One of the first horror movie I’ve ever watched was “The Ring”. It had such a huge impact on me, because of its well-crafted story, the horrific and grotesque video tape and obviously the notorious scene with samara, the little girl with black hair, crawling out of the television. I would consider this movie one of my favorite just for the lure it brings and the fact that it leaves you wanting more. This movie isn’t your typical horror movie, sure it utilizes some over-used schemes that the horror genre has like jump scares and the gloomy atmosphere, but they didn’t overdo it. However, these jump scares don’t even relate to the actual horror story this movie brings to the table.

The ring begins with two girls discussing this strange video that supposedly kills people; one of the girls has already watched it exactly 7 days ago. She dies that same night and her aunt, Rachel Keller, wants to discover why her niece died in such an unexplained way. She figures out about the tape and decides to watch it. After seeing the horrific images and hearing the phone call “seven days” she starts to believe the video has some sort of curse and being a reporter she wants to find out the truth behind the tape. Rachel and her friend Noah both try to figure out the true meaning behind the tape. They slowly start putting the pieces together and figure out about the Morgan’s and their daughter, Samara, which was a cursed child that hurt people without wanting to and never slept. The father kept her behind a glass wall because he was afraid of Samara and, even though her mother loved her, she kills Samara, because she couldn’t handle her.

What makes this movie so great is that it skips the gore and overreacting crazed lunatics and focuses on the psychological elements, which most horror movies lack nowadays. At first glance the video tape is just a bunch of random images that make you uncomfortable, but as the story progresses you start seeing objects and places shown on the tape and you start realizing that the video tape is actually Samara’s past. You feel as you are on this search with the characters to solve this peculiar case and as they progress you progress with them and they never leave you in the dark. The actors are real and intriguing people, placing them into realistic scenarios, they try to shine light into this little girl’s life, but the story still has a tragic end. The movie doesn’t force anything like horror movies these days, where they put the scary background music unnecessarily loud in scenes that are not even scary. The ring brings out every good aspect that the horror genre has and presents it in such a flawless way that you can’t avert your eyes.

The movie builds this great story that gives us enough to understand a little of the story, but still doesn’t answer all the questions: Who exactly is Samara? Why does she hurt people? Who made the video? I believe that leaving these questions up in the air keeps the lure of the story a mystery. That mystery is the reason why I consider this movie one of my favorites. This movie takes the typical “J-horror” and makes this wonderful lure with an unforgettable little girl that goes to hunt the dreams of the people who have already watch it. So would I recommend this movie? Of course, especially if you like horror movies.