Good for a few scares

The Ring

Starring Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson

Directed by Gore Verbinski…

The Ring

Starring Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson

Directed by Gore Verbinski

Most Americans don’t watch foreign films – apparently subtitles are the devil – so when another country makes a really good movie, we remake it in glorious English. Recent examples include “Insomnia” and “Unfaithful.” Almost without fail, our remakes are inferior to the originals.

But the original version of “The Ring,” despite its success at the Japanese box office, wasn’t all that great. It had a great setup and a great ending, but the middle was bogged down by too much exposition. It was a film that was actually worth remaking, given the involvement of a writer talented enough to smooth out the murky second act.

It’s about a videotape. Word is, if you watch it, you die seven days later. When it ends up in the hands of newspaper journalist Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts), she can’t help but watch it. One of the film’s themes is the danger of curiosity – no one can resist watching the tape.

After watching it, Rachel starts to believe the legend and becomes determined to find the origin of the tape before her seven days are up. She becomes a journalist reporting for her very life.

The makeup effects are by Rick Baker, the current master, and even though the film’s PG-13 rating (bummer!) limits us to brief glimpses of his horrific creations, they still greatly enhance the scares. After a stint working on lighter fare such as “Nutty Professor II” and “The Grinch,” it’s great to see him back in the horror genre.

Hollywood brought in Ehren Kruger, writer of “Scream 3” and “Reindeer Games.”

Damn.

Kruger fails to give the film the revamping it needs and the structure remains pretty much the same. He attempts to liven up the middle by tossing in a few new bits of creepiness, most of which feel pretty random.

Even more disappointing, Kruger and director Gore Verbinski (“Mousehunt,” “The Mexican”) fumble many of the scares. Several scenes that were scary in the original are now only startling. It follows a regrettable trend in recent American horror – the placing of a higher premium on making audiences jump, usually via a simple spike of sound, than on holding them in sustained fear.

Still, many of the old scares are intact and there are even a few new ones that work. Also, the film has a welcome seriousness that horror often lacks these days.

While “The Ring” isn’t the scarefest it could have been, it’s still worth a look for horror fans. It’s refreshingly devoid of teens, comedy, snappy dialogue, etc. It’s just out to rattle you.