Rings
Directed by F. Javier Guiterrez, Holt (Alex Roe) and Julia (Matilda Lutz) are a couple of college students who find themselves traveling to spooky churches and cemeteries trying to solve a 30 year mystery. Professor Gabriel (Johnny Gelecki) stumbles upon an original “Ring” tape inside an old VCR recorder and becomes obsessed with the concept of the afterlife and what happens to the soul when you die. Once you watch this deadly tape, you have 7 days to live unless you copy the tape and have someone else watch it, which creates a viscous cycle of needing to find “Tails” (as Gabriel calls them) to watch and pass on. The new twist is that now the tape can be “digitized” and is much easier and faster to copy and share before Samara will hunt you down and murder you.
In an effort to save her boyfriend, Julia watches the video to buy them 7 more days, however, when she attempts to copy the file, hers is different and includes new “videos within the video” that no other has had. She becomes more and more intrigued and sympathetic towards Samara (the “evil” child who was murdered and thrown down a well and now haunts and kills everyone who comes in contact with her), so, Julia is determined to find Samara and set her free.
“Rings” is more of a thriller mystery without all the horror and gore. While the movie is entertaining (and not too long), fifteen years later, the sequel to “The Ring”, like most sequels, just can’t compare to the original.
5/10
