Rings Is One Of The Scarce Scary Scare Fests

Rings(in English /Hindi)

Starring Matilda Lutz, Alex Roe,Vincent D’Onofrio

Advertisement

Directed by F Javier Guttierez

Rating ***(3 stars)

Advertisement

A nervous-looking guy shares his fears with a co-passenger as a plane is about to take  off. No, it’s not fear of flying. It’s fear of dying. He has watched a cursed video cassette which predicts  death for the viewer within seven days.

And now those seven days are done. What happens next is an ample measure of how cleverly this film controls its quotient of terror without toppling over into the abyss over-statement. Rings is one of those scarce terror travels that actually gets you frightened with jolting visuals of satanic awakening shot in colours of stark terror.

Advertisement

For someone like me who doesn’t take on-screen horror seriously there were some seriously terrifying moments in the film, as Julia(played by the  spirited Matilda Lutz in her first starring role) embarks on a journey to save her boyfriend(Alex Roe) from a grand diabolical plan.

Related Post

Please note how much the basic idea of the woman giving up her life in place of her man , borrows from Hindu mythology. RememberSavitri who saved her husband from death ?

Advertisement

Rings follows that archaic course with crisp cutting vigour.There is a primitive quaintness to the chilling proceedings in the way the drama  unfolds, even in the plot’s primary twists a lot of the terror is generated from outdated notions of  human anxiety. The wellspring of terror is a videotape , a format of film viewing that went obsolete two decades ago.And really, the whole idea of a woman’s spirit roaming restlessly after a brutal death is as old as Dracula’s fangs.

And yet Rings has fangs and claws. It grips you from the word go and keeps you interested even as the heroine does the most brainless things that haunted women do in horror films, like entering a  tomb in a graveyard on all fours. We all know the tomb will close in on her to play on one of the most primeval human anxieties: claustrophobia.We know. She knows. And yet we fall for it.

Advertisement

For the climax Julia rushes where angels fear to tread, straight into the main villain’s home. What follows is a game of cat and mouse played out in films as far-reaching as Terence Young’s Wait Until Dark(1967) and Priyadarshan’s Malayalam Oopam(2016).

This may not be your idea of a Valentine’s day love story. But Rings tells you why it’s important for couples to stand by one another under the most trying of circumstances. Also, why not to watch video tapes that are sent anonymously.

Advertisement

“First you watch it then you die,’ is the warning served to potential watchers of the fatal videotape.It’s okay to watch this film, though.

Advertisement
Vaibhav Choudhary

Leave a Comment

Recent Posts

Rishi Kapoor Had A Run-In  With  Manoj Kumar

Rishi Kapoor worked only once with Manoj Kumar  .And that  didn’t go too well. The film… Read More

11th April 2025

Quila Of A  Film, Why Was The Great Dilip Kumar’s Last Film So Awful? Quila Completes 27 Years

The  mythical Meena  Kumari’s last film was  not the timeless Pakeezah but an atrocity  named  Gomti Ke Kinare where … Read More

10th April 2025

Adil Hussain On 8 Years Of Mukti Bhawan

One of your  best works Mukti Bhawan Is 8  years old now? Mukti Bhawan is… Read More

10th April 2025

10 Interesting Stories Behind Famous TV Catchphrases

Catchphrases are common in many TV shows—from Joey asking “How you doin’?” in Friends to… Read More

5th April 2025

Tributes To Manoj  Kumar

Waheeda Rehman who did  a string of superhits has  huge compliments to pay Manoj  Kumar.… Read More

4th April 2025

On His 70th Birthday, The Best Of Hariharan

On His  70th  Birthday, The Best  Of Hariharan  .Tum gaye sabb gaya(Maachis):  This  heartstopping  meditative melody   on  lost love… Read More

3rd April 2025