The Ring is what you might call a “horror procedural.” There is a set up – a tape that brings certain death in seven days to those who watch it – and an example of the set up to begin the film. There is a hero, or in this case a heroine played by Naomi Watts, Rachel, a news reporter who comes into possession of the tape. There is the hero/heroine’s child, drawing disturbing images and having some sort of connection to the events that unfold on the tape. There is a jilted romance that is rekindled; in this case, the father of Aidan, Noah. And then there is a ticking clock, one that begins after Rachel watches the tape and receives a mysterious phone call warning her that she only has seven days.The Ring also has a twist and a series of false endings, much like you would expect from a horror procedural. This remake of the Asian film, Ringu, also has its fair amount of jump-out-of-your-seat moments, some solid imagery, and adequate tension. But this is – aside from being a horror procedural – a horror movie that could be considered “date safe.” There is nothing in The Ring that is deeply disturbing beyond typical genre conventions, thus making it safe for a night out with a date. This opposed to something like Last House on the Left, for example.
Unfortunately, The Ring was a bit tarnished a few years later when an absurd, almost unwatchable sequel was shot out without much regard for the elements that made the original successful. The cast is solid, the frights are valid, and any film with Brian Cox in it surely cannot be all bad…
