The Ring (Theatrical, America) - 2002. 115 minutes.

DIRECTOR: Gore Verbinski. SCREENPLAY: Ehren Kruger & Scott Frank.

Walter Parkes, one of the producers for DreamWorks' version of The Ring, told an interesting anecdote at the film's Hollywood premiere on October 2nd: at 4:00 p.m. he and an associate watched the original Japanese film, and were so blown away by what they saw that by 7:00 p.m. that same day, they had already secured the remake rights.

America's Ring appears to have been put together with a great deal of care, and while the finished result is a lot of fun to watch, it's also quite different from its Japanese counterpart.

For one, the measured pace of the original is missing here. While Nakata's film was a classic example of the slow burn, Verbinski's always has something going on in it, whether it's the snappy banter of its characters or the ubiquitous "jump" scenes accompanied by high-pitched chords. The film is literally devoid of silence, an aspect I found a little jarring on my first viewing. Also, while there is an obvious attempt to preserve the "dream logic" of the Japanese original, equally apparent is a (western?) necessity to explain away as many of the vague or open-ended points of the film as possible (e.g., the significance of "ring," the reason that victims die after seven days, etc.) And while it's interesting to see what screenwriters Kruger and Frank came up with in order to propel their story along, at the same time I was a little sad to see the deliberate vagueness of the original exposed to so harsh an analytical light. Still, Verbinski's Ring is an intelligent film, and a far cry from the breast-obsessed "horror comedy" that currently dominates the genre, so perhaps I'm waxing needlessly poetic.

As for the cast, Naomi Watts gives a fine performance in her role as Rachel Keller. She is able to show her character as strong-willed and yet genuinely having the living hell scared out of her at times, no small feat. Brian Cox excels in his far-too-brief cameo as Richard Morgan, Samara's father. Not only is he a wonderful actor, he was the perfect choice to fill the role played by Daisuke Ban in the Japanese Ring.

Because this Ring does away with many of the supernatural aspects of the original, some of the characters are reduced to little more than shades of their former selves. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the case of Anna Morgan (Shannon Cochran) and Noah (Martin Henderson), which would go a ways to explaining my initial dislike for both of these characters. It's not that Cochran and Henderson gave bad performances; it's just that, character-wise, they really weren't given that much to work with. As it turns out, Cochran gets one really great scene to show us what she's capable of, and Henderson...well, his big palooka of a Noah wasn't that bad the second time around.

Ditto for David Dorfman's wide-eyed portrayal of Aidan, Rachel Keller's son. It's been suggested that the filmmakers were trying to evoke The Sixth Sense with his character, but personally I found Aidan to have little in common with Haley Joel Osment's weepy portrayal of Cole Sear.

And then there's Daveigh.

Not since Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs has a villain (if one can pigeonhole a character as such) with so little screen time captured the public's interest as much as Sadako, Japan's answer to the modern, vengeful ghost. Daveigh Chase had some mighty big shoes to fill with her portrayal of Samara, the remake's interpretation of Sadako, and you know what? She rocks.

Opinions will differ on the fact that even in the trailers we can see Samara's face uncovered. Myself, I probably would have opted against it, but actually seeing Daveigh up there onscreen, watching Samara presented as a frightened and unsure young girl, made me think that maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all. Maybe that's what director Verbinski was after--the added shock value in seeing what Samara would become as opposed to the person she once was. Still, as much fun as I had watching her in action, I can't help but think why, why did they cut her marvelous line from the trailer? You know the one: Everyone will suffer.

And speaking of cuts, wasn't Chris Cooper supposed to be in this movie? Somewhere along the line, his cameo as a child murderer also seems to have disappeared...

I could go on and on. I haven't even talked about the CG, or the horses (!), or the little slices of insanity Rick Baker serves up for us in the form of some freakish-looking corpses...and I guess I'm not going to.

Pretty much everything you can imagine about this film differs from director Nakata Hideo's Japanese version. It has none of the subtletly, none of the quiet dignity of the original...but at its core the story is the same, and more than a few scenes will have you squirming in your seat.

Watch it. This movie is a lot of fun.

And Samara will make you afraid.

3 1/2 stars.

Cast - RACHEL KELLER: Naomi Watts. NOAH: Martin Henderson. AIDAN: David Dorfman. SAMARA MORGAN: Daveigh Chase. RICHARD MORGAN: Brian Cox.

Story - Newspaper reporter Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) attends the funeral of her young niece Katie (Amber Tamblyn). She is approached by her sister Ruth, who asks that Rachel use her journalistic skills to get to the bottom of Katie's mysterious death. It is also at the funeral that Rachel hears of a mysterious videotape that kills all who watch it exactly seven days later.

Rachel discovers that not just her niece, but also three of her niece's friends all died on the same day, and all at 10:00 pm. She finds that the four teenagers stayed overnight at a remote log cabin in the woods...and at that cabin, Rachel finds the videotape itself.

The rumors are true--upon watching the video, Rachel receives a phone call with the whispered message "Seven days." She now has one week to solve the riddle of the tape, and so asks Noah, an expert in photography and video technology, to help her find where the videotape came from.

And hidden in one of the frames they find a clue leading them to Moesko Island, where the evil that had once terrorized the islanders threatens to rise again...

Trvia - The part of Rachel Keller was first offered to Jennifer Connelly and Gwyneth Paltrow, with Naomi Watts finally beating out Kate Beckinsale for the role.

More Trivia - In the Czech Republic, The Ring is called Kruh ("circle"), while in Argentina it is known as La Llamada ("the call").

Even More Trivia - The infamous climax to The Ring was named one of Cinema's Scariest Scenes by MSN Entertainment.

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