# The Ring **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 24, 2002, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499 "2002-11-24T16:57:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2002, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499/1 "2002-11-24T16:57:11Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2002, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499/2 "2002-11-24T17:05:56Z")
I don’t think it’s scary, so much as it’s really creepy. It has very creepy images, and that’s enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2002, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499/3 "2002-11-24T17:14:53Z")
If anyone wants to add comments to my [review at teemingmillions.com](http://www.teemingmillions.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=1) please feel free. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2002, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499/4 "2002-11-24T17:54:21Z")
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**! ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2002, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499/5 "2002-11-24T18:35:07Z")
which scene? Use the (spoiler)text(/spoiler) tag ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2002, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499/6 "2002-11-24T19:43:31Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2002, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499/7 "2002-11-24T20:48:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OpalCat \* > \*\*which scene? Use the (spoiler)text(/spoiler) tag \*\* The scene in the guys studio where the girl climbs out of the well, then out of the TV and walks across the room, still looking all video-like. _ **shudder** _ ---
**Author:** ![Alias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2002, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499/8 "2002-11-24T20:52:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zuma \* > \*\*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? \*\* Are you kidding? That scene made me WAY too upset. I thought it was horribly disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2002, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499/9 "2002-11-24T23:02:56Z")
The horse scene really freaked me out, too. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2002, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499/10 "2002-11-24T23:28:03Z")
I also found the horse scene to be one of the most disturbing in the movie. Probably because my family kept horses when I was a kid. I liked _The Ring_ a lot, but I expect that I’ll like [_Ringu_](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0178868) better. ---
**Author:** ![Jadis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@Jadis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jadis)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499/11 "2002-11-25T03:53:25Z")
More discussion can be found [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=144320&highlight=ring), [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=142483&highlight=ring), [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=141593&highlight=ring), [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=140756&highlight=ring), [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=140317&highlight=ring), [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=140127&highlight=ring), and [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=138816&highlight=ring+horse). ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499/12 "2002-11-25T04:03:52Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499/13 "2002-11-25T04:09:32Z")
It was Washington state. They do things differently there. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499/14 "2002-11-25T04:54:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Larry Mudd \* > \*\*I also found the horse scene to be one of the most disturbing in the movie. Probably because my family kept horses when I was a kid. > > I liked _The Ring_ a lot, but I expect that I’ll like [_Ringu_](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0178868) better. \*\* 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.) ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499/15 "2002-11-25T14:05:09Z")
Jadis: thank you. I did look, I swear. The search timed out on me so I just went back several days in pages and didn’t see anything. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499/16 "2002-11-25T15:55:00Z")
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 weren’t supposed to help her" Can’t wait to see Ringu! ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499/17 "2002-11-25T15:57:23Z")
> [@](#): > > Cool, there are currently 3 threads about The Ring, listed one right after the other. They’ve been bumped since I started this thread. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499/18 "2003-03-11T18:37:06Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499/19 "2003-03-11T18:55:44Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499/20 "2003-03-11T18:57:19Z")
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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ring/138499.md?page=2)