Scott Baldwin (Meven_Stoffat) If you've been following the Ring series, you'd notice that there are four versions of The Ring: Ringu-Kanzenban, Ringu, The Ring, and here we have "The Ring Virus". Released just a year after Ringu, The Ring Virus is more of an adaptation of the book as opposed to the movie yet it does have some elements of Ringu in it (The protagonist being a female being one) but more with elements of the book "Ring" by Koji Suzuki (the videotape having the "Watch till the end" and "Whoever watches this will die in a week" messages at the beginning and the end).Funny thing is, I had heard of this movie back in 2005 when I had sort of an obsession with the Ring cycle in general. I had so badly wanted to see the Ringu sequels and the prequel. I've seen all the Ring movies now (except for the TV versions) and out of all of them, I'd say this would be the weakest. I have to admit I was sort of tempted to see this after looking at the image of the front cover on Wikipedia and noticing the "The scariest Ring of all!" along the top. Finally in 2007 I had managed to find a copy of the film while I was down in Calgary, Alberta visiting cousins. We had watched it, and I will admit I sort of felt disappointed after expecting what the tagline had boasted.But it's not all bad. I have to admit while kind of boring, it was also kind of intriguing in some parts. I had read the book "Ring" back in 2005 and I had really liked it, I found it interesting that it was very similar to the book. I'll point out where: WARNING: MASSIVE SPOILERAGE!!!!!! - The opening scene, instead of two girls together having fun at a sleepover we had the book's opening where one girl was all alone, and got bored so she got some pepsi and was interrupted by a phone call, which happened right before her death - The protagonist's child is a girl this time - The tape was very similar to the book- it had the "warnings" at the beginning and the end, as well as the eye and the grandmother, the only thing I didn't like was how they had Eun-Suh's mother throwing herself into the volcano.-Sun-joo vomits after seeing the video -Eun-Suh is a hermaphrodite in this, similar to Sadako in the book.-The whole story of Sadako's death- including the rape and the murder in the fields- was included.With those similarities, I was rather impressed that the director had decided to give it the mystery feel of the book. Problem is, without the horror feel, the movie bores me. Sun-Joo's acting is frighteningly awful here, she looks incredibly bored throughout most of the movie and in the scenes where she was running in fear, she was over-acting it. Choi overacts most of his scenes, at times he looks a bit... erm, too optimistic. But that may just be the worst thing about the film period despite it being incredibly SLOW. The director stated in an interview that he wanted to take away the horror element and make it more mysterious, but sadly, it didn't work.There's not really much to see here if you've read the book or seen the Ring movies PERIOD. But with that said, if you're a fan of the Ring movies and have not seen this yet, this is actually worth a look. You'd find it pretty interesting, but be aware, this movie is SLOOOOOOOOOW.

grizlas To all of you who feel let down by this film, I'd like to point out that every one of you have had great anticipations about how it would be. Films like Blair Witch and Ringu are in my oppinion the very best the horror genre has to offer, but they require your immersion to have any effect.Just knowing too much about a film like this can be enough to ruin it for someone who's not a regular horror film fanatic. How many of us have a friend who went to see Blair Witch in the Cinema during the height of the hype, and came back dissapoined not understanding what all the fuss was about?. How can you immerse yourself in a movie with no real special effects, no tempo, no humor and no sex?. The only thing these movies have to offer is horror and that horror in turn more than makes up for other shortcommings, but in order to be frightened you have to play along with the movie, that is accept the absence of all the things you usually find in hollywood blockbusters. If you can't do that, the movie will not be frightening and if it's not frightening, there is nothing else to keep you interested.So my suggestion is, if you want to see Ring, Blair Witch (or films like space odyssey 2001) make sure you know why. If you want popcorn horror dont rent this movie, cause you'll hate it. Watching a movie just because someone said it was the best movie ever, severely reduces the chances of you enjoying it. If you want to watch a movie that has a great albeit slow story, no special effects or anything else you'd expect in a high profile film, you will be mortally terrified by the Ring.

Rakel I saw Ring a couple of days before Halloween when a couple of friends and i were watching some scary movies. The subtitles made me doubt how scary it could be....i was wrong. Ring is an amazing film. Generally it isn't very scary for the most part but the last ten minutes or so scared the life out of me.The names of the characters get confusing so I'm only going to mention one.Basic plot: A journalist is investigating rumors spreading through the teenagers in her area about a video tape. Rumor has it that if you watch the tape, your phone rings soon after and then 7 days later you die. She discovers that a few teenagers have died after watching it, including her own cousin. The journalist then goes to the cabin where the girl saw the video and finds it herself. she watches it and sure enough the phone rings. She has 7 days to find a way to stay alive. With the help of her ex-husband who also views the tape she aims to do this. They discover the sad and also horrifying story of Sadako, the daughter of a psychic.Believe me when i say this movie is scary. It is horrific and the thought of the ten minute clip that i don't want to spoil for anyone, still makes me shudder. (I just want to say, you'll never view TV the same way after watching it)Be warned: Watch this film with the phone off the hook, because if it rings after you've watched it... *shudder*Rakel xxx

suneloon Not unlike the old clasics like Rosemary´s Baby or The Exorsist. A great attention to detail. And an even greater attention to the soundtrack (not songs). The atmosphere totally trancends the screen and completely engoulfs you. Great film - Must see!