Parents might advocate that TV rots your brain, but in the case of "The Ring," the new film by Gore Verbinski, parents might want you to stick to the idiot box and stay away from the big screen.
"The Ring" stars Naomi Watts ("Mulholland Drive"), a single mom who searches for answers behind a mysterious video tape rumored to kill you after you watch it. The tape is a grainy, black and white short film reminiscent of an experimental student film.
Its spooky visuals, from creepy women in mirrors and dead horses to burning trees and icky insects, are accompanied by searing sound effects. It's shocking and disturbing to the point that when the tape ends, the viewer is thoroughly entranced by the images.
Soon after, however, the phone rings, and a child's voice informs the viewer that he will die in seven days. The film traces Watts' quest to put a stop to the tape's grisly multimedia massacre -- with one chilling revelation after another.
Unlike the usual foray of campy horror films like the "Scream" trilogy and all its bastard knockoffs, "The Ring" is unique because it plays with the human psyche and the boundaries of film versus reality. While the film focuses on death, its emphasis on keeping the audience members cringing in their seats is alive and well.
The film also works because it uses recurring imagery to reinforce images from the video tape in the viewer's mind and guides you through the characters' excruciating quest to stop the ghostly filmmaker. The tragic and disturbing mood of the film is accentuated by rainy, melancholy landscapes and decaying settings drenched in a sullen blue filter.
And the script deserves particular applause for not falling into the Hollywood cliche of ending a mystery by releasing a tortured soul -- though the audience might think it will.
To say "The Ring" is disturbing would be an understatement -- but rest assured, its frightening images will stay in your mind and creep you out hours after you've left the theater. The film trailer says, "Before you die, you see the ring," but that statement would be best reworded to all moviegoers as, "Before you die, see 'The Ring.'"
Just don't tell mom and dad.
