Oct. 18, 2002 - 10:05 pm
this entry is making a bit of a late appearance, but at least it did appear. with my lack of drive to see movies lately, i'm lucky i've found the will to write about it at all. i really hadn't heard much about this film at all before my friends talked me into seeing it on opening night. apparently it's a remake of a Japanese film called Ringu (1998) and is basically the same film just revamped for an American audience. if you're looking for a scary movie that doesn't involve a bunch of teenagers or 20-something-year-olds pretending to be teenagers, this would be a good one to go see right now.
the idea is that there's this videotape floating around that is just insane and it scares you nearly out of your mind. if you watch the tape, you get a phone call directly afterwards and the voice on the other end says "seven days." from that point you have seven days until you die a terrible death. the very attractive Naomi Watts (assuming you've seen Mulholland Dr. (2001)) is a reporter whose neice is killed by the tape at the beginning of the film. she then locates the tape and watches it herself (yes you do get to watch it with her...but please don't close your eyes). she spends her last 7 days trying to figure out who made the tape and why it kills you if you watch it.
it's been said that Naomi Watts is a bad actress. i don't think i would say that she's bad. i'd say she has just a very strange acting style. and of the two extraordinarily odd films that i've seen her act in, it has fit in very well with the context of the film. she makes you feel uneasy, and that's what this film was going after. it's complicated. like i can identify with her, but at the same time it's like she's from another planet. so i have to say that i enjoy what i've seen of her acting actually.
i think this film does a great job of making you think that it's over and having a terrible ending, but then coming right back and having a much better one. i'm not sure if that really explained it well, but if you see it, you'll understand. one negative aspect of the film is the appearance of a second rate "sixth sense" kid. well i mean i guess he does a good job, but it's too obvious a ripoff from The Sixth Sense (1999) to not make you choke at the appearance.
so overall it's a good horror film. good mystery film even. just a couple of flaws. it does a good job of freaking you out though, so it's serving its purpose. 7/10.