The Ring - film review.

The RingA creepy, unsettling and sometimes downright suffocating horror flick based on the Japanese film .

Story

The film opens as teenagers Katie () and Becca () are having a sleepover and spooking each other with ghost stories. Trouble is, the urban legend Becca retells is all too true, as Katie is just about to find out in the most grisly of ways. The story centers on a mysterious videotape that, should you be so unfortunate as to view it, will kill you in seven days (you know this because someone calls right after you watch it to alert you that you're gonna kick). Katie and her friends watched it, and sure enough, they're all dead a week later--sparking Katie's aunt, an investigative journalist named Rachel (), to uncover what happened and why. When the trail leads her to the sinister tape, she watches it, receives the foreboding phone call, and consequently sets off on a race against time to somehow save her life by finding out the meaning of what she's seen. She enlists the help of Noah (), the father of her rather strange and solitary young son Aidan ()--who, like all kids in horror movies these days, is seeing frightening visions too--and over the course of seven days, the two find themselves embroiled in a mystery that involves the tape, a twisted family and dying horses.

Acting

The acting by all involved is generally good. , who hit the radar with 's last year, ably carries the film although there are times in close-up when she looks too self-aware, with an almost smug expression, as though she's about to smile when the situation isn't the least bit funny. Maybe it's because she knows her Rachel does some pretty mind-blowingly foolish things, the most noteworthy among them leaving the deadly video out where her curious son (who annoyingly invokes and looks absolutely nothing like either of the folks playing his parents) can pop it in the ...

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Acting

Direction

It's been awhile since jaded horror fans have had something to get excited about. justifies his career after the miserable with this taut thriller, which opens with the teen girls in a truly terrifying sequence reminiscent of . is keenly aware of the value of keeping things just out of sight and not resorting to cheap horror movie shlock, so there are genuine chills to be had (animal lovers will want to cover their eyes during one particularly horrifying scene). Although the moments that'll really make you jump out of your skin are few and far between, the secret behind the videotape is compelling, as is the imagery. Without overdoing it, displays some fantastic cinematography, particularly with the Buñuel-esque videotape (you could have heard a pin drop, as engrossed as the audience was at this review screening), and the shots of gloomy, mist-enshrouded Washington State are disquietingly atmospheric. However, the last third of the movie is somewhat disappointing and contains several utterly ridiculous scenes--particularly one at the ending (which actually has a nice twist).

Jap

Synopsis: A strange video begins to circulate among high school teenagers. When you watch the tape, a ghostly figure appears, points her finger at you, and then the phone will ring, signalling your death in one week. When her niece is killed in a car accident, reporter Reiko Asakawa begins an investigation that leads to her own viewing of the tape. Knowing she has only a week left to live, Reiko enlists the aid of her ex-husband in tracking down the origin of the fatal videotape.

The eye

A Chinese girl, blind since a small child, regains her sight through a corneal transplant and sees things she never wanted to see.

Story

Wong Kar Mun (Lee Sin-Je) has been blind since the age of two. After 18 years, she has fully adapted to her disability, never knowing what she has missed. Until, that is, a new medical procedure gives her her sight back through an advanced corneal transplant. The young girl finally enters the world of light and images but has trouble comprehending what she sees. She doesn't understand what is real and what is not because she has no point of reference. But that isn't all. Mun sees more with her new eyes than she expected--Mun sees dead people. Almost going mad from the constant stream of apparitions before her, Mun suddenly discovers to her horror that the image she thought was herself is, in fact, another woman--Ling (Chutcha Rujinanon), the corneas' original owner. Mun realizes she is recalling Ling's memories and seeing through her eyes--literally. With her boyfriend/psychotherapist Lee Sin (Lawrence Chou), Mun travels to Thailand in search for answers on who Ling was as well as unravel the mystery of her death.

Acting

All the other characters being peripheral to Mun's circumstances, Lee Sin-Je amply carries the whole movie on her own, making her blindness totally believable as well as showing how Mun adjusts to her new world of sight.. She also expertly pulls off the scenes where Mun goes stark raving mad, displaying truly chilling abilities. This actress is worthy of attention. In the supporting role as her boyfriend and psychotherapist Lee Sin, Lawrence Chou simply works as more as a sidekick, never realizing utilizing his part and coming off fairly bland.

Direction

The camera effects and editing are well done, but ultimately the story fails to live up to the expectations it builds in the beginning. Borrowing from , and , directors and try to heighten the suspense of whole "dead people" horror scenario by introducing the uneasy awareness of one's inescapable fate, but ultimately it falls short. The pace of the story zooms along, but the scenes seem to run together, and you wade through a murky story line rather than a frightening one. Unfortunately, the really scary scenes are few and far between in what is supposedly a psychological thriller. The rest of the film is unable to perpetuate the fear it creates.