This Japanese horror film is hugely popular in its homeland, spawning a sequel, TV series and even a line of toys. It has also been causing quite a stir in the West, being heralded as the sign of a revolution in the genre, returning to a more calculating horror rather than the cheap shock tactics of slasher flicks.
The story begines with Reiko, a reporter investigating the mysterious deaths of several high school students, including her niece, and the urban myth that is spreading through the country concerning a cursed videotape. The rumour goes that if you see this tape you have only one week left to live and after tracking down a copy and watching it, Reiko beomes convinced that she too has given herself a death sentence.
In this way the story is not too far removed from the 50's horror classic Night of the Demon, with an initially sceptical investigator becoming increasingly more fearful of their fate and racing to try and lift the curse. It also is not wholly unlike the slasher films which have reduced the genre to self-parody in that it has it's origins firmly in the whispers of school halls and spectre of urban legends. What does mark it our however is the ancient folklore underlying the modern myth which makes it more Candyman than Scream.
The beginning is very promising and really draws you in to the mystery surrounding the dead teenagers. However the story then begins to lose its way a little through the middle section as it turns out Reiko's ex-husband is conveniently psychic and they run from place to place trying to solve the puzzle of the videotape. The tape itself is genuinely unnerving, with grainy footage of writhing shapes accompanied by some unpleasant sound effects, but like the rest of the film never resorts to gore or shocks, instead content to establish, and for the most part maintain, an overriding sense of creepiness.
Then, just as the whole thing seems to be getting a little silly with tales of unnatural powers and the fury of the dead, just as it looks like everything is okay and everyone is going home to bed for a quiet drink of milk and some biscuits, you realise that there is still five minutes of the film left. And what follows is one of the most delightfully understated twist endings I have seen, which really does feel like someone has taken their filth encrusted fingernails and dragged them screeching down your spinal cord. In the face of this simple but effective exercise in fear the ridiculousness of the rest is forgotten and like the best films of it's kind, Ring doesn't go away when you turn off the TV. In fact, you'll want to throw your telly out of the window just to be on the safe side. |
