I can't tell if The Ring is over or underrated. I was 10 years old in 2002, but I was old enough to remember that this was a very prime time in horror. It was before remakes. It was before extremely bad special effects. It began a very short period of original horror concepts and story lines. I mean, it didn't last long - but I think we all write off the early 2000s for horror. Maybe they don't exactly count as classics. They haven't been around long enough to be considered so. Or maybe they aren't necessarily up to par. I think they are. When I was 10 I saw The Ring. I think this movie is too scary to have ever been rated 14A. That means 14 year old teenagers were going to the theatres to see this alone. This movie, I still feel, is too scary. Really. When I saw it I was 10 years old in farmland Saskatchewan. By no means was there cable at the farm, but my uncle definitely stole some sort of weird American satellite signal/program whatever. I don't wanna sell out my uncle. Anyways we were able to steal The Ring on Pay-Per-View (without paying) and somehow convinced my Dad to let us watch this movie. We saw the end of it, so missed most of the story. Still, I remember walking around the farm house SO SCARED. When we got home to Alberta, we asked to watch the whole thing - and of course Dad let us. It's funny to me thinking back, because my Mom was SO MAD after we watched these scary movies cause neither me or my sister could sleep for weeks after. We finally watched the whole thing, and when the movie finally ended our landline rang. Perfect timing and everything. We had one of those plug in caller ID machines at the time, and it said "No name" and "No number" and we were just horrifed. We didn't answer obviously we were so scared. I still think maybe my Dad used his cell phone to trick us, but maybe he didn't. Anyways, we're still alive 7 days later. This movie is just great the whole way through. It's extremely well acted, the colours and effects are incredible, and the story is completely original. There are scenes in the movie that still scare me to this day. Are there things people don't like about this movie? It's so well written that even when weird/dumb/corny things happen, they have explanations. The kid. Aiden. Terrifying. No wonder they later cast him as Damien in The Omen. Just looking at the kid is unsettling and he hardly does anything. All I read is hate about it, maybe for the time? Maybe it got better with age? Maybe I have terrible taste (probably). To this day, if I walk by a TV I am almost just waiting for it to turn on by itself. HOW IS THAT NOT SCARY ENOUGH ITSELF? It is! You know. You've seen the movie. Landlines and VHS tapes? Do people even know what those are anymore. They were only utilized in horror for a very brief time. A VHS tape that can kill you. Did they do that again? Feardotcom was similar with the website, but a goddamn TERRIBLE movie. Though the cover used to always scare me. It's scary. Stop lying. If you haven't seen it, GET ON IT. (Bad review? I don't care.)
Comments