A cursed videotape leads to supernatural shenanigans and wacky well-walkin’.
I could be talking about Hideo Nakata’s 1998 influential J-Horror masterpiece Ringu… and while we will surely get back to Nakata soon enough, today we’ll be focusing our outre eye-balls on Gore Verbinski’s (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and two of it’s sequels) 2002 Hollywood re-make, and it’s sequels, all of which are included in Scream Factory’s new 4k/Blu-ray combo box-set; The Ring Collection… like, what else did you think they would call it?!!
Anyway, The Ring…
Seattle-based investigative journalist Rachael (Naomi Watts) gets herself one hell of a mystery to solve after she’s asked to check into the circumstances that led to her niece’s bizarre demise.
It’s a long and winding road to the truth… a truth that involves the decades old murder of a child with psychic abilities… and that child, Samara (Daveigh Chase) is thirsty for revenge from beyond the grave which leads to her passing on a curse via a strange VHS tape, that when viewed causes the watcher to die within 7 days.
Before long not only has Rachel viewed the tape, but so has her young son Aidan (David Dorfman) and their lives just got an expiration date!
The Ring is a true anomaly of a fright flick; a re-make of a masterpiece of supernatural suspense that is every bit as effective and iconic as it’s inspiration!
A simmering slow burn of a film, Verbinski’s take on the material (is a suitably cold, bleak affair filled with liminal spaces, analog clues, and decrepit artifacts that create an arcane atmosphere that draws the viewer into the monstrous mystery hook, line, and shockin’ sinker!
Another aspect the film delivers on it’s dichotomy between technology (the likes of which was already living on borrowed time upon the film’s release) and a straight-up, Neo-folk horror ghost story, and the usage of such an innocuous item as a videotape… especially when video stores were a major part of our lives as an instrument of paranormal vengeance (hell, I’m sure some of you experienced this film as a rental on that very format) makes this first entry in the U.S. Ring cycle vastly effective in a way the sequels couldn’t quite capture… but more on that in a bit…
Another big boon to the absolutely pitch perfect paranormal ambiance of the piece are the rain drenched locales that range from a city to a remote mountain motel to a dilapidated town, and the gloomy, cold color palette makes everything appear to be happening in an eternally foggy fever-dream.
While aesthetics are certainly King here, the acting on display is fantastic as well, with Watts making for a heroine that is curious, resourceful, and very, very driven to see the mystery of Samara brought to a conclusion… and speaking of Samara, Donnie Darko’s Daveigh Chase brings the ghoulish ghost to terrifying life in an iconic performance that is fright flick royalty at this point (though special mention must be made to Ringu’s Rie Ino’o, who’s turn as Sadako set the paces for this adaptation to follow).
Before we jump into special features, it bears mention that each of the film’s in this collection come with both a 4K transfer as well as a Blu-ray version, with the Blu-ray featuring all of the special ghoulish goodies fans of the series will devour!
For The Ring we get a feature-length documentary filled with cast and crew interviews (and more) all detailing the origins of The Ring, it’s sequels, and it’s original Japanese counterparts, a cleverly edited collection of deleted and alternate scenes, Jonathan Liebesman (Texas Chainsaw: The Beginning) short film Rings that bridges the gap between the first two installments of the franchise, a brief look at urban legends, a collection of cast and filmmaker interviews, and the film’s theatrical trailer.
Onward we dive deeper into the wicked well…
The Ring Two (2005) provided a chance for Hideo Nakata to return to this iconic franchise while continuing the tale of Rachael (Watts) and Aidan (Dorfman), with the former taking on more of a mother role rather than the intrepid investigator we were introduced to in the first feature.
Also lessened is the videotape’s presence (along with the suspense of racing the clock after being exposed to the same), and while a viewing of that revoltin’ recording kicks off the horror at hand, this flick focuses more on the relationship between Samara (now played by Kelly Stables, though Chase does appear via archival footage) and Aidan, and the terrible consequences of that link which offers new methods pof Samara spreading her devious deviltry!
Also absent is that moody, rain-drenched, cold environment the events of the first film play out in, as the sun-dappled, blue skies present offer less dread, but conversely adds a bit of discomfort as preternatural horror lurks just beyond the pleasant daylight.
A solid plus for The Ring Two is the inclusion of Sissy Spacek (1976’s Carrie) as… well, I don’t want to spoil for those of you that have yet to partake, but it’s a sweet lil’ dovetail to her role in that aforementioned Stephen King classic.
To be honest, I’ve always dug this entry because it wasn’t an easy, cash-grab, re-hashing of Round One; it’s still firmly within the universe of the first picture, but the additions it contains keep Sinister Samara and her mythology complex and fascinating as it is expanded upon.
To enhance your viewing pleasure, we have another selection of special features that this go around include: an audio commentary courtesy of film critics Emily Higgins (the Tasteless podcast) and Billy Dunham (We Watched A Thing podcast) that is a lively, informative conversation that is just so damn fun to listen to (!), another go-around for the Rings short film, a collection of deleted scenes, vignettes including a look at the film’s special effects, a series promo piece, a focus on Samara herself, the film’s use of symbology, and a “making of” piece. The film’s trailer is also included.
Additionally, you can chose to watch the film in both it’s original theatrical version, or in an expanded Unrated edition.
Last up, is 2017’s Rings…
“Now wait just a drippin’ wet minute…” I hear you (not) say… “is this film more a sequel to the first two installments, or is it based more on concepts conjured forth for that seemingly omnipresent at this point, short?”
Of course the answer is: “Yes!”… to the whole short thing.
In that aforementioned short it’s revealed that there is a secret society that has learned that there is indeed a method to survive Samara’s curse… simply puff puff pass that shit to some other doomed bastard… and this film continues that wholesale by revealing the on going research into the curse being conducted by college professor Gabriel (The Big Bang Theory and Roseanne’s Johnny Galecki).
Before long, our plucky young heroine, Julia (Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz) shuffles of to her boyfriend, Holt’s (Alex Roe) alma matter… which he attended until he disappeared (so no Rachael and Aidan biz this time). Naturally he’s become involved in the ever twisting world of Samara (portrayed by Bonnie Morgan this go-around), and once located it falls upon Julia, Gabriel and himself to learn Samara’s (somewhat retconned) history in an attempt to put an end to the evil once and for all!
F. Javier Gutiérrez certainly shakes things up nice n’ proper with Rings, a decision that while bold is nevertheless plagued with a few problems.
Things start off outrageously enough on an airplane… in a cold open gag that is ridiculous in all the right ways… before we get down to the adventures of Julia being introduced to Gabriel and his cult-like students who have solved the riddle of ridding themselves of Samara’s curse.
This part of the film is pretty damn strong, and nicely expands upon elements first present in the short of the same name and the cast is on point as well with Galecki portraying a more moody role than the ones present in his sitcom turns, and Lutz making for a relatable and determined heroine.
However, once we get into the unnecessary rehash/reboot of Samara’s origins things get a bit redundant with plenty of info we knew being thrown back at us in a slightly remixed format… but even here there is a bright spot in the absolutely committed performance from Vincent D’Onofrio (Men in Black, The Cell) as Burke, a blind man who has plenty of skeletons in his cursed closet!
As on the other discs in this collection, Rings has special features to enhance fan’s enjoyment of the film which include: a lengthy selection of nearly finished deleted scenes (that indicate plenty of studio interference took place during production), a discussion with cast and crew on resurrecting the Ring franchise, a look at creating this film’s version of Samara, and interviews with the cast on how they handle filming the picture’s scare sequences.
Noticeably absent from this release are the full versions of the cursed videos that appeared in earlier releases… unless they are hidden somewhere I haven’t uncovered…
The Ring is a now-classic fright flick that is still eerily effective to this day, and the sequels have plenty of ghostly good times to offer up as well making this collection well worth giving a wicked whirl, even if you are double dipping (thanks to that feature length documentary appearing here for the first time)!
