|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
 |
Preview by Jack Foley |
  |
URBAN myths are the stuff of nightmares; the stories people tell to spook
each other, such as the two lovers in a remote lane, at a time when an escaped
mental patient is on the loose. The boy gets out the car and is gone for a
while, then the girl hears a knock on the roof....
Well, try this one for size. There's a video tape. Whoever watches it receives
a phone call straight away. The caller, a girl, informs them that they have
seven days. Sure enough, one week later, they die. Sound familiar?
The story is the inspiration behind cult Japanese horror flick, Ringu, written
by Kôji Suzuki (affectionately referred to as 'the Stephen King of Japan')
and brought to the screen by Japanese director, Hideo Nakata.
Released in January 1998, The Ring quickly became a phenomenon, spawning the
most successful horror film franchise in the history of Japanese cinema, as
well as a television series, and Manga, a kind of Japanese comic book or graphic
novel.
It also spawned a new genre of Japanese films, or J-horror as it's often called,
such as Audition or The
Eye. Whether or not it actually had its origins in an urban legend, as
its author claims, 'Ringu' resulted in one that transfixed readers and moviegoers
alike in Japan and much of Southeast Asia, quickly developing a cult following
in the West.
It is hardly surprising, therefore, to find Hollywood attempting to jump on
the bandwagon and remake it. What is a surprise, however, is how good the
remake is.
Directed by Gore (The Mexican) Verbinski
and starring Naomi (Mulholland Drive)
Watts and Martin Henderson, The Ring (US version) is a genuinely scary, yet
thought-provoking horror flick which engages the intellect, while also playing
havoc with those little hairs on the back of your neck - there are times when
they will stand on end!
According to Walter F Parkes, producer and co-head of DreamWorks Pictures:
"The allure of good thrillers is to get that adrenaline rush, to be on
the edge of your seat without actually being in danger.
"The best ones are equal parts intellectual exercise, emotional exercise
and visceral experience. They engage your mind and involve you intellectually,
but the payoff is the scare… the scream. I guess that's why, as filmmakers,
we look for them, and as moviegoers, we can't wait to see them."
In order to achieve this effect, however, Parkes approached a select group
of filmmakers with the sole intention of getting the remake right. Verbinski
was top of the list, as 'he has the expertise and the artistry to create images
that in and of themselves can involve you and truly scare you'.
The screenplay was updated by Ehren Kruger, the brains behind acclaimed thrillers
Arlington Road and Scream 3, and
then Australian actress, Watts, and New Zealander, Henderson, were cast. All
agreed that they were involved in something that was really scary.
Or, as Laurie MacDonald, co-head of Dreamworks, puts it: "There are unmarked
videos in everyone's house. There are always those unlabeled tapes where you
can't remember what's on them; and the television is another thing that is
part of everyone's life. The idea that these two everyday items could be at
the centre of this, could lead you to your death, can really get under your
skin."
Verbinski adds: "The first time I watched the original 'Ringu' was on
a VHS tape that was probably seven generations down. It was really poor quality,
but actually that added to the mystique, especially when I realized that this
was a movie about a videotape.
"There is something about that image of a seemingly innocuous videotape…
just sitting there… unlabeled. If you are aware of the myth, the object
itself becomes both tempting and haunting."
The question is, therefore, will you be tempted to go and see it? We, at Indielondon,
reckon you should. Read our full review when the film opens in the UK in January.
Alternatively, scroll down to find out what the US critics had to say...
Given that
this is a remake, critics in America were mostly positive in their assessment
of The Ring. Entertainment Weekly awarded it a B and said 'the twists keep
on coming, and Verbinski shows a fine-tuned gift for calibrating and manipulating
viewer expectations', while Film Threat referred to it as 'by far the coolest
film made by a major studio since Fight Club',
and awarded it four out of five.
The Boston Phoenix described it as 'a haunting, pure and simple, and it's
downright scary', while Hollywood Reporter felt that it was 'an undeniably
creepy, unnerving experience'.
Given that it was released in October, it is JoBlo's Movie Emporium wasn't
being sarcastic when it referred to The Ring as 'definitely the scariest movie
that I've seen so far this year' (awarding it eight out of ten), while Planet
Sick-Boy felt it was 'the best fright flick since The Blair Witch Project'.
Salon warned that it '[will] crawl under your skin and live in your nervous
system for a while if you give it half a chance', while TV Guide referred
to it as 'a pleasantly shivery surprise'.
Less impressed, was LA Weekly, which concluded that it 'devolves into a banal,
conventional ghost story', while Variety felt that the 'uninvolving characters
and lack of genuine excitement or fright creat[e] a second-rate, second-hand
feel'. More scathing still was the New York Times, which said that 'this impassive
and cold feature fails, in a spectacular fashion, to deliver the thrills'.
But the final word goes to Rolling Stone, which stated, simply, that The Ring
'creeps you out in high style, even if Nakata did it better'.
PAST MAINSTREAM PREVIEWS: Click here
to find out about Ripley's Game...
Click here to find out about the early buzz
surrounding X-Men 2....
Click here for a look at Hanks/DiCaprio/Spielberg
flick, Catch Me If You Can...
Click here to see whether Eminem took a critical
rap for his acting debut, 8 Mile...
Click here to find out about The
Rules of Attraction (or the death of romance)...
Click here for an early look at Quentin
Tarantino's Kill Bill...
Click here for a preview of Clooney's latest,
Solaris...
Click here for a Knockaround Guys
preview...
Click here for the Lord of the Rings:
Two Towers preview...
Click here to find out why The Four Feathers
failed to fly high...
Click here for the K-19 preview and the controversy
surrounding it...
Click here for Martin Scorsese's eagerly
anticipated epic, Gangs of New York...
Click here for S1m0ne, Pacino's blue-screen
beauty....
Charlie's Angels get all soapy for sequel. Click here...
The Matrix Reloaded, the hype begins now. Click here...
