I didn’t see a thread for it so I’m starting this one. If I’m missing one, I sowwy.
So. The scariest movie since Sixth Sense. I can see why they compared it to Sixth Sense, since neither was scary.
I thought it was kinda funny that both of them had little boys who talked to dead people
The scary makeup was scary. The music was scary. The plot wasn’t scary. I think this isn’t a bad movie, but I’d probably suggest waiting til it is out on video.
You know… I wasn’t all that scared when I watched it. However, every once in a while, in the middle of the night, I’ll be lying in my bed, and that scene will pop into my mind. You know the one, late in the movie… Damn, that just creeps the heck out of me, and I have an awful time getting back to sleep.
In that respect, it’s probably the most scared/creeped out I’ve been from a movie since I watched Invasion of the Body Snatchers when I was 7!
The horse suicide scene had me laughing out loud, that’s the best thing I can say about this movie. Really, am I the only one who thought this was a big pile or horse doo-doo?
Doin’ my job not to open another thread, so I ask a question here. Why were the mother and daughter dressed in 19th century clothing when the girl was thrown down the well? Only to use a garbage bag? Was the family just really into dressing old fashioned?
Yes. You will. Much better filmmaking, though the story is a bit more convoluted.
Among other things, it doesn’t interrupt the “coming out” scene with a cut to a fucking car chase-like shot.
But as much as I liked the Japanese Ring, Dark Water, by the same director/writer (I think it’s the same writer, anyway) is much better. (Hm, I think this is the third time said that. Gotta stop opening Ring threads.)
Cool, there are currently 3 threads about The Ring, listed one right after the other.
It’s funny how horror movies affect different people in different ways. I really like this film. I think it gave us a great piece of horror movie dialogue:
You know, much has been made of the Sixth Sense parallel, but children who are especially sensitive to spirits are nothing new. See The Innocents, Poltergeist, The Exorcist, etc.
I found the horse scene to be very disturbing, and I’m not even a big lover of giant beasts with big teeth and hooves.
I think as Anna Morgan’s sanity slipped, she began dressing more eccentricly. She looked quite normal in the first newspaper photo. Also, most of the images of her are filtered through Samara’s perceptions, which might not be the most reliable.
Definitely a creepy movie. I’ve never found supernatural horror movies particularly scary, but this was a well-made film with some chilling scenes. Samara’s/Sadako’s final “attacks” in both “The Ring” and “Ringu” are quite effective, IMO.
I’m going to post this here, since it’s the most recent thread on the topic. We rented “Ringu” this weekend, and quite frankly, I liked the American version much better. I know I am going to get ripped for this, but the remake was scarier to me, and had stronger characters (although some of that may be due to cultural differences).
Spoilers for both The Ring and TRingu
[spoiler]In Ringu, I thought the dad was a asshole and the mom a weak, dithering and helpless human being on top of being a distant and selfish mother. Sadako wasn’t scary, her history left too vague, and the shot of her eye was ridiculous.
In The Ring, the video was more disturbing, and I liked how elements from it wove into the week following its viewing (the ladder, the centipede, etc.). I also liked that repeated viewings of the video led to additional clues and much more firmly established that the video got a wee bit longer each time, which added to the building feeling of dread. Samara’s history, and her relationship to her mother and father made her both more real and more scary to me.[/spoiler]
Anyway. I was very tired while watching Ringu, and split the viewing between two days. Maybe if I had been fully alert it would have been better.
It is really interesting how horror movies (and books) affect different people in different ways. What terrifies one person leaves another one cold. To me, “The Ring” was the scariest movie I had ever seen, ever (and I’ve seen a LOT of movies, horror and otherwise). Not the most disturbing, but definitely the one that had me trying to get into the fetal position in my theater seat.
I thought the first 5 minutes of The Ring was probably the scariest part, it set the tone nicely for the rest of the film. There were a few good “jump” moments, and the movie had a pretty creepy atmosphere overall. It reminded me of The Blair Witch Project, in that it struck me as more intense than really frightening.
Oh, and I was quite surprised to see that Hans Zimmer composed the music for it. After seeing it, I was expecting a name like Maurice Jarre or Thomas Newman in the credits, but Hans surprised me this time. His scores are usually good, but so over-the-top that they’re almost always readily identifiable. He used some real subtlety in his music for The Ring, and that made for a nice surprise.
I liked it overall. Good style, good effects, for the most part understated as a good horror film should be. Not the scariest film I’ve ever seen, but effective nonetheless.