::SPOILERS::
Some friends were ranting about how damn good Ring and its sequel were, so I rented the first one last night to see whether all the fuss was justified.
It was.
Bloody hell. I've never been to terrified at a film in my life. Actually, I've NEVER been scared by a film. I can appreciate creepy moments and often feel mildly uneasy after watching a film, but never this level of fear. Oh, no. I had to sleep with the light on. What sort of fool am I?
The idea of a sort of haunted video tape is rather American High School Horror Film-ish, but Ring is so much more than that. It begins with a couple of teenagers in the uncomfortable (but brilliant) opening scene, then begins to concentrate on adults.
The tension builds slowly -- helped along by the magnificent soundtrack and the sound effects of the video -- and things that happen often have no build-up. For example, if it was a Hollywood film then THAT spectacular well scene would have been chock-full of intense music, building up to a crescendo when Sadako's hand comes out of the water. But was it? No, there was no sign that anything was going to happen. I mean, I had my suspicions but there was no build up. So, when it happened I jumped a good five feet into the air.
I thought that was it, but there was yet ANOTHER climax in which Sadako crawls out of the television. That scene should go down in history as THE creepiest film scene of all time. The bloodied fingernails, the twisted, clutching fingers, the hair over the face, and THAT eye combine with the inherent terror on her victim's face and the cliche baddie-always-moves-slowly-and-goodie-always-moves-quickly-yet-baddie-always-gets-goodie thing to create a scene that I fear will never leave me alone. There's a television in the corner of my bedroom. Did I turn it around so the screen was facing the wall last night? Yes I did. I feel stupid now in the bright morning sunshine, having to explain it to my sister. We've turned it back around, but don't think for one second that it'll stay that way when I go to bed.
I've turned off my phone. And I've forced my boyfriend to watch the film, and told him to show it to his mates.
Just in case.
Mieko xxx
10/10
Some friends were ranting about how damn good Ring and its sequel were, so I rented the first one last night to see whether all the fuss was justified.
It was.
Bloody hell. I've never been to terrified at a film in my life. Actually, I've NEVER been scared by a film. I can appreciate creepy moments and often feel mildly uneasy after watching a film, but never this level of fear. Oh, no. I had to sleep with the light on. What sort of fool am I?
The idea of a sort of haunted video tape is rather American High School Horror Film-ish, but Ring is so much more than that. It begins with a couple of teenagers in the uncomfortable (but brilliant) opening scene, then begins to concentrate on adults.
The tension builds slowly -- helped along by the magnificent soundtrack and the sound effects of the video -- and things that happen often have no build-up. For example, if it was a Hollywood film then THAT spectacular well scene would have been chock-full of intense music, building up to a crescendo when Sadako's hand comes out of the water. But was it? No, there was no sign that anything was going to happen. I mean, I had my suspicions but there was no build up. So, when it happened I jumped a good five feet into the air.
I thought that was it, but there was yet ANOTHER climax in which Sadako crawls out of the television. That scene should go down in history as THE creepiest film scene of all time. The bloodied fingernails, the twisted, clutching fingers, the hair over the face, and THAT eye combine with the inherent terror on her victim's face and the cliche baddie-always-moves-slowly-and-goodie-always-moves-quickly-yet-baddie-always-gets-goodie thing to create a scene that I fear will never leave me alone. There's a television in the corner of my bedroom. Did I turn it around so the screen was facing the wall last night? Yes I did. I feel stupid now in the bright morning sunshine, having to explain it to my sister. We've turned it back around, but don't think for one second that it'll stay that way when I go to bed.
I've turned off my phone. And I've forced my boyfriend to watch the film, and told him to show it to his mates.
Just in case.
Mieko xxx
10/10