Rings Review

Rings is the latest instalment in the long running American horror franchise, based on the Japanese Ringu franchise.

Our antagonist, the creepy Samara, continues her reign of terror through a possessed VHS tape. If the VHS is watched, the victim is given seven days to live before dying a horrible death.

Herein lies the premise of the film. After losing contact with her boyfriend Holt, our protagonist Julia sets off to find him, and after watching the film, Julia and Holt go to try and break the cycle of the ring once and for all.

The previous films in the series have always run heavy with tension and atmosphere, particularly in the original which felt oppressive in places, like the shadow of Samara was always right behind our protagonists.

It seems like that was the effect the creators were going for in this film, however rather than bringing the same atmosphere of the original, Rings at times felt like a detective movie, rather than a gripping horror experience.

The characters in Rings are pretty standard fare, making the same stereotypically dumb decisions that all horror movie protagonists make. One character who I wished I could’ve seen more of was the university professor Gabriel, played by Johnny Galecki.

You want to know more about why he is looking into the ring and what he hopes to achieve, however the film cuts this short and kills off its most interesting character for the sake of a crappy plot twist.

Speaking of the ‘plot twist’, if you can see two feet in front of you, you’ll see it coming pretty easily.

Along with some pacing issues and bulk standard roster of jump scares, Rings tried to be a scary film, but ended up more reminiscent of sub-par mystery film with horror elements.

If you’re a fan of the series, you might consider it to be worth your time. If you’re not, don’t bother.

Rating: 2/5