Gore Verbinski made a major splash in the horror genre with 2002’s The Ring, a brilliant remake of Hideo Nakata’s Japanese film, Ringu.
Ringu has a huge reputation in Japan and it’s one of the more popular horror franchises to come out of the country. The story that’s present in Ringu/The Ring is very simple, but it also contains many of the staples of Japanese horror films. Ringu is able to stand out amongst the crowd and it has enough of a following that its story was acquired for American audiences and Gore Verbinski turned it into one of his most successful films, 2002’s The Ring.
The Ring looks at a cursed videotape that puts a hold over whoever watches it. That person is given seven days to show the tape and trap someone else in this curse, otherwise they will meet their end, courtesy of the ghostly girl within the video. Both the contents of the tape and this sordid fate are frightening in their own rates, but the backstory on Samara, the vengeful spirit that’s involved in all of this, adds a heartbreaking, human element to this horror. The Ring is also able to take everyday household objects like televisions, telephones, and video cameras into sources of intense fear. Gore Verbinski’s The Ring made a huge impression on both critics and audiences, but nobody could have anticipated how it would affect the horror genre as a whole.
Back in 2002, there were plenty of horror films that were attempts at more modern remakes of older classics. However, the American horror market had yet to really understand the potential of turning out American remakes of top performing horror titles from other countries. Japan in particular is known for its strong efforts in horror and the disturbing characters and tropes their films have created. The success of The Ring showed both audiences and producers alike that there was a serious market for these horror films. The Ring even led more viewers in the direction of the original Ringu.
The Ring’s success opened the floodgates and led to many studios trying to acquire a major Japanese horror property hoping that it would be the next Ring. The Grudge certainly got the closest in that regard, but The Ring also ushered in the production of remakes of Japanese horror films like Pulse, Dark Water, Shutter, and One Missed Call. Remarkably, all of the movies deal with somewhat similar ideas and feature a frightening monster that’s not unlike Samara from The Ring. The major difference with The Ring is the care that Verbinski and everyone involved put into the production as well as how it’s largely most people’s first exposure to this kind of horror. It’s not just enough to adapt a story that’s frightening overseas, there needs to be passion for the material and filmmaking. It’s why Verbinski’s The Ring is such a triumph, but The Ring Two and Rings fell flat.
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