The Ring is a classic, one of the few Japanese horror remakes that even matches the level of terror created by the original. The Ring Two, not so much. But since it’s been over a decade since we’ve seen Samara on the big screen, Rings brings back the haunted videotape and all that comes with it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOH3ORdVmk8
Distributed by Paramount Pictures, Rings follows a woman who, upon watching the haunted tape to save her boyfriend, discovers a film within a film. What the consequences to seeing that film are exactly are vague, but the implication of the trailer is that Samara’s coming back, and soon she’s not going to need video footage to do it. The same imagery is there — the videotape, the hair in the throat, the phone call, the TV with the well — along with hand burns, ring scars, and online web streaming platforms, to update the tale a bit.
Directed by Spanish horror newcomer F. Javier Gutiérrez, the only two big name actors in this feature are Johnny Galecki and Vincent D’Onofrio, neither of whom are well known for their roles in horror. Instead of Daveigh Chase as Samara, who frankly at this point would be a little old for the part, contortionist Bonnie Morgan, meaning that our favorite well-dweller is going to be a lot more flexible in this film.
However, it looks like the film has decided to up the narrative ante by having, at some point or another, Samara taking over an entire plane. This seems a bit ridiculous, taking the film squarely out of horror and into supernatural action-thriller territory in the most bizarre and unnecessary way. It might be a dream sequence or some terrible premonition that never comes to be. One has to wonder why the studio decided to create a Final Destination style film and turn one of the best horror remakes into a forgettable trilogy, but it might be a treat to see Samara slipping out from the screen one last time, emphasis on last.
Rings is set to debut in the U.S. on October 28, 2016.
