This is sort of a Sixth Sense knockoff with low-budget actors, but it works fairly well. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but that didn't bother me. It was effectively creepy and held my attention. Well-crafted technically, but has some other issues that detract. The audience seemed to like it. I give it a marginal thumbs up.

The Ring, however, had me on my toes all the way. The visual effects were very well done, and some very startling. As far as a sixth sense knockoff, it isn't even in the same ballpark. Completely different kind of movie here. I have seen ads comparing it to the sixth sense, and reviewers as well, so this has to be some sort of campaign they have going to get some sort of familiarity going to push the film.

Without giving anything away, the ending video had me and the entire audience quite shocked and freaked out. If you get a chance to see this film, it is fun. It deserves its number one spot it earned this weekend.

As a warning, don't give the film away! Let people have some fun on this one!

I would like to see the Japanese original however, and see how well this translation holds up. As far as bargain basement actors, I think they did a fine job. The fact that they are not well known shouldn't be a detraction from the movie. In fact, the complete fact that I had never seen them before kind of helped draw me into the story a bit. I get tired of the same actors over and over again.

I did overhear someone that hated the movie, because there wasn't any slasher type gore. It's PG-13. Apparently retards are allowed to see films too, even if they can't pay attention long enought to read the rating on the ticket stub they purchased.

I am glad to see this new version first, and then see the original sometime down the road.

I have to agree witih Dave Williams that the visual effects were most excellent. Startling is right! I practically jumped out of my seat a few times.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead!

I guess the only conclusion I can come to about where the video came from, why people are dying, where the visions are coming from, etc., is supernatural forces. But there are two quesions sticking out in my mind that are really bugging me: Why are the faces of everyone who sees the video blurred? And why did the horse on the ferry go crazy?

(I don't know if that gives anything away, but I had to post the above warning just incase. )

I remember when we showed it at York, at the end of the last show (just after the fade to black but before the credit music started) we rang the usher's internal 'phone in the auditorium. It made everybody jump!

I have gone and seen this film a second time. Loved it even more, mainly because I caught on to things more the second time.

The reason for the blurred faces is because the people that watch the film are now carrying the same evil force that possesses the litte girl.

Also, here is a big thing, each time the tape is copied, more of the video at the end appears. It gets extended by a few seconds for each time it is copied from each copy.

The film the second time around, carried more of a creepy level, and was more effective. Although I jumped a lot less at the end when the girl pops out of the tv. Still, one of the best movies ever.

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I watched it at AMC's Quail Springs Mall 24 in a smaller theater, and actually the SDDS presentation was better there than what I have been hearing in larger AMC auditoriums. I suppose with the lower ceilings the surround speakers get closer to where they are supposed to be (like the upper center of the walls). Most any new AMC theater sticks the surround speakers up in the corner where the wall meets the ceiling, which is totally f**king stupid.

On the movie, I thought it was an above average thriller. I like looking at Naomi Watts (she was pretty freaking hot in "Mulholland Drive"). I'm not sure I understand why this film received only a PG-13 rating. The waterlogged looking corpses, one fellow electrocuting himself in a bathtub and a horse going overboard to get chopped up in ferry props seemed a little on the R-rated side to me.

And really, I strongly believe the movie should have been Rated R. Why? It would have kept some cunty little teenage bitches out of the theater. They seemed to be there only to annoy the piss out of the audience. These chicks sat way up in the back rows of the theater. At any point in the movie that could have possibly been construed as being scary, these little imps would scream at the top of their lungs. Since this was a "scary movie" they were pulling this shit all the time.

I'm not sure what their deal was, other than the cheerleader-wannabes just satisfying their inflated egos to get attention. "Oh, look at me, I'm screaming real loud and enjoying the movie better than anyone else, so I'm more cool than anyone else," is probably their motive for behaving so selfishly.

I wasn't alone in my disgust about this. One lady sitting close by walked out to get the manager. The manager came back, walked up the stairs and had some words with the teenagers, but unfortunately did not throw them out of the auditorium. And of course, the kiddies pulled the same screaming shit again and again afterward. The lady who had summoned the manager later told me she used to work for the theater.

The thing that made the bad incident almost worth it was when the show was over. The former employee lady stood up and yelled to the back of the theater, "I hope you idiots back there had a lot of fun, you ruined the movie for just about everyone else in the theater; you're nothing but selfish assholes!" The lady's comments drew immediate and loud applause. The little teenage snot nose princesses had to leave the screening room embarassed under the glare of all the other unsatisfied customers.

Like I said, "The Ring" should have been R-rated.

The Ring is slow at first but engrosses you once you see the tape. Was it a student video or was it edited by telepathy?

Even though I've never been in the Pacific Northwest I appreciated how the producers used the Seattle/island locations to good effect. Naomi Watts' character is one you can relate to: single mom, newspaperwoman, adores her son. She deserves an Oscar nomination and a long movie career.

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