[star rating=”3.5″]
RINGS. Directed by F. Javier Gutiérrez with Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz, Alex Roe, Jonny Galeki and Vincent D’Onofrio.
Megan Furniss
OK, this was one I had to keep an open mind about. I haven’t been much of a horror fan since my teens, and, aside from the occasional horror by M. Night Shyamalan (The Village, The Visit) I pretty much avoid them. I had seen the first The Ring (2002), with Naomi Watts and had been terrified out of my mind, but couldn’t remember anything except for the video and the well. I missed The Ring 2 (2005), and I hoped there wasn’t anything too important in it that would prevent me from appreciating Rings, the latest in the franchise.
Let’s face it, that’s what these movies are; a franchise. And, in that vein, Rings is pretty good. Fans of the other two will not be disappointed. The tale is identical to the others, with no actual story to get in the way of the plot, as Joe Bob Briggs, famous redneck critic of B-grade drive-in movies would say. The acting is terrible and the dialogue hideous, but there isn’t a lot of acting or dialogue to get in the way of the horror, and music, and tension build-up and gorgeous traditional horror stuff.
Edgy and very sexy
So, basic plot is, girl says goodbye to boy who goes to study in a different town. He gets into trouble (yep, he watches the video) and she goes to find him. Naturally, she gets involved, and she is exposed to countless hideousnesses, and secrets, and savagery, in order to help the tormented soul find peace. Or does she?
What sets this movie apart is the edgy and very sexy styling and cinematography. The integration of the totally modern (cell phones providing the only light, missed calls, creepy as hell Skype calls) and the traditional and terrifying Gothic horror elements make it magnetic. The short shots, the long corridors, the false starts, the terrifying umbrella (the whole audience skrikked), the thing behind the girl, the religious iconography, the music, and mostly the lighting are paint-by-numbers horror and they are brilliant. I was properly scared sometimes and I didn’t even care what happened to whatshername.
The deference to the original movie is also very successful and sustains that first terror. It all came back to me as I was watching. And I really, really enjoyed the hour and a half of being totally creeped out.
WS
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