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Ring
(1998) |
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This edgy and very creepy horror film made waves upon release back in 1998 scaring up some serious Yen in Japan before being imported to Britain. At first there was talk of the "Japanese Blair Witch" (Ring was released the year before Blair Witch) and indeed there are similarities in theme if not in style and presentation.
This shocker is also about a curse from the past that returns to wreak a most ghastly revenge - there is a video tape going around town…..if you watch it , you get a mystery phone call and end up dead in a week. The film begins with a tension filled scene where two friends discover jokingly that they have may have "experienced" the cursed video and are living in dread of the consequences.......then the phone rings! It's a suitable opening scene setting the tone for the horrors to unfold. A journalist starts to investigate the strange, unexplained series of deaths which are somehow linked to the mysterious video emenating supposedly from the Izo peninsula. She is strangely drawn to a particular videotape while in a rather sleazy motel (where four teenaged victims of the curse had watched the video) and though aware of the "supposed" curse, ends up playing it through. It's a strange, gibberish mix of weird and extremely disturbing images that appear to make no sense at all…..then the phone rings and Reiko knows that she has unleashed the curse upon herself and has a week left to live. She rushes to her ex-husband for help together they battle against time as they try to discover the mystery of the video as well as find an answer that may help them to survive. Bit by inexorable bit, they get to the bottom (literally) of the pit and just when it appears that all is redeemed, the twisted tortured and murderous soul of the wronged Sadako makes another most ghastly appearance in what is one of the heart-stopping scenes of modern horror.
After all the "talk" that has surrounded this film over the last year, expectations were very high, and after a second viewing, this film most certainly appears to have the power to chill to the very bone! From a novel by Koji Suzuki, the film starts with a vice like grip on its audience with the very strong opening scene and then the mystery behind the video starts to unfurl. Hideo Nakata's direction is exemplary as he builds the tension while the mystery is slowly and hideously revealed. He manages to get his audience to suffer along with Reiko in her desperation for an answer before time is up. There isn't a drop of blood in the entire movie, yet there are moments of intense unease and dread. The Polaroid photograph of Reiko confirming the curse is one such scene and another is when Reiko hears some strange whining sounds, almost familiar…..then as she realizes what they are she finds her son happily watching the dreaded video……..and we are shown just a second or so more of the "curse video" this time then previously….each time it appears to play for just a second longer revealing just a tiny bit more. This time we can see something seeming to emerge from within the water well, or is it just the distortion on the video? Then there is that stunning finale which must rank among the most nightmarish sequences ever put on film - the stuff that gets the hairs on the back on one's neck bristling in terror! Wonderful, truly frightening stuff, and images that haunt you well after the movie is over. The background score is terrific and adds to the mounting horrors and the acting is first rate all around. This is the most frightening film to emerge on the scene for many a year, Blair Witch Project included. Not to be missed at any cost and well worthy of its lofty reputation. Superb horror - grim, intense and genuinely frightening. (read the review of RING 2)
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