*** Official "THE RING" Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Romier S]

Sean,
Your "Rings 2" synopsis would probably make a better movie than the actual Japanese Ring 2...LOL.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

It was a good deal better than expected. I liked the original quite a lot---frankly, Sadako was a lot creepier than Samara. The horse scene was a good addition, though; quite upsetting.
The worst part was some moron kept getting AND TAKING phone calls throughout the movie! People were swearing and screaming at him but he just kept on. He must have gotten six calls during this movie, which he answered in a loud voice. I may never go to a theater again. Made you long for the days of ushers and projectionists.

 

[BrianShort]

I watched this Saturday night and found it VERY creepy. Now, I havent seen too many of the older quiet horror movies. I really enjoyed The Exorcist of course, but didnt find it as creepy as The Ring. I also have seen Rosemary's Baby, but I thought that one was kind of silly (I found the ending hilarious, go figure). I'd love to see more psychological horror films like this.

Brian

 

[Morgan Jolley]

What I thought was so creepy about the Ring is that it wasn't shot or presented like other "horror" films. Nowadays, the only scary movies are crapfests like Jason X and Halloween Resurrection. The fact that the Ring was as scary as it was (even though it was more creepy and disturbing than scary) is something to applaud.

 

[Rollie]

I think that The Ring sends its audience a very important message...
Watching VHS can kill you!

Hooray for us!

 

[Bill J]

I am a little confused about the location of the well. If Samara was pushed down the well by her mother on the island, why was the cabin built on top of the well on the mainland?

I think it might help if I saw the film a second time, but can anyone explain this?

 

[Jeff Kohn]

I don't think they ever claimed the well was on the island. In fact, I seem to recall narrative from the father indicating that the well was at some land they had purchased elsewhere, or maybe a vacation home, or something like that.

 

[Sean Laughter]

I think they had a vacation home or something there. I'm not sure, it's definately not on the island. I didn't catch any real explanation for why they were there.

The female doctor on the island did seem to think Samara was in the psychiatric hospital so perhaps they made that excuse when they left so when they didn't return with Samara it wouldn't be suspicious. Of course, that doesn't really explain why there are horses there with them.

 

[Bill J]

it's definately not on the island.

I was beginning to think the same thing, because before Samara was pushed down the well wasn't she looking at the same tree that Naomi Watts saw when she visited the cabin?

But that doesn't really explain why Samara and her family were there to begin with, unless they did have a vacation place as you guys suggested.

 

[Sean Laughter]

Well, that's the point. The well she is pushed into as at the same place as the cabin. She didn't get pushed down a well that then mysteriously moved off the island to someplace on the mainland!
So the well she was pushed in is definately where the cabin is, I guess we're just supposed to assume the Morgans had a place there or were vacationing or something.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I think that the order of events goes like this:

-Morgans come back from vacation with Samara
-Horses start to kill themselves
-Samara goes to mental hospital
-Samara is killed
-Mother kills herself

But, how could the shot of the mother killing herself be on the tape if Samara didn't see it?

 

[Alex Spindler]

I have an alternative for you Morgan:

-Samara goes to mental hospital
-Morgans come back from vacation without Samara
-Horses start to kill themselves
-Samara is killed
-Mother kills herself

Think of this as the way it goes - Samara is corrupting the family and island around her. Perhaps she is still being influenced by Samara even when she is off the island. Samara, probably out to cause as much suffering as possible, kills her mother's beloved horses. This would be a good indication of what she could do with her power, even at a distance, when she focused her efforts.

Her mother, realizing that sheltering her off the island won't help, kills Samara. Her mother may have killed herself soon after, but perhaps not. Perhaps Samara spends the first seven days alive torturing her mother to the point that she kills herself, which would explain how Samara knows it enough to put it on the tape.

After Samara is dead and locked in the cell, she can't do much until a video recorder is put into the cabin eventually built above her well.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Remember, even the inhabitants of the island thought that there was something wrong with Samara.

 

[Sean Laughter]

Alex, I'd think the horses would have started killing themselves while Samara was there. This is because she's locked up in the barn and the horses are keeping her awake, hence her desire to kill them by driving them insane.

 

[Paul_D]

The film hasn't been released here yet so I haven't read the thread because I want to remain spoiler free so forgive me if the following question has already been asked and answered.
I spotted a sale VHS copy of the original Japanese film today so I bought it. My question, to those that have seen both is:
Is it worth watching the original on TV at home, or waiting so see this remake on the BIG screen?
Thanks.

 

[Walt Williams]

I'd have to recommend seeing the remake at the theater first. My friends and I agree that it's better than the original and you'll probably have more fun getting scared at the theater if you don't already know what's supposed to happen next.

 

[Scott Dautel]

Finally saw The Ring this past weekend & read this thread with great interest. Put me in the good-but-not-great category (65/100 points). I was very impressed by the ability to build suspense & horror without gore or violence, really. That is quite an accomplishment. On the downside, it just wasn’t all that memorable. When I see really good one, on leaving the theater, I’m already looking forward the DVD (& sharing the film with friends). I left the theater this time thinking it was pretty good, but I don’t really even want the DVD (not due to fear of death, either).
I’ve been replaying the plot in my mind and I assembled the events timeline as follows:
- After Samara arrives (adoption?) household develops troubles.
- Dad blames Samara & forces her to live in the barn (perhaps for years)
- horses irritate Samara
- Samara makes horses suicidal
- Everyone on the island senses the evil associated with Samara
- Mom starting to get a bit nutty, household further deteriorating due to Samara evil force
- Mom & Dad move Samara to mental hospital on the mainland.
---- Doctors observe Samara never sleeps
---- Doctors learn of Samara's ability to imprint images to film (thermography)
- Vacation on mainland – Mom realizes Dad wants Samara gone
- Mom decides its Samara or Divorce.
- Mom gets Samara from Hospital, takes to property with the well – in goes Samara
- Mom goes home to the island & proceeds to go insane (months?)
- [Virtually] all the horses are gone now.
- Mom takes the leap
So ... did I get anything major wrong? Where?
Also ... who the heck built the cabin on top of the well. It could only have been dad ... why not just fill in the well ... never explained
You know ... the more I think about it, the movie is growing on me. I just realized this would have made a great Exorcist II ... just change Regan's name to Samara and put her up for adoption after Georgetown and you have a very nice flow of events; even the suicides, broken family and picture-drawing themes fit in nicely. Wait a minute, Regan really loved horses ... at least she did before Pazuzu (sp?) came aboard .... hmmmmm
Scott

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The cabin was built (I presume) by the company that started the company that rents the cabins out. My guess is that the mom just wanted to get rid of Samara, so she threw her in a well on the mainland.

 

[KyleK]

For anyone interested:
The two movies that I was able to make out in the cabin were Yor, the Hunter from the Future, and Family Plot, Hitchcock's last movie(ooohhhh, spooky)
Also I thought I saw Casablanca in the boyfriend's apartment, as well as Shrek.
For the movie, just scary enough.

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

Maybe watching Yor drove the mother to murder Samara...