‘Rings’ proves to be more investigative than horror
Photo credit: Wikipedia
February 7, 2017
Following in the shadow of the successful horror flicks “The Ring,” and its sequel, expectations were set high for the newest addition, “Rings.” Viewers would think that recreating an old thriller in today’s era would make it a lot more frightening to the modern day person. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case in this film.
The movie was more focused on the plot and story of the evil girl, Samara, played by Bonnie Morgan, who kills her victims seven days after they watch a disturbing VHS tape. “Rings” is more of a mystery as opposed to a pop-up thriller. The plot moves slowly instead of being full of scenes that want to make viewers hide under their blankets or cover their eyes–that is what makes horror movies exciting to see in theaters.
Differing from the original “The Ring” movie, the remake introduces Samara’s parents and the story behind her life, which is what the movie is mainly focused on. Viewers may have felt bored at times. The thrill of being scared in a movie theater is the best part of going in the first place. This film did not achieve that.
The main character Julia, played by Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz, showed very convincing emotions during some of the frightening scenes and gets involved in the curse of Samara after her boyfriend, Holt, played by Alex Roe, goes missing at his college. The movie left out some important things such as why Julia had to stay home from college to take care of her mother, which is mentioned in the beginning of the film.
Gabriel, played by Johnny Galecki, is a professor of biology at Holt’s college. He is very interested with life after death and is the main reason Julia gets involved with the tape. Not much happens after Julia finds the tape, and most of the movie after is them researching the reasoning behind the tape’s curse. The slow action overall made the movie not worth seeing.
The environment of the theater was filled with many kids from the ages of 13-15. Feeling like one of the older ones in the theater was a little bit annoying, especially when random things would be called out in the middle of a scene. Needless to say, the movie attracted a younger crowd—due to the timid plot.
One thing that had viewers shocked was the great plot twist towards the end. This film was more of a psychological thriller, so fans of investigative flicks will enjoy “Rings.” The plot was very interesting to keep up with—if that is what viewers are expecting to get after purchasing a ticket.
