Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Is the Ring the best Gore Verbinski movie? Its definitely up there. But yeah, this is a good movie that unfortunately a lot of piss poor copycats tried to crib from, leading to a lot of bad adaptations of good movies.
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I remember two things clearly from watching The Ring; that the actual haunted tape was way creepier than the content of the rest of the movie, and the nightmarish sequel hook would be solved pretty handily if they just gave the tape to someone whose terminally ill or something.
Well, we were both scared shitless. The movie disturbed me in a way that stuck with me for years (particularly the depiction of the horrified faces of Samara’s victims). When we got back home to my buddy’s house, the light in his bedroom turned off suddenly and he refused to go inside.
And we must shout out to the marketers, or whoever it was, that decided to put the footage from the cursed tape right at the beginning of the film’s actual VHS release. That was some brilliant shit, right there.
I saw it in a group of 4, and it terrified us during but we loved the experience, and talking about it, on the way home. I then spent the following weel just GORGING myself on all things J-horror--info and reviews, anyway--registering at the major Ring fansite, and discovering a brand new genre. I even registered at a tiny online HK film importer that carried a bunch of recommended (and English-subbed) Asian horror films, like the original Ringu, Ju-on, Kairo, A Tale of Two Sisters, Battle Royale, and Seance, all of which I shared with that same group of friends before any of them officially hit US shores. So, I have the director of Mouse Hunt and Rango, and Naomi Watts' ear-shattering, brain-piercing screams, to thank for finding a new favorite film genre.
And within the same year, well. I did this. Yeah. The webmaster and largest fan on the aforementioned Ring site, Javier Lopez, who would later become a chief localization supervisor for ADV Manga (back when ADV Manga still existed--and back when ADV itself still existed) liked it enough to send me the Azumanga Daioh omnibus when that was published.
Great, now we've all got seven days.No. 6 The Ring (2002)
Great, now we've all got seven days.
Is the Ring the best Gore Verbinski movie?
I think I've said this before, but the twist works better in the American remake than the original for reasons of pacing. Most horror movies are on the short side, about 80-90 minutes. In the original, Sadako is "laid to rest" about 60 minutes into the movie, but your mind knows a movie isn't 60 minutes long, so you're waiting for the catch. The remake pads things out just enough so that Samara is "laid to rest" around 90 minutes in--right when you're expecting the movie to be about over. So when the rug gets pulled out from you, you really feel that sense of "but this was supposed to be finished" along with the characters.
Also, when I saw this in college, I lived alone in my dorm room and I'd forgotten to turn off the TV, which was tuned to a blank channel because my PS2 was hooked up to it. So I came back from that movie, opened my door, and saw the TV on and almost had a heart attack.
Shout-outs to my dude @Zef for being double-voting buddies.
Psycho is a 1960 American psychological horror thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The plot centers on an encounter between Marion Crane, an embezzler on the run, and Norman Bates, the shy proprietor of a secluded old motel, and its aftermath.
Well, that settles it. I'm never taking a shower again.
You already don't take showers, you doofus. You only take bleach baths.
GUESS I'M NOT TAKING THOSE AGAIN EITHER
Since I doubt it'll make the top five, I'll just say that my vote went to the first movie I saw in this genre, which was Kairo (aka Pulse). I forget exactly who showed it to me, since it's not the sort of thing I'd have sought out on my own - presumably someone from my old anime club. But man, while the plot meanders all over the place, the whole thing is just creepy as hell. (Haven't seen the inevitable American remake, heard it doesn't really hold up super well.)
Yes, we watched it in October, and Katie hadn’t seen it before. She was thoroughly creeped out, and we both enjoyed it a lot. Part of that enjoyment is just that Hitchcock makes movies that are excessively pleasant to watch. Some parts haven’t aged as well as others, and the best parts have been overexposed, but even with those points against it, it’s a great movie.So, have you seen Psycho lately? What are your thoughts on it?
I'm not sure there's a person on the planet who isn't at least aware of the shower scene.