I am not scared by horror movies. Okay, "In The Mouth Of Madness" kinda creeped me out, and seeing the original "Evil Dead" after only seeing "Army of Darkness" was kinda startling, but that wasn't anything that stayed with you.
I just watched "The Ring" on DVD. In the middle of the day. And I don't want to be home by myself right now.
That was the scariest movie I've ever seen.
"It's like you lost your keys in the garage, but you look for them in the living room because the light is better." -Bill Maher, on the impending war in Iraq
My wife is heavily into horror movies; neither gore nor ghosts nor death nor supernatural phenomena can faze her, generally speaking. "The Ring" pushed her buttons HARD. Even now, months after she first saw it, I can sneak up behind her and whisper "...seven days..." and watch her squirm (followed by her calling me something unprintable).
And it does it with a PG-13 rating, without using nudity, sex, or gory (on-camera) death scenes as crutches.
Whoever incorporated elements of The Tape into the DVD's menus and transitions is absolutely EVIL. (Easter Egg: on the main menu, put the cursor on Play Movie, hit Up Arrow (making the cursor disappear) and select the hidden option.)
"...Also, living in NYC, to stop any terrorists from braking into my home I've crammed pickles in the gap between the front door and the floor - try and brake past my juicy green wall of defense." -- commenter on FARK
I thought the original Japanese version of The Ring was much better. Mainly because it was original, and 'cause it didn't have as much stupid fast-cutting scares as the american one did. Fast-cut scares always turn me off movies though... that's my bias...
And I'm a nerd who thinks anything Japanese is better than anything American. So, don't take my word for it.
I had heard that the Japanese version was better than the American one too, so I skipped it in the theatres and looked for it (Japanese) on Kazaa. The night I downloaded it, it finished at 12:30am and I made the mistake of watching it right then. After 1/2 hour the lights were back on. The end scared the shit outta me.
Interesting this thread is here because just a few minutes ago I was in Blockbuster listening to a teenage girl argue with her mom over this movie. The girl wanted it and said it was the scariest movie since Sixth Sense and it's only PG-13. The mother's opinion was "how can it be only pg-13 and be the scariest movie since Sixth Sense?". Moron.
I generally don't go for horror flicks because I hate slasher movies or movies that rely on special effects to freak you out. This movie was just brilliant. I haven't bothered to watch the American version yet. Having already seen the Japanese, is the American even worth the time to watch it?
'But if one is struck by me only a little, that is far different, the stroke is a sharp thing and suddenly lays him lifeless, and that man's wife goes with cheeks torn in lamentation, and his children are fatherless, while he, staining the soil with his red blood, rots away, and there are more birds than women swarming about him.' Diomedes, The Iliad of Homer
It's been over a year since I've seen the Japanese version, it's been a couple weeks since I've seen the American. From what I remember, The japanese one does a better job of explaining the story/backgroung (I've also seen the Japanese sequel so they are probably blending together though) but the American version is *much* more fucked up and frightening. I bought them both on DVD yesterday, will probably watch them tommorrow.
Anyone who's seen the movie knows about the cool line at the end, and the opening it leaves for FRIGHT!!
So, me and a couple of the projectionists were gonna STOP the movie just as the static hits, and do our own version of the Ring in the darkness of the theatre and CUT on the lights outta nowhere, freakin' the hell outta everyone.
But that got vetoed. I still think we shoulda done it.
AWESOME movie, though.
"I know something that will cheer you up, Wesley" "Are you programmed to be thinking what I'm thinking?" "MAKEOVER!!" Princical Scudworth & Mr. Butlertron; Clone High
First of all, Naomi Watts is probably the hottest woman in the world.
This movie had me ALMOST the entire way through, until.....
SPOILER ALERT!!!! ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ...the scene at the end where she comes out of the TV. That was the classic "oh this is just dumb" moment that just kills the suspension of disbelief in a thriller. Still, an awesome movie overall.
(edited by Big Bad on 6.3.03 0255) Well Mr. Burns had done it. The power plant had won it. With Rogers Clemens clucking all the while. Mike Scioscia's tragic illness made us smile. While Wade Boggs lay unconscious on the barroom tile. We're talkin'... Softball. From Maine to San Diego. Talkin'... Softball. Mattingly and Canseco. Ken Griffey's grotesquely swollen jaw. Steve Sax and his run-in with the law. We're talkin' Homer... Ozzie and the Straw.
Spoiler I guess once you reach**** I'll try not to be too specific
I know it's a good movie when I see the title of the thread and haven't seen the movie since it first came out in theatres months ago and the line clicked with me right away.
The Ring was great. I placed it as my pleasant surprise of the year and it's way up on the list of best movie of the year for me. I've been a bit disappointed with the thriller genre recently but The Ring is a real great standout.
I think Naomi Watts is so good, she's as talented as she is beautiful (pretty high levels on both accounts). She was the focus point for the entire movie and did an superb job... And the guy with her held his own as well
I like the psychology, the inevitable doom Watts' character felt, seeing each imagery while living her 7 days... I'm also so happy they didn't get sidetracked or mushy on us. I was expecting them to, but they didn't. The movie stayed focused on what was important.
********
I really loved the false ending, one of the best false ending ever. It made a very good movie to a great movie... I didn't find the girl coming out of the TV too far out, it did explain why the teenage girls bedroom floor was wet, and it also through out the movie touched upon media and media outlets(ie TV) that everyone has. If "she" had to use something as a portal why not a television
The moral dilemma at the end was the best, and what made it even better is that Watts's character had no dilemma at all, she knew what was best for her and she did it... Plus what the old man said to her about "reporters taking tragedy and force the whole world to experience it. Spreading it like a sickness". Very cryptic and telling.
Was mentioned Three times, 3X, 3X. In the "Great Wieners" thread!
Originally posted by SmackfiendIt's been over a year since I've seen the Japanese version, it's been a couple weeks since I've seen the American. From what I remember, The japanese one does a better job of explaining the story/backgroung (I've also seen the Japanese sequel so they are probably blending together though) but the American version is *much* more fucked up and frightening. I bought them both on DVD yesterday, will probably watch them tommorrow.
I remember watching the Japanese one about a year or so ago and to be honest I was pretty underwhelmed.
I mean, I could appreciate that it was well made and all, especially considering the sort of budget they likely had, but I just felt it was lacking something. I never really felt engrossed in the movie and subsequently it didn't scare me.
Much as I'm loathe to admit it I might just be a sucker for all that glitzy holywood stuff
"You dont appreciate a lot of stuff in school until you get older. Little things like being spanked every day by a middle aged woman: stuff you'd pay good money for these days."
Originally posted by Big BadFirst of all, Naomi Watts is probably the hottest woman in the world.
This movie had me ALMOST the entire way through, until.....
SPOILER ALERT!!!!
...the scene at the end where she comes out of the TV. That was the classic "oh this is just dumb" moment that just kills the suspension of disbelief in a thriller. Still, an awesome movie overall.
(edited by Big Bad on 6.3.03 0255)
I didn't have a problem with the coming-out-of-the-TV scene. Even then, they left it open as to what it is she actually DID to her victims (they didn't show her physically picking up an axe and going to town on 'em Jason-style, or anything like that, but the end results were still pretty messy). She's an evil spirit who could produce images by force-of-will when she was ALIVE, after all; making an image of herself appear in thin air shouldn't be a major hassle for a murderous supernatural entity.
"...Also, living in NYC, to stop any terrorists from braking into my home I've crammed pickles in the gap between the front door and the floor - try and brake past my juicy green wall of defense." -- commenter on FARK
There were things I liked about Ringu more than The Ring, but I enjoyed The Ring a lot more. I think Sadako is more terrifying than Samara (If only because you never see her face), and the scene with the ex seeing her legs in the park was awesome. The version I saw had terrible sub-titles (white on top of white surfaces) and seemed much more steeped in cultural tradition (tengu and random people just having super powers), while I think The Ring can resonate anywhere because they leave what is happening so up in the air.
Ringu was a much more complex and demanding film, but as a pure horror the remake is superior. The victims of the curse are especially much improved, and the relocation to Western society makes the film much more relevant and terrifying. When I saw it, I wanted to move my TV out of my room whilst I slept.
Some up there said they didn't like the coming out of the TV part at the end. In the Jap version, it's done better cause it's not all CGI-ified and glossy. If I remember right they spent like $40million on the american version and only $600,000 on the original.
Hollywood has a way of crapping on good foreign films, like the horrible Develin/Emmerich GODZILLA atrocity and Robin Williams THE BIRDCAGE fiasco. Ringu and it's sequel and prequel(Ringu2 and Ring0) at least in my eyes, were far superior to The Ring cause Japanese shaky-cam looks better for that type of film.
Cerebus: Barbarian, Prime Minister, Pope, Perfect House Guest.
"Graft is as necessary as throwing up when you drink too much."
When I went on a trip to the States last month, the movie wasn't released yet in Holland and thus I hadn't heard/seen any ads for it. I watched it in the plane because I had heard somewhere that it was a good movie. I enjoyed.. I got annoyed.. I freaked..
The enjoying part was the beginning and middle. The annoying was the part where they seem to go all Hollywood with a 'now she is at peace' angle. the freaked was when she came out of the tv. I did NOT expect this..
A week after I returned here (and thank god i was still alive) it started playing in cinemas. I went with a friend who was underwhelmed. mostly cos by now the hype machine was making more of the movie than it really was. Also, he had seen some show where they aired a clip of Samara coming out of the tv.
As the week progressed however he started to appreciate the movie more and more..decided to label all his tapes.
Got the japanese original and part 2, but I am not sure if I am up to seeing them yet..
Originally posted by FazzleLast night I was watching this movie, and right after they showed the tape for the first time.....my phone rang.
I uh...hesitated a bit before answering.
(edited by Fazzle on 6.3.03 1328)
Well I was scanning the post before I responded and saw this and rembered that the same thing happened to me when I watched it with my girlfriend for the first time yesterday. She didn't want me to answer the phone.
As for the overall movie, I was underwhelmed, but she made me go turn off the TV last night, and had a nightmare about girls coming out of the TV, so I guess it worked for her.
Now I just have to figure out how to get the easter egg q-ed up so it can go off when she comes into the room without her figuring out what Im doing.
if "Washington is a Hollywood for ugly people," then, considering the remarks coming out of Tinseltown about Iraq, "Hollywood is a Washington for the simpleminded." John McCain
I think I might be in the minority...I read this thread, and it made me go rent the movie, and in fact I think the scene where she comes out of the tv was actually made better by the special effects. It was quite sweet how she just sorta materialized from one place to another. I haven't been engrossed in a movie this much since LOTR:Two Towers...I mean the story is great on so many levels. I love how Watt's son seemed like he was the one truely driving this story. He was the one drawing the pictures, and he seemed more adult than every other character in the movie. He also gave me the line of the movie when he said, "You helped her," and then gave Watts 'the stupid look', and continued, "you weren't supposed to help her." Classic.
Hall: "Hey maybe we could have a few beers with the boys..." Nash: "I don't think thats such a good idea..."
I finally got to see it this weekend and was a little underwhelmed, I guess due mostly to the critical hype it got on release. Watts was great and it was shot really well, but something felt like it was missing.
I don't really get the end, either. Well, I get the end, but I don't understand what appears to be a big point. What does it matter that Rachel found Samara's body and got it out of the well? Why was Samara trying to get her to do it and what changed once she did? It seemed like Samara killed What's His Name in the same way that she killed everybody before her body was found (the water near the TV at the other deaths implying that she crawled out and made them turn all green and dead then, too). And she's apparently still bound by the "make a copy, I can't kill you" rule even after being found.
The fakeout happy ending was a neat twist, but if there's no difference between what she can do with her body in the well and what she can do with it found, the kid's "You weren't supposed to help her!" kinda loses its meaning.
I liked the opening in that modern meta-horror movie way, where the directors know that we know that anytime someone opens a door or passes by the camera in the foreground, we're savvy enough to expect something menacing in the background to suddenly appear. So we keep getting these extended scenes in the beginning where people open refrigerator doors or windows or cabinets just so, when they close them, we can expect something to be there...but it's not! Until we get far enough along that something does happen. I fully expect a slasher movie in the near future that has two hours of people opening closets, cabinets and fridge doors until, in the last minute of the movie, the star of the film goes to put something in a linen closet and the killer is finally there, but it's too late and the movie ends.
She was asking about D-Von's sexuality because earlier in the show Stone Cold had said he wouldn't vote off Debra because she's his wife, so when she asked Bubba about what he did and he said he was teaming with D-Von, he said D-Von was his wife and would...