I know this has been done to death, but I thought I'd throw my opinion into the melting pot.
Just watched The Ring Remake. Heard fairly poor feedback about it but the GF and I thought we'd pop it on. We seen The Grudge in the week and rubbishing Americanised remakes was currently in fashion. Boy were we wrong.
Now, lets get one thing straight I/we are totally respectful of the fact that Ringu, on its lower budget came up with the ideas and told a powerful tale - but The Ring takes every element and cranks up the tension and eeriness, tells a slightly less ridiculous story (no more goblins and brine...) and most importantly scares the piss out of you. This is down to some fantastically subtle uses of leftfield indicators like puddles of water, flies, subliminal imagery and adaption of perversely sledgehammer lines from supposedly subtle Jhorror like "The tape is not of this world" [rolleyes] to a interaction with elements of the tape itself as well as more thoughtfully told story interspered with powerful horror imagery.
Five elements stand out markedly - the massively improved cursed tape - leading to a far more interesting and diverting investigation, a brilliantly evil Samara, absolutely amazing use of creepy audio throughout, a briliant turn by the reporters son (who at times was as creepy as Samara herself) and the horrificly distorted faces of the victims - something that really sticks with you, like it or not. Like I said - every element adapted and improved from the original.
There has been much discussion of the 'slow burn' present in JHorror. I've realised that taking an hour to make a point does not create tension or unease. It bores. However the opposite case can also lead to disatisfaction (see The Grudge remake). The Ring balances between these two stools perfectly - the idea, after all, is to scare you - and the unsettling feeling that is held up throughout manages to keep you firmly on the edge of your seat.
Roll on Dark Water remake (hopes...)...
Just watched The Ring Remake. Heard fairly poor feedback about it but the GF and I thought we'd pop it on. We seen The Grudge in the week and rubbishing Americanised remakes was currently in fashion. Boy were we wrong.
Now, lets get one thing straight I/we are totally respectful of the fact that Ringu, on its lower budget came up with the ideas and told a powerful tale - but The Ring takes every element and cranks up the tension and eeriness, tells a slightly less ridiculous story (no more goblins and brine...) and most importantly scares the piss out of you. This is down to some fantastically subtle uses of leftfield indicators like puddles of water, flies, subliminal imagery and adaption of perversely sledgehammer lines from supposedly subtle Jhorror like "The tape is not of this world" [rolleyes] to a interaction with elements of the tape itself as well as more thoughtfully told story interspered with powerful horror imagery.
Five elements stand out markedly - the massively improved cursed tape - leading to a far more interesting and diverting investigation, a brilliantly evil Samara, absolutely amazing use of creepy audio throughout, a briliant turn by the reporters son (who at times was as creepy as Samara herself) and the horrificly distorted faces of the victims - something that really sticks with you, like it or not. Like I said - every element adapted and improved from the original.
There has been much discussion of the 'slow burn' present in JHorror. I've realised that taking an hour to make a point does not create tension or unease. It bores. However the opposite case can also lead to disatisfaction (see The Grudge remake). The Ring balances between these two stools perfectly - the idea, after all, is to scare you - and the unsettling feeling that is held up throughout manages to keep you firmly on the edge of your seat.
Roll on Dark Water remake (hopes...)...
