The Ring (2002) Review: My Favorite Horror Film
7My review of The Ring (2002), the best horror remake, the scariest horror film, my favorite of the genre.
The Ring is a 2002 American supernatural psychological horror film directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, and David Dorfman. It is a remake of the 1998 Japanese horror film Ringu, which was based on the novel of the same name, written by Koji Suzuki.
The film was released theatrically on October 18, 2002, and received mostly positive reviews. Many critics praised the reliance on dread and visuals over gore and the direction along with the screenplay writing, but mainly criticized the lack of character development. The film grossed over $249 million worldwide on a $48 million production budget, making it one of the highest-grossing horror remakes. The film was followed by two sequels: The Ring Two and Rings.
The Ring was the first American remake of a Japanese horror classic and paved the way for subsequent "J-horror" remakes, such as The Grudge, Dark Water, Pulse, One Missed Call, The Eye, Shutter, Mirrors and The Uninvited.