#16 – Countdown to Halloween: THE RING

The American version of The Ring, released in 2002 and starred Naomi Watts in the role of an inattentive mother/journalist. Let me begin this by saying that although I love this movie, there are bits and pieces that I do not like.

The Ring is a movie about a video tape. This video tape was made by a little girl named Samara. The tape is said to be cursed. If you watch it, you will shortly after receive a phone call saying that you are going to die in 7 days. Seven days later, the curse never fails. The deaths are all different and many look like accidents.

Is this right?

Katie, the girl from the beginning of the movie who had watched it (Amber Tamblyn) is found by her friend Becca who is later institutionalized. She is found in the closet with her face distorted.  The image of her in the closet still haunts my dreams.  It was terrifying the first time around.

Katie’s aunt is Rachel. She is a journalist who goes back to the cabin Katie was in when she watched the video and later died, along with all of her friends. She watches the tape and makes a copy. Weird things begin happening to her as she investigates further into the story behind the images she sees in the video. All the while, Rachel has a son Aidan. He is a creepy little thing who apparently is allowed to call his mom by her first name. Rachel shows her friend/baby-daddy Noah the tape.

Rachel finds the lighthouse that was in the tape and investigates the surrounding areas. She finds out all about Samara and Anna Morgan (her mother). She uses clues she gets from her creepy little son (he talks to Samara?) to find out that she was thrown into a well by her mother.

Rachel pulls her out and assumes that Samara just wanted her story to be heard. She was wrong. Samara wants to hurt them and everybody around them. The only way to stay safe is to make a copy of her tape so that everyone sees it.

Why this movie is just as bad as it is good:

First and foremost, WHY would someone watch a movie that they whole-heartedly believed would result in their death? Did she really have THAT much confidence in her ability to figure this out before seven days? Furthermore, how did she let her kid get a hold of it?! I know she played the role of a bad mother, but hot damn!

Second, the ending seemed to be explained at first when Samara was pulled from the well. However, she crawled through the TV and killed Noah. Then we found out that SHE IS STILL AN EVIL LITTLE GIRL WHO WANTS YOU DEAD. It did not make much sense to me.

And lastly, Aidan talks to people who are obviously dead. Are we not addressing that? She literally used her son to help solve her little puzzle, and all the while she never sought help for him, and often left him with someone else or alone, because she drove out to strange places for her investigation. Bad mom! Bad!

Overall, I give The Ring a 3/5. It is scary, and great for the season, but has some major plot holes.

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