Rachel Keller is a journalist investigating a videotape that may have killed four teenagers. There is an urban legend about this tape: the viewer will die seven days after watching it. Rachel tracks down the video... and watches it. Now she has just seven days to unravel the mystery of the Ring so she can save herself and her son.
Naomi Watts
Rachel Keller
Martin Henderson
Noah Clay
David Dorfman
Aidan Keller
Brian Cox
Richard Morgan
Jane Alexander
Dr. Grasnik
Lindsay Frost
Ruth Embry
Amber Tamblyn
Katie Embry
Rachael Bella
Rebecca Kotler
Daveigh Chase
Samara Morgan
Shannon Cochran
Anna Morgan
Sandra Thigpen
Teacher
Richard Lineback
Innkeeper
Sasha Barrese
Girl Teen #1
Tess Hall
Girl Teen #2
Adam Brody
Male Teen #1
Alan Blumenfeld
Harvey
Pauley Perrette
Beth
Joe Chrest
Doctor
Stephanie Erb
Donna
Joanna Lin Black
Cashier
Michael Spound
Dave Embry
Art Frankel
Cal
Billy Lloyd
Darby Grasnik
Sara Rue
Babysitter
Keith Campbell
Ship's Mate
Ronald William Lawrence
Library Clerk
Lindsey Stoddart
Grad Student
Joe Sabatino
Orderly
Aixa Clemente
Nurse
Coleen Maloney
Mourner #1
Catherine Paolone
Mourner #2
Maura McNamara
Girl on Ferry
David Povall
Girl's Father
Gary Carlos Cervantes
Painter
Chuck Hicks
Ferry Worker
Director
Gore Verbinski
Novel
Kōji Suzuki
Screenplay
Ehren Kruger
Screenplay
Hiroshi Takahashi
October 29, 2018
8
Is she still in the dark place?
After the mysterious death of her niece Katie, journalist Rachel Keller starts to investigate an urban legend about a videotape which kills you seven days after watching it. With dire consequences coming her way if she can not solve the mystery....
The sentence, English language remake of successful foreign horror film has been known to instill fear of the wrong kind in many a genre fan. So when it was announced that Gore Verbinski was to remake Hideo Nakata's terrifying nerve shredder, Ringu, the reaction in horror circles was akin to someone urinating on your chips. Refreshing to report then that The Ring is a candidate for best American remake and proof positive that remakes sometimes can be a good thing.
Starring Naomi Watts (who is terrific) as Rachel, Verbinski and writer Ehren Kruger (adapting from Kôji Suzuki's novel) successfully transfer the atmospherics of Nakata's piece to a dank and eerie Seattle. It's with atmosphere that The Ring starts to play on your nerves, because after viewing the creepy and unsettling tape itself, we ourselves have been set up for the race against the clock theme that is driving Rachel on. So as the mystery starts to unravel, and sadness threatens to take a hold, the story quickly shifts direction to give horror one of its most baddest and cruelest characters. It's the kind of impact that crawls under your skin and refuses to move when you are trying to sleep at night.
Though the story has been streamlined from its source, The Ring still has a bit too much filler in its meaty structure. Feeling a need to give Watts a quest among quests, Verbinski almost over cooks the mystery essence of the plot. However, with much relief he reins it in to stop any sort of scooby doo like nonsense detracting from the creepy sense of dread that has been built up previously. The ending here works a treat, but it is a tone down from the source and with that it's not even close to Nakata's version, and just maybe it has something to do with Dream Works wanting to secure a PG-13 rating?
What is left though is a truly suspenseful and unsettling thriller - come horror film. One that even on revisits manages to bother and keep one on the edge of the seat. It made an $80 million profit in America alone, ensuring that a sequel was sure to follow. Now was that one a bad idea! 8/10
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$48,000,000.00
Revenue:
$249,348,933.00