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"A
Dead Ringer"
by Scott Mantz
"The Ring"
Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson
Directed by Gore Verbinski
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| Death,
Lies, and Videotape! Naomi Watts gets her hands on a killer
video in "The Ring" |
Trick or treat,
fellow movie lovers! Halloween is finally here, and what better
way to "ring" in the spookiest night of the year than
with a movie that will scare you right out of your seat? For the
better part of the first hour, "The Ring" does just that,
thanks to some moody direction and cheap, but effective scare tactics,
but before long it falls apart into a ridiculous, confusing mess
that just doesn't make any sense.
A mysterious
videocassette filled with nightmarish images is making the rounds
in the Seattle area, killing those who have seen it within a week.
When newspaper reporter Rachel Keller's (Naomi Watts) niece is inexplicably
found dead after viewing the tape, she uses her investigative skills
to unlock the mystery and maybe even turn it into a story. After
watching the tape herself, she finds herself on the other end of
an ominous phone call telling her that she has 7 days left to live.
Now Rachel's deadline has taken on life-threatening proportions,
but the stakes are raised even higher when her 6-year-old son (David
Dorfman) also becomes cursed by the deadly video.
The 1998 horror
film "Ringu" may have been a phenomenon in Japan (spawning
a feature franchise and a television series), but writer Ehren Kruger
("Arlington Road," "Scream 3") and director
Gore Verbinski ("Mouse Hunt," "The Mexican")
seemed to have missed the boat with this American remake. Sure,
there are plenty of spooks and thrills, but for the most part, the
film feels contrived, wildly uneven and way too derivative of modern
horror classics like "Seven," "Scream," and
"The Blair Witch Project." Heck, there's even a creepy
kid who looks like he stepped right out of "The Sixth Sense."
After spending
the better part of the last decade supporting obscure films like
"Tank Girl" and "Dangerous Beauty," Naomi Watts
finally took the high road with a remarkable performance in last
year's mind-trip "Mulholland Drive." Though the material
here doesn't give her nearly as much to work with, she still remains
effective enough to stand out in an otherwise mediocre film. The
same can't be said about Martin Henderson, who's a relative non-presence
as Watts' scruffy, floppy-haired ex who also finds his clock ticking
after watching the tape.
Just when you
think "The Ring" is going to end, it keeps on going with
a ludicrous "surprise" ending that even leaves room for
(heaven forbid) a sequel. That may be good news for moviegoers who
will likely get caught up in the moment and be scared enough to
overlook its flaws, but after the novelty wears off, I suspect that
this so-called Halloween treat will be seen as the bad trick that
it is.
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