The Ring

Though The Ring doesn’t come up with anything new in the context of clichés and the screenplay has some lapses in logic, it is so brilliantly made that it can only be praised. It’s a razor-sharp horror flick with bleak cinematography, a terrifying soundtrack, a perfectly cast little boy and, mainly, the beautiful, natural and spontaneous Naomi Watts. (04/06/2003)

After more than ten years since the creation of the film, I am surprised how much the audience is fixated on Kruh as a devastating horror. And yet it works much better in its thrilling suspenseful dimension. Verbinski's move with the endless delaying of all the scary moments evidently succeeded. It then leads the viewer towards death through suspenseful scenes (watching the tape, discovering its images in the real world, the horse, the old Morgan) right to the literal edge of the well. You don't want to hurt anyone, do you? - But I do (01/29/2006)

A number of great scenes, a decently mysterious atmosphere and skillful direction, which sometimes plays with the clichés of horror films (several times during the introduction, for example with the refrigerator door). Unfortunately, at one point it kind of logically stalled and I got a few questions about the curse and its cancellation (so SPOILER): Why was Rachel hallucinating all the time when the curse didn't really affect her anymore and only Noah (and later Aidan) were supposed to die? Is there some kind of "You may not die, but you'll hallucinate until the other guy dies" rule? Or is it simply a hole in the script? I'd be willing to accept the explanation that Rachel's hallucinations were just memories of what she saw in the video, but that would have been undermined by the finale in the well... I don't know. (02/12/2017)

Genre-wise, it's one of the best psychological horror films of the decade, a very successful remake of the original Japanese version, which is stylistically more appealing but less digestible for the Euroamerican viewer. In terms of gradually building atmosphere, it is very well executed both in terms of direction and screenplay. Overall impression, 90%. (01/12/2008)

An excellent horror, just the behavior of the characters at the beginning was a little strange. Verbinski layers up atmosphere, combining unpleasant chill with several very effective shockers. The investigation into the origin of the video tape drives the story nicely forward and several scenes are wonderfully surreal - the horse on the ferry, falling into the well, Samara’s emergence. Very good. (03/24/2013)