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Review: Rings (2005)

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Directed by Jonathan Liebesman, 2005.

The psychological horror film The Ring (2002) and its sequel The Ring Two (2005) were derived from the Japenese film series of the same name. Both these series were in turn based on writer Koji Suzuki’s 1991 novel Ringu. In the series, a mysterious videotape seems to cause the death of anyone who views it. After the video stops playing, a phone rings telling the viewer ‘you will die in seven days.’ Both the American and the Japanese adaptation of the novel were strong, original horror movies that scared audiences across the world. The sequels in both series felt a bit more derivative, and were enjoyable at best.

To coincide with the theatrical release of The Ring Two, a re-release of the DVD for The Ring was issued, which also featured a short movie titled Rings (2005). The 16-minute short takes place between the first and the second American “Ring”-film and tells the story of a subculture surrounding the deadly videotape. Each member of the group purposely watches the tape and waits to see how close they can get to the seven day-deadline before passing on the curse to someone else. Rings is more thrilling, more haunting, and more intriguing than its feature-length counterparts. The short is shot in a different style than the films and gives off a creepy, distressing vibe. It is unfortunate that Rings was never extended into a feature-length film, but the short can still be viewed on YouTube today.

Official poster (Credit: Rings)

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