The Ring
Created | Updated Jul 1, 2004
In the last few years, recent movie history has been fraught with films that terrify us, not with an unbelievable Freddy Kreuger-like monster, or a knife-wielding maniac, but with psychological thrillrides that play on our innate fears of life and death, and everything that comes in-between. The Sixth Sense, The Others, and Mulholland Drive touch us deep within our psyches, making us question what’s real and what’s fantasy, what’s fact and what’s imagined. These movies awaken our minds to new, frightening possibilities. And, if we’re lucky, even the most stoic of us are forever changed, forever enlightened. The Ring seeks to be a movie such as these.
Newspaper reporter Rachel Keller is an interesting protagonist. She’s a woman so comfortable with the casualness of life that she insists everyone call her "Rachel," even her own son, Aidan. She proud of her son’s independence, without really realizing that there might be something a bit wrong with her son being so independent that the young boy sets out his own mother’s dress for a funeral.
In any other movie, Rachel would have been so locked into her own schedule of constant work and quasi-parenting that it would have taken her more than half the movie to finally accept that there was something supernatural about the mysterious video. However, this movie avoids this plot device, and has Rachel easily able to accept the otherworldliness of her situation, going so far as to not let others see the videotape for fear that they will be cursed to die, as well.
The photographs that Rachel and Noah take are truly terrifying, the photos showing their faces as distorted and deformed, like ghosts, only more frightening. The fact that they take so many photos is terrifying in that they’re desperately trying to disprove what they already know in their heart of hearts to be true – that they’re doomed to die in exactly seven days.
Still, it isn’t until Aidan accidentally watches the tape that the full force of the situation hits Rachel – she must act, and she must act now, in order to save her son. It’s then that we discover that Rachel isn’t really a bad mother; she just doesn’t know how to be a mother. It isn’t until her son’s life is put in mortal peril that she steps up and her maternal instinct kicks in. It’s at that moment she stops being "Rachel," and starts being "Mom."
The videotape itself looks like something cooked up in a college audiovisual class, chilling, enigmatic images of a woman staring into a mirror – staring through us; a long centipede; an old lighthouse; and, of course, a glowing ring – the last thing the people see before they die. Taken separately, these images would seem only odd and disjointed; together, though, they illicit a sense of horror that far surpasses anything that hockey-masked Jason or Halloween’s Michael Myers could ever bring out in viewers.
The Ring goes one step further by fooling its audience into believing that the evil has ended, that now that Samara has been freed from her watery grave, Rachel Keller’s family can return to their semi-normal life, all the better after realizing how much they truly love each other. However, Ehren Kruger’s screenplay excellently lures us into this false sense of security where viewers believe they movie will end with Rachel and Aidan cuddling in bed, where Rachel might even suggest Aidan begin calling her "Mom."
But this is not the ending of the movie – simply another beginning. When Aidan says Rachel should never have freed Samara (because the young girl "never sleeps"), Rachel shoots out of bed, and the viewers shoot to the edge of their seats in absolute horror of what is about to await them.
Samara crawling out of Noah’s television screen is one of the most frightening scenes ever captured on film because it breaks the fourth wall – that impenetrable line between what goes on inside the TV screen (fantasy), and what goes on outside the screen (reality). Much though we’re frightened by those Scream villains, and by whatever nightmares may happen on Elm Street, we can remain safe in knowing that those evils will never escape their television screen. Such is not the case in The Ring.
What is Noah to do? How is he to fight Samara, a girl he’s only ever seen safely trapped in a television screen? He can’t fight, because she’s not just a video image, she’s not just a person – she’s something more, something so terrifying that mere words will not do her justice. And that’s what’s so horrifying about this film – that the wall between viewer and viewee has been broken, and, knowing that, how can we ever feel safe again?
The ending of this movie is a testament to how Rachel Keller has been allowed to grow and change, as a person and as a mother. Before, she would not let anyone else watch the movie, for fear that they would be cursed, as well. After realizing the only way to save her son, though (by having Aidan make a copy of the tape and show it to someone else), Rachel is willing sacrifice another in order to save Aidan. She knows that the only way for the curse to pass over Aidan is if he (with her help) passes the curse along to another. Aidan asks, "What will happen to the person we show the videotape to?" Rachel knows the answer to this, but she doesn’t care – or if she does, it doesn’t matter. She finally realizes what it is to be a mother – to put her son first in life – and she’s willing to do this, even at the cost of another innocent life.
The Ring is a horror story, but it’s also a mother’s story. Rachel realizes this at the end, that even though she’s taught her son to be independent, he’s still her son, and she’s still his mother. And she’s willing to kill in order to protect her loved one.
The only place The Ring falters is in presenting a coherent plotline. As with the final few seasons of The X-Files, this movie presents us with far too many questions, and not enough answers. It seems as if Katie and her friends were the first to view the videotape, but if that were so, why did her friend Becca make it seem as if many other people had died from the tape? And why would Katie joke about the tape, if she’d been experiencing the bloody nose, hallucinations, and other mysterious side effects that all the other viewers of the video had? Plus, when, exactly, was Anna in the mental hospital? Before or after she killed Samara? And when was Samara trapped up in the barn, before or after she was placed in the mental hospital? And, at what point, was she taken to Shelter Mountain and killed?
These questions are never really answered. The Ring spends much time on inducing psychological terror, but not enough time exactly explaining the mystery behind the terror. Just a bit too much willful suspension of disbelief is needed to truly enjoy this movie without really questioning its plotline.
As a whole, though, The Ring does an excellent job of keeping the viewer terrified long after he’s left the movie theater and stepped back into his normal life. The acting is very on-target, all the way down to David Dorfman, who plays the Sixth Sense-worthy Aidan. The Ring is a movie that presents ideas and horrors that will not easily be forgotten, even in the bright light of day.
On my personal scale of 1 to 5 popcorn pieces (5 being "What a thrillride!", 1 being "Let me off this ride; I think I’m getting sick!"), I give The Ring 4 ½ popcorn pieces.
Credits: Starring Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, and David Dorfman. Written by Ehren Kruger. Directed by Gore Verbinski. Running time 115 minutes. Rated PG-13.
Newspaper reporter Rachel Keller is an interesting protagonist. She’s a woman so comfortable with the casualness of life that she insists everyone call her "Rachel," even her own son, Aidan. She proud of her son’s independence, without really realizing that there might be something a bit wrong with her son being so independent that the young boy sets out his own mother’s dress for a funeral.
In any other movie, Rachel would have been so locked into her own schedule of constant work and quasi-parenting that it would have taken her more than half the movie to finally accept that there was something supernatural about the mysterious video. However, this movie avoids this plot device, and has Rachel easily able to accept the otherworldliness of her situation, going so far as to not let others see the videotape for fear that they will be cursed to die, as well.
The photographs that Rachel and Noah take are truly terrifying, the photos showing their faces as distorted and deformed, like ghosts, only more frightening. The fact that they take so many photos is terrifying in that they’re desperately trying to disprove what they already know in their heart of hearts to be true – that they’re doomed to die in exactly seven days.
Still, it isn’t until Aidan accidentally watches the tape that the full force of the situation hits Rachel – she must act, and she must act now, in order to save her son. It’s then that we discover that Rachel isn’t really a bad mother; she just doesn’t know how to be a mother. It isn’t until her son’s life is put in mortal peril that she steps up and her maternal instinct kicks in. It’s at that moment she stops being "Rachel," and starts being "Mom."
The videotape itself looks like something cooked up in a college audiovisual class, chilling, enigmatic images of a woman staring into a mirror – staring through us; a long centipede; an old lighthouse; and, of course, a glowing ring – the last thing the people see before they die. Taken separately, these images would seem only odd and disjointed; together, though, they illicit a sense of horror that far surpasses anything that hockey-masked Jason or Halloween’s Michael Myers could ever bring out in viewers.
The Ring goes one step further by fooling its audience into believing that the evil has ended, that now that Samara has been freed from her watery grave, Rachel Keller’s family can return to their semi-normal life, all the better after realizing how much they truly love each other. However, Ehren Kruger’s screenplay excellently lures us into this false sense of security where viewers believe they movie will end with Rachel and Aidan cuddling in bed, where Rachel might even suggest Aidan begin calling her "Mom."
But this is not the ending of the movie – simply another beginning. When Aidan says Rachel should never have freed Samara (because the young girl "never sleeps"), Rachel shoots out of bed, and the viewers shoot to the edge of their seats in absolute horror of what is about to await them.
Samara crawling out of Noah’s television screen is one of the most frightening scenes ever captured on film because it breaks the fourth wall – that impenetrable line between what goes on inside the TV screen (fantasy), and what goes on outside the screen (reality). Much though we’re frightened by those Scream villains, and by whatever nightmares may happen on Elm Street, we can remain safe in knowing that those evils will never escape their television screen. Such is not the case in The Ring.
What is Noah to do? How is he to fight Samara, a girl he’s only ever seen safely trapped in a television screen? He can’t fight, because she’s not just a video image, she’s not just a person – she’s something more, something so terrifying that mere words will not do her justice. And that’s what’s so horrifying about this film – that the wall between viewer and viewee has been broken, and, knowing that, how can we ever feel safe again?
The ending of this movie is a testament to how Rachel Keller has been allowed to grow and change, as a person and as a mother. Before, she would not let anyone else watch the movie, for fear that they would be cursed, as well. After realizing the only way to save her son, though (by having Aidan make a copy of the tape and show it to someone else), Rachel is willing sacrifice another in order to save Aidan. She knows that the only way for the curse to pass over Aidan is if he (with her help) passes the curse along to another. Aidan asks, "What will happen to the person we show the videotape to?" Rachel knows the answer to this, but she doesn’t care – or if she does, it doesn’t matter. She finally realizes what it is to be a mother – to put her son first in life – and she’s willing to do this, even at the cost of another innocent life.
The Ring is a horror story, but it’s also a mother’s story. Rachel realizes this at the end, that even though she’s taught her son to be independent, he’s still her son, and she’s still his mother. And she’s willing to kill in order to protect her loved one.
The only place The Ring falters is in presenting a coherent plotline. As with the final few seasons of The X-Files, this movie presents us with far too many questions, and not enough answers. It seems as if Katie and her friends were the first to view the videotape, but if that were so, why did her friend Becca make it seem as if many other people had died from the tape? And why would Katie joke about the tape, if she’d been experiencing the bloody nose, hallucinations, and other mysterious side effects that all the other viewers of the video had? Plus, when, exactly, was Anna in the mental hospital? Before or after she killed Samara? And when was Samara trapped up in the barn, before or after she was placed in the mental hospital? And, at what point, was she taken to Shelter Mountain and killed?
These questions are never really answered. The Ring spends much time on inducing psychological terror, but not enough time exactly explaining the mystery behind the terror. Just a bit too much willful suspension of disbelief is needed to truly enjoy this movie without really questioning its plotline.
As a whole, though, The Ring does an excellent job of keeping the viewer terrified long after he’s left the movie theater and stepped back into his normal life. The acting is very on-target, all the way down to David Dorfman, who plays the Sixth Sense-worthy Aidan. The Ring is a movie that presents ideas and horrors that will not easily be forgotten, even in the bright light of day.
On my personal scale of 1 to 5 popcorn pieces (5 being "What a thrillride!", 1 being "Let me off this ride; I think I’m getting sick!"), I give The Ring 4 ½ popcorn pieces.
Credits: Starring Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, and David Dorfman. Written by Ehren Kruger. Directed by Gore Verbinski. Running time 115 minutes. Rated PG-13.
