dies, but the boy lives. Unfortunately, both are still cursed to some extent.
Just got back from seeing this. First off… it is not a spooker. It is more a psychological thriller. It makes you think and work it out for yourself rather than be lead from the beginning to the “duh” ending.
What got me thinking was that once Adrian (little boy) made the tape and asks about anyone else to sees the tape, could this then become a murder weapon? In order to not be cursed one must make a copy of the tape to let her story be known (what she wanted all along).
Or was this to let the watcher know that a sequel was in the making - other people seeing the tape.
Hhhhmmm… the mind boggles. Decent flick. Want to see the original and read the book.
Well… while I don’t disagree with you, the fact that you decided to see this film only after reading a thread full of spoilers makes me think you may not have had exactly the right frame of mind going in…
The thing is though is that I did not read the spoilers. Weird I know. I’ve been wanting to see the film since it came out over here, but the hubby doesn’t like scary movies so I would have to go alone.
From the things said about the movie in CS and reading other reviews, I finally decided to get off my bum and go see it.
It is more of a thriller than spooker in that there was no slash em’ kill 'em bloody scenes as one would associate with a spooker. The Ring actually makes the viewer contemplate what they’ve seen and make it fit into their own mind.
Like I said, it was a decent movie. Didn’t scare me, though. The last move to actually scare me was 28 days later because of the reality factor involved and the possibilities…
Well, I totally got something different from the ending. The mom and son make a copy of the tape and the boy asks “What’s going to happen to the person who watches the copy?” And I’m thinking, “Duh, they’re going to die.” Cue mom and son taking a long sideways glance into the camera. Movie ends…
Then I think, “Oh, shit!! They mean me!! I just watched the movie and I can’t make a copy!”
Now that’s scary!