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This was immediately followed by the world pausing, going black and white and a deep voice booming "It was at this moment that Samuel knew...he fucked up..."
Actually the horse scene connects back to Samara. If I remember correctly, the horses on her parents farm literally ran off a cliff to their deaths. It was mentioned she drove the horses mad and chances are they ran to get away from the evil she possessed. This scene most likely represents how tethered or how much closer Samara is to Rachel. Samara’s presence is very likely THERE watching Rachel and the horse sensed it. Thus tried to get away rather than actually go after Rachel. It tried to look for an out, but the people there and the employees continued to scare it. So it followed the other of least resistance. I could be wrong, but Samara is the biggest connection and also the reason for horses running off cliffs.
I think Nostalgia Critic's more focused on "horses aren't that scary", which I agree with. The only movie horses that were ever scary were the horses the Ring Wraiths and the Headless Horseman were riding.
@@Theonetruewonderfly The purpose of the scene is not to be scary, though, but to be horrific. Yes horses won't scare you, but seeing one get terrified to point he tries to drown itself and then gets horribly mulched by a spinning blade, even if you don't see the mulching, is horrifying. It's the kind of thing that puts you on edge as you try and fail to understand why something so awful just happened.
My theory about using a green filter in horror is that it makes no one look attractive. Everyone looks pale and the scenery appears relatively colourless. Or it could be just a gimmick copied from the Matrix
If that were true then no wonder I didn't find the leads in Twilight attractive till I saw them in other projects. And I think you're onto something by mentioning the matrix 👍☺️
The green is supposed to signify a cerebral distorted reality. Blue signifies horror. Lots of 2000 films would use a tint for a certain genre. Psychological thrillers like the matrix and fight club used green. Horror films like saw used blue.
@@gregorymelissinos337 This is true. A drab pale blue was used ALL over the place for a VERY long time. This was usually done with the color saturation toned way down as well. THANKFULLY it's a tread that's finally starting to wane. God, I love how colorful 70's and 80's horror was. Especially Joe Dante movies! That dude was the MASTER of color, as was Dario Argento of course. We lost a lot of that by the 2000's...if horror movies were not blueish, they were color-corrected to make everything look drab and muted. But as I said, color is "in" again and even used symbolically. I don't know if you saw the new Candyman movie, but have you noticed that yellow was used in a big way? (And not in a color-corrected way. It just features prominently in the movie. Symbolically, that could represent caution, betrayal, jealousy, or illness. EDIT: Or maybe just bees and honey, and I'm thinking too much. :P
I like that things being able to break the barrier between the screen and reality was teased by when she picks the fly off the screen. What makes it great is that it was such a small detail that the audience forgets about it by the time she steps out of the screen later.
Thank goodness because I personally think the fly scene SPOILED the end. Then again ppl may not take a Tiny insect seriously vs a human. Plus it was probably foreshadowed
:::Rob answers the phone::: Rob: "Hello?" Caller: "Seven Days." Rob: "Ok?" Caller: "Til Seven more 'Norm of the North' sequels come out." Rob: "NOOOOO!"
"Nah, I'm a ghost of vengeance." Meanwhile in the books, the video tapes infect everyone who watches them. The ones who make other people watch them get to incubate the virus that bring about more Sadakos.
Here's a fun story, the actress who played the little girl from the American version of the Ring actually attended my middle school a year or so before I attended. Our seventh grade English teacher told us the story that after attending a screening of the ring over the weekend she went to class a little tired and zoned out for second. When she looked up she looked over and the actress had her hair down over her face causing my English teacher to jump out of her chair and scream. Apparently it startled the whole class including the actress. After that she always made sure to pay close attention to that class the rest of the semester.
Samara is one of my favourite villains. She’s unique among horror villains. Most “child” horror villains usually are something else just disguising themselves as a child like in Omen, Exorcist or The Orphan. Samara on the other hand is actually a child, just with supernatural powers. Also, like Doug said she’s represented as being bitter and angry, rather than straight up evil and deranged. She’s not a simple predator like Michael, Jason etc.
YES THANKYOU! Samara is indeed my #1 fav horror villain. Her demon DNA is what was evil but not herself. She was as you said bitter and angry as she was killed cruelly. That’s the ONLY thing she was a victim of…not choosing her DNA. Yes she had free will but she was just a child. In Japanese version, she was an adult. Killing her obviously was a bad idea because it backfired and made her more dangerous than before. They should’ve found another way
Yes. She has unique powers I mean the ability to come out of any screen (Also phone and tablets now) too is something o haven’t seen in other villians . It was fresh back in the early 2000s
"Am i really saying that a visual this iconic couldn't creep me out even a little?" Being iconic might be the reason it didn't affect you. If you see it everywhere or have seen it before, i imagine that would affect the impact it has.
Agreed. The movies that truly scare me are little-known or schlocky films few see or talk about anymore. The big franchises mostly bore me and I'm not saying this to sound pretentious. I love vintage mystery and horror unapologetically.
Scary Movie 3's parody of The Ring -- which was hilarious -- ruined it for me. Watching this video, some of the clips reminded more of that movie than The Ring.
@@adrianmizen5070 for some reason people really don’t seem to like Scary Movie (the series as a whole). I haven’t watched them in a long time, but I remember laughing my ass off as a kid. Do they really age that badly as you grow up? Side note, not enough people talk about Superhero movie. That shit’s hilarious, not least because Leslie Nielsen’s in it
Fun fact: Until Stephen King's IT (2017), this movie was the highest-grossing horror remake in history (IT 1990 and Ringu 1998), with a total worldwide gross of over US $249 million.
I'll admit, I do love the ending in this movie. The fact that they went through all that effort, just for Samara to kill them anyway, is just hopeless and dark as fuck xD .
In the book the curse was a "psychic virus", smallpox that was warped and imprinted on the tape by Sadako's powers. It's possible the curse was automatic and driven by the virus' need to replicate, so even if she was appeased the curse would not stop. However in the book the solution to the curse was in the film itself, but some bumblefuck recorded over it without realizing. If that one guy hadn't ruined everything, noone would have died because they would know to copy it.
@@leiderhosen7110 In the book the Ring is based on you said the solution is copying the tape but doesn't that pass the curse to the next person? Does somebody else HAVE to watch it for you not to die? Like if I made a copy and put it in a safe deposit in a bank would I live and not spread it?
@@leiderhosen7110 Never read the books but judging from the movie Ringu and Rasen, the writer forgot that the people died from being so scared their faces got warped and their hearts stopped. In Rasen it was like people just got heart attacks after watching the video, or reading about the video. I'm surprised they didn't spread it by just talking about it. It was such a clusterfuck story wise and it ruined most of the flow and atmosphere there was.
@Dantesgrill- books came first and it was heart attacks that killed them (and it didn’t have to be from a TV, it could be from any reflective surface). I’ve only read the first but will be doing the rest later.
A detail that is not mentioned here is that when the characters are watching the video, the last scene in the well keeps getting longer, at first we saw a glimpse of a hand and latter we get to see Samara's head starting to show up
You’re totally right! The first time I saw this film, when Aiden finishes watching the tape and you just see her head just slowly start to rise up before it cuts away… That freaked the hell out of me!
The fact it's always raining and sickening muted with the colors is perfect for Seattle and Washington in general. Also, the ending of the movie is supposed to suggest you watched the movie in the movie
Not gonna lie, even as a 20 year old young man, after that ending I was kinda on my toes the whole week after watching that movie. The fact that we rented it on VHS from Blockbuster did not help.
To be honest The Ring actually creeped me out a lot, the visuals and the final scene of Samara crawling out of the television with a static appearance, that's a very haunting and chilling image. The overall image of green also to me represented a sort of sickness and disease which in my opinion is what the tape itself is, it's a virus/disease that spreads from person to person.
I agree and not to mention, you’re cursed for the 7 days leading up to your death. I noticed the green becomes a bit more prominent after she watches the tape. She has dreams, weird occurrences, nosebleed and has physical signs as the day of death draws closer. Maybe the green symbolizes the curse being that ‘sickness’ following you until your end?
"Thank you! I can now pass on in peace!" "Really?" "NAH! I'M JUST SCREWIN' WITH YA!" "Scary Movie 3" was a hilarious farce that managed to combine "Signs" and "The Ring" pretty much perfectly.
@@blaketindle4703 Oh yeah. Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve seen Scary Movie 3. The only line from when that character was on screen in his 8 Mile look I can remember is from the trailer… I have a dream To do what? To have a dream
I had a babysitter that let me watch this movie when I was pretty young and it had traumatized me ever since. I’m actually grateful for this video bc of Critic’s attitude towards it and all the comedic parts added.
Yer when it came out a bunch of people watched it at my school. I refused to watch it and was called a chicken. But afterwards everyone was really freaked out. We were only 12 so clearly I was the smart one.
@@AirQuotes I'm surprised they let you guys watch it at school at that age (unless the teachers didn't know?). I was in a Japanese film class in college where they watched the original Ringu and the professor allowed me to skip that class as long as I read a synopsis.
@@Miyanoai14 my "school" at the time was in a facility for kids with mental health issues so not sure if that's better or worse. I think the people watching us just didn't really care
When i watched this during my younger days i was freaking scared of my own mother with BLACK HAIR and WHITE SLEEP DRESS. The imagery of the mutilated faces is still quite terrifying. Solid enough horror movie which is ruined by a zombie face thou'.
Great episode, but I just wanted to elaborate on what Doug said about the green filter: the green used in the color palette is specifically blueish green, which resembles water. Water is a recurring visual motif throughout the movie: the island, the inside of the well, the ferry boat, the TV leaks water when Samara comes out, it's also implied that due to her supernatural origins Samara may be the spawn of an Ocean demon/entity. By using a combination of green, blue, black and grey, Verbinski and his cinematographer Bojan Bazelli make you feel like the characters are trapped inside of Samara's world of terror. In fact, the only scenes in the movie where a warm colour is used, are the ones in the cabin where the tape is located. When Rachel watches the tape the sun sets and hits the tree outside, making its leaves look red (a colour often associated with the Devil and Hell in general), to imply that Samara is now aware that Rachel watched the tape. By the way, and you can look it up on Google, that tree is specifically a Japanese maple. You know how the Japanese maple seeds are called? That's right, Samara. Because she's a bad kid, so she's literally "a bad seed".
I resantly saw Ringu and what scared me the most was the last line in the movie. ”Would you sacrifice someone else to save your life” You can’t stop the spirit, but there is a way to save yourself. The question is; would you bring death to someone just to make yourself live?
“Wish I was around more?” “Wanna be around more?” Damn, 😂😂😂😂 That was a quick and fast burn. I think that was the only reason they had whole subplot so the kid can say that.
For the people who don't know (and it seems to be a good amount) Samara's design is actually inspired by burial traditions of Japan, along with a specific myth. Which makes sense given the Ring's Japanese roots. I bring this up only because of the people who think when making an American version of a J Horror, it's best to remove all elements of Japan. Yes, they exist.
The creepy woman with long black hair in a white dress is an onryō. That’s traditional in Japanese folklore for young women who were wronged and wreak vengeance on the living
@@SuperSwordman1 Not only Japanese horror. Any japanese medium in general. Look at Edge of Tomorrow. One of the best light novel adaptations and it was because it knew how to proerly accomodate the elements tha worked into a more international way
I'll never forget staying at a hotel and opening up the DVD player to put in a movie and the DVD for The Ring was sitting in there. That was super freaky.
Oh, I've got one for YOU. To this day, I still have nightmares about Samara from time to time. It doesn't happen often, but she's burned into my subconscious. One night, I was sleeping over at my half-sister's place, so I was sleeping on the couch. I had just jolted awake from a really bad nightmare about Samara, but told myself to go back to sleep and that it was just a dream. Well. The second my head hit the pillow again, I guess the power had gone out that night, but I didn't notice because it wasn't raining or anything. So electronics were adjusting themselves. And across the room, I saw in the dark, the clock on the VCR turn on. The fucking VCR. Turned on. I nearly screamed at the top of my lungs. Thought the next image I'd see would be of that damned well or that black and white ring on the TV. You don't know true fear until you actually believe what you're about to see is paranormal. I won't never forget that as long as I live. Guess the movie did its job, to have me jump at almost nothing... where it was just electronics readjusting themselves to the storm outside.
@@Whimsy3692 I remember those days. Before flat screens, it was in the land of box televisions. I don't remember the brand we had. Every time there was a storm, there was a short surge in the power. It was as if the power company turned on a generator; a split second lights went off and back on. Naturally we just shut all electronics off until the storm passed. One afternoon we followed that routine for a storm. Power went out for a few hours and lights came back on around night time. I passed by the living room at that moment and the television turned on too. Before this movie, I always thought since it was an old brand television it was normal for that to happen from time to time when the power came back on. After this movie, I was so paranoid that I ran to unplug that television and hide on my bed like Home Alone. So yes, this movie will always leave an impact on us when we are young.
Almost 20 years later, I still have to brace myself when they reveal the girl's body in the closet. I was an adult when I first saw it, but it still shook me to my core!
20:25 This one line from the kid left me aggravated. I was thinking, "What was the point of giving this kid special psychic vision powers if he was just going to be vague in his intentions? Why he do all these drawings for Samara? What was his motivation? Why did all of your actions seem to hint as if you wanted your mom and dad to find where she was trapped in the well?"
@@questworldiangreenknight7455 Yeah, i just found out a few years ago. If you Google her you'll see she voiced Lilo. Hence the Stitch joke when Rachel answered the phone.
The scene when Samara comes out the tv still gives me chills Even though you can pass on the curse once those 7 days are up you are completely fucked as the ghost takes just enough time to let terror of you imminent demise set in giving you that sense there is no longer any espace. We don't actually see the death themselves only the bodies which look they went through hell.
I have a unique experience with The Ring, my brother and I was watching it at the time...I don't remember if we found it particularly scary until the phone started ringing right as the credits started rolling...forgot the entire movie. My mom's timing was amazing and she had no idea
My brother had the exact same experience when he and a friend watched the movie when we were all kids. The phone rang right when it ended. Really freaked his friend out.
I actually had a funny experience with this movie when it came out on VHS. I rented the movie from a local video rental store and the day after watching it I had got an anonymous voicemail message on my phone. I listened to voicemail message and it was a man's voice just saying "You have 7 days" in a really creepy voice that was all that was on the message. I ignored it obviously as this was a common joke at the time. A couple of days later I took the movie back to the video store I rented it from and I was telling the guys behind the counter that somebody tried pranking me by leaving me a voicemail message. Then the guys behind the counter just burst out laughing and said they had been calling everyone who rented the movie and fucking with them. I was like you bunch of ass holes!. 😂
The only green place I can think of, being in the midwest, is right before a really bad storm, the sky looks kinda green. I used to feel really unsettled whenever I saw it.
I don't know why DVDs are viewed as outdated. I still watch plenty of shows and movies on them. Streaming lacks something somehow, although I like the convenience.
Eh, I personally don't believe streaming offers anything worthwhile over blu-ray except for convenience, which, while obviously a big pro, won't be enough to keep the medium going with the recent boom of competing services spreading content too thinly over too many services. Blu-rays, and even DVDs, offer a tangible copy of the film that you own, without fear of being retracted by the distributors, as well as the fact that they offer content to those who live in areas where internet connection struggles to reach.
I think the reason for the green colour tone of the movie is because green naturally cancels/neutralises red tones, so it gives all the actors a more pale look in their skin, as well as making the shadows on their faces harsher. Obviously when people die all the colour drains from their face, so I think the green overtone is just meant to signify the theme of death .
My dad watched this movie for the first time alone super late at night and as soon as he finished the movie his phone rang. He doesn't scare easily but he said his heart stopped when he heard that ringing.
I watched the original Japanese version, then the Korean version, then the American version. The thing that slightly annoyed me about the American version is how they took out the subplot where Sadako's mother (name changed to Samara by the by) was psychic and she was too only more so. I'd like to see you take a look at Tucker and Dale VS Evil next.
I think the original Japanese Ring book has even more of the psychic subplot, showing how Sadako's powers mutated and turned into something of a virus spread by watching the tape.
unironically, I found the whole psychic aspect taking me out of the experience and bc of that, I didn't enjoy Ringu as much as the Ring at least to me, adding another layer of supernatural to a ghost haunting story just bloats it - especially given how unnecessary it really is
I actually thought it was a great idea to remove the ESP plot with Sadako’s mother. ESP is scarier/creepier in the Japanese context because psychokinetic and telepathic curses were taken a little more seriously, especially in the 90s when certain New Religions were doing experiments with/about ESP. (This, in addition to the idea of vengeful ghosts that have populated Japanese popular fiction for centuries. Also, FWIW, in my experience in Japan, those who claim to have psychic or supernatural powers aren’t immediately dismissed as charlatans, even if one is skeptical of the claims.) ESP, and therefore the story about Sadako’s mom, doesn’t work as well in the American context because most people who grow up in the US are taught to be skeptical of those claiming to be psychic or have supernatural powers. So, for a film targeting and released to an American audience, removing the ESP elements helps maintain the realism that the film is clearly going for. (Obviously, it’s far more complicated than this, and I certainly don’t mean to imply that Japanese people are more superstitious than Americans/Americans are more skeptical than Japanese. I’m just trying to explain that ESP had immediate cultural relevance in Japan in the 90s but didn’t in America, and that that is why the story of Sadako’s mother is best removed for the American adaptation.)
My favorite comic “Erma” is based on a character who is physically identical to Samara, to the point where everyone thought that the comic was a Ring Spin off and that she was the Daughter of a somehow grownup Samara, mainly because her parents aren’t given actual names until the prequel comic “Spirits Bloom”.
I had already seen part of a Scary Movie before watching The Ring. I just knew she would come out of the TV. And while watching that moment, I was actually wondering, "Scary, but how can it get worse?" Well, it did. And even though I expected it, it was still terrifying. She just gets closer and closer to Noah, without stopping. He can't even run. And the reveal of Samara's hideous, waterlogged face...That entire scene is not something I'll forget. All this...after I thought the movie would have a happy ending due to Noah saying, "It's over." Yeah, I bought it without question.
I think the movie within the movie isn't supposed to be scary in the sense that it's terrifying, but that it's unsettling and off-putting, and I think that it accomplishes that just fine. As I recall there is a character in the Japanese series who figures out that she needs to come through some kind of reflective surface and so he avoids mirrors and TVs, but is ultimately done in because he was wearing a motorcycle helmet and she got him through the visor which provided a reflection. Can't speak to how accurate this is because I've never found the scene in question, but I did find that there is a victim whose skull is crushed in a motorcycle accident, so there may be some truth to how it played out. That said, I'm curious how the scene is played out.
I think that might be a common trope. I remember from the 80's a show called Amazing Stories (and man, do I feel old now) where a guy was haunted by something in reflections. Each reflection had it closer to him, and it was poised to strangle him from behind. He nearly escaped it, but saw it reflected the final time in his girlfriend's eye.
@@GoodMoviesForLater I'm right there with you. I was a kid when that show was on, and I really did find that to be an amazing show (pun not intended.) Looking back at it, though it was for television, it was probably my first exposure to the "short film" format, and that gave writers/filmmakers a lot of room to play with and experiment with ideas. I wish I'd remembered the show when I took screenwriting classes back some 15 years ago or so. I never really followed through in writing more, but it's concepts like that show that make me want to go back and play with the stories in my mind, even if they never get made.
For me, what made this movie special was the idea that there was a purpose -- a goal, a function, a reason -- for the haunting. She wanted the entire world to see the video about her death. So she created this curse to force everyone to make copies and show it to more people. That's what made the premise of this movie so unique and memorable.
@@yu_rin8351 Wasn't Samara Morgan also supposed to be the child of some kind of sea demon? I don't think Samara actually wanted to hurt anyone though, she just couldn't control her power. I would actually love to see a spin off where she never dies just to see what she's like as a teenager or adult lol
@@bestrafung2754 Maybe Samara didn't want to. But Sadako (original), yes, she wanted to destroy humanity. And deliberately killed others. For example, she killed a whole group of children while they were swimming in the sea.
Fun fact, there was actually some real events put into the movie. Such as the woman named Sadako, a psychiatrist wanting to study people, etc. Now granted not all of it is real but I would definetly suggest reading the book titled The Ring. It's actually a good book and gives more information than I can here.
@@MandleRoss Actually Saphira is right. Some of its based on the "supernatural research." Of Sadoka (Now debunked and seen as medical negligence.) And of the myth of the girl with the plates in Japan.
Watching it on a VHS to enhance the feeling is a good idea. I did the same when I watched "Unfriended." Watching it in my laptop to make me feel like I was in the chat
The scene where Rachel notices all the people in their respective apartments actually gives a little nod to Rear Window here. You can see a man in a wheelchair with a broken leg practically recreating the first scene in Rear Window complete with race cars leading up to the crash that broke his leg.
Genre-Killer: This film, together with 28 Days Later that same year, effectively read the obituary for the teen horror genre of the mid-late '90s, and arguably for the slasher genre as a whole. While it was rated PG-13, it removed its Decoy Protagonist teenage characters from the picture after the opening scene and featured adult protagonists from there on out, while also eschewing the body-count slasher formula. Both it and 28 Days Later were sleeper hits that were widely acclaimed by critics and horror fans, and teen horror and slashers, which were already on life support by that time, mostly faded out in the '00s.
...Then Scream came out. Twas supposed to be the final nail in the coffin, but instead revitalized the slasher genre by making it self-aware. Thanks, Wes Craven.
Off by almost a decade. The slasher genre peaked in the late 80s and was long dead. Scream is more of an obituary/parody/deconstruction of that genre, but came out in 1996, a full seven years before The Ring. Psych/atmo horror had already become prominent with Blair Witch Project, Sixth Sense, etc. in the late 90s.
Seven days! That's how long I been stuck in this dang car! Help me out! Call somebody! 911 won't take ma calls since I pranked 'em on ma Halloween special!
I couldn't help but notice how much you went on a tangent about the green hue throughout the entire film. Maybe you could make it head cannon that this takes place inside the Matrix.
There’s a manga where a young girl named Sadako tracks down the cursed tape so she can help the evil Sadako join the modern age and start up a UA-cam channel, since no one has VHS anymore.
The nostalgia from the intro hit me like a truck. It actually made me search and rewatch it again Edit: For anyone curious or can’t remember, it’s from Donald Duck Trick or Treat
When I hear the movie "The Ring", I think about Lord of the Rings with Gandolf and hobbits and the power of the ring to control the world. Btw. Nice new intro, Nostalgia Critic! I like the animation on it. You improve for the last fourteen years since 07'.
Wouldn't Lord of the Rings and The Ring be the weirdest crossover ever? _"In the land of Mordor, where the shadows lie, the dark lord SAMARA crafted in the fires of Mount Doom, a master ring. One ring to rule the all... on a VHS..."_
I think The Ring is probably the better one of the "Let's remake Japanese horror movies without the context" trend of the 2000s, certainly better than the Grudge movies.
ring is the only one I think that is slightly better then the original, it's about par in most parts except 1, the video, some how the video was so much spookier. Unlike the grudge where the parts that made me want to curl up in a ball crying...were just eh? Like the girl climbing down the stairs at the end, CREEPY in original, remake...okay? And don't think it's just because I already saw it, the motions and sound just didn't seem right.
The scariest part about when I saw the ring was when the credits rolled in, the phone rang. My mom and I looked at each other, and at the same time said," you answer it".
Tough Act to Follow: The 2002 film has gone down in history not just as one of the best remakes of a J-Horror movie: *but also one of the best remakes ever, period.* In addition to the film's sequels not being as good as the original, no other J-Horror remake has come as close to The Ring in terms of acclaim, success, and legacy (the only possible exception is the 2004 remake of The Grudge, and even that has mixed reviews at best).
The way I see it, the green filter was to invoke a feeling of coldness, the way the blurry photos make it seem their faces are underwater. I liked that detail, I felt it added something to the style of the movie...
Noah being Aidan's father is significant because it means there is another person determined to save this boy. Also, it gives Aidan renewed hope that he can finally be part of a real family. Do you not remember that cute moment where he wakes up smiling in the car to see his parents on the verge of getting back together? He finally seems happy, and this makes Noah's death even more tragic. I think the family unit makes this way more compelling than your average slasher movie.
Fun fact: The character and story of Sadako (the name of the girl in the original Japanese) and Ringu was inspired by a mix of a real life experiment and a folklore tale of a woman who was thrown down a well whose ghost would haunt the man who killed her.
It’s not just the one folklore story; look up “onryō”. The Samara-looking vengeful spirit is its own mythological class in Japan, much like how werewolves or vampires are for us over here.
I second this. Comedy, child friendly horror and more double entendre than you can shake a, er, can you put that away please? This is marketed to kids.
This was one of many of those horror movies that I find one of the ones that I love and would watch over and over. The jump scares are well done. There were good scary imagery. And The Ring girl always haunts me how good her design is.
Random girl: Peter don’t they say if you watch the video you die Peter: aw that’s a lot of baloney *begins watching it* Girl: *ran off* *Mannequin theme song* Peter: *dies* (Family guy reference)
The main problem I've had with this movie is the ending plays it safe with Rachel and her son. I thought it was going to end right when the guy died and that would have left the audience there to sit and think about what went wrong. It gives us a mystery element for us to discuss. It sets up a sequel while not needing to really have one at the same time. But no. After he dies, we find out what they actually needed to do to help the kid and then they do it. It honestly gives us everything in a single movie. Its like if final destination 1 ended where they actually found a way to beat death successfully. Can't really have a sequel if the first movie answers everything and leaves nothing lingering for potential theories/sequels. Even if a sequel was about a different group of people, we as an audience already know the answer and we have to watch these new people play catch up.
I think The Ring is a good horror film. It’s definitely not a bad horror film. So it’s in that interesting rare gray area for horror films. I love it personally.
I think Noah being the father was necessary to build upon the tragedy of the end. As it shows, Samara wasn't looking for peace, but more for causing damage and death so everyone can understand her pain. With both, Rachel and Noah, come together by the end and having a small glance for a happy ending, killing Noah needed to happen so we have the bad ending. Rachel deciding to screw up someone's life (and potentially the world) just to save her child is part of her destruction as the good hero we were used to. I mean, this is what I understand by looking at Ringu and its sequels.
I remember watching Rose Red as a kid and I've never heard anyone talk about it. It was pretty good from what I remember. Let's hope he actually does it this year!
Okay messing with Samara by flipping the channels is pretty funny, How many more shows and movies can you torture her with? Supernatural? Ghostbusters? Freddy Got Fingered? Demo Reel?
@@RaphBlade7 that’s not the real Samara. Lol that’s a parody obviously. If you actually watched the ring you’ll know no mere humans or man made electric items will do ANYthing to her . Though she’s made fun of alot..she’s no joke
17:08 Thank you, Doug! Me too! I saw this movie in theaters and laughed my ass off when the horse went over the side if the ferry. That shit is hilarious
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Review sonic the hedgehog 2020 please
It's been 20 years since the first movie came out, and I heard a rumor their making a fifth movie, so can you do Shrek Month?
When's the annual Stephen King review?
@@eeveestar6826 Soon
Never knew this was based off a Japanese legend
I remember seeing this in the theater. As the credits rolled, someone's cell phone went off and we all heard "oh HELL no!" XD
Whatever town you were in, I want to visit it. That sounds funny as hell, haha!
Lmao
LOL 😂🤣😆 that’s funny
This was immediately followed by the world pausing, going black and white and a deep voice booming "It was at this moment that Samuel knew...he fucked up..."
i was totally fine with this movie UNTIL my parents decided it was time to pull the same thing off against me 😂😱😱😱
Actually the horse scene connects back to Samara. If I remember correctly, the horses on her parents farm literally ran off a cliff to their deaths. It was mentioned she drove the horses mad and chances are they ran to get away from the evil she possessed. This scene most likely represents how tethered or how much closer Samara is to Rachel. Samara’s presence is very likely THERE watching Rachel and the horse sensed it. Thus tried to get away rather than actually go after Rachel. It tried to look for an out, but the people there and the employees continued to scare it. So it followed the other of least resistance.
I could be wrong, but Samara is the biggest connection and also the reason for horses running off cliffs.
I think Nostalgia Critic's more focused on "horses aren't that scary", which I agree with. The only movie horses that were ever scary were the horses the Ring Wraiths and the Headless Horseman were riding.
@@Theonetruewonderfly The purpose of the scene is not to be scary, though, but to be horrific. Yes horses won't scare you, but seeing one get terrified to point he tries to drown itself and then gets horribly mulched by a spinning blade, even if you don't see the mulching, is horrifying. It's the kind of thing that puts you on edge as you try and fail to understand why something so awful just happened.
@@Theonetruewonderfly Idk, seeing a mindless horse would worry me. They could kill you in one kick
The guy is jaded the movies.
She drove them to drown themselves in the ocean, but you got the gist of it.
My theory about using a green filter in horror is that it makes no one look attractive. Everyone looks pale and the scenery appears relatively colourless. Or it could be just a gimmick copied from the Matrix
If that were true then no wonder I didn't find the leads in Twilight attractive till I saw them in other projects.
And I think you're onto something by mentioning the matrix 👍☺️
The green is supposed to signify a cerebral distorted reality. Blue signifies horror. Lots of 2000 films would use a tint for a certain genre. Psychological thrillers like the matrix and fight club used green. Horror films like saw used blue.
@@gregorymelissinos337 This is true. A drab pale blue was used ALL over the place for a VERY long time. This was usually done with the color saturation toned way down as well. THANKFULLY it's a tread that's finally starting to wane. God, I love how colorful 70's and 80's horror was. Especially Joe Dante movies! That dude was the MASTER of color, as was Dario Argento of course. We lost a lot of that by the 2000's...if horror movies were not blueish, they were color-corrected to make everything look drab and muted. But as I said, color is "in" again and even used symbolically. I don't know if you saw the new Candyman movie, but have you noticed that yellow was used in a big way? (And not in a color-corrected way. It just features prominently in the movie. Symbolically, that could represent caution, betrayal, jealousy, or illness.
EDIT: Or maybe just bees and honey, and I'm thinking too much. :P
"it could be just a gimmick copied from the Matrix"
Ah yes, that horror-coloring gimmick from the Matrix...
It was trying to emulate how effective the use of green was in event horizon.
I like that things being able to break the barrier between the screen and reality was teased by when she picks the fly off the screen. What makes it great is that it was such a small detail that the audience forgets about it by the time she steps out of the screen later.
Thank goodness because I personally think the fly scene SPOILED the end. Then again ppl may not take a Tiny insect seriously vs a human. Plus it was probably foreshadowed
Samara: you have seven days to live
Bill Murray on Groundhog Day: I'm about to end this girl's whole career
:::Rob answers the phone:::
Rob: "Hello?"
Caller: "Seven Days."
Rob: "Ok?"
Caller: "Til Seven more 'Norm of the North' sequels come out."
Rob: "NOOOOO!"
"I'm a dinosaur"
With every donation to center of victims of torture one copy of "Norm of the North" gets burned down
I was surprised that there were so many sequels. I didn't even know it had a second movie until I saw it on a shelf at Walmart.
You mean:
"OOOOOOOOOOOOH!" (said in the screaming annoying - but hilarious gag - voice from the IT tv series)
“You sure this won’t be a problem?”
“Eh, we’ll last forever.”
-The owners of Blockbuster talking about Netflix
The original ending had Blockbuster charging Rachel a late fee for the blank label tape she left there
Netflix talking about the many many many rival streaming services.
Cable and Satellite about the ever increasing number of streaming services
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe New Series: "You sure this won't be a problem?"
Masters of the Universe: Revelations: "Eh, we'll last forever."
Bro I LITERALLY had that thought when he made that joke!
Samara: Gets a chance to finally rest after her remains are found.
Also Samara: "Lol nah. Killing is more fun."
"Nah, I'm a ghost of vengeance."
Meanwhile in the books, the video tapes infect everyone who watches them. The ones who make other people watch them get to incubate the virus that bring about more Sadakos.
@@lainiwakura1776 that sound dumb
I mean, she’s not wrong.
@@awkwardsilence4427 ????
I mean she was born cursed. She can’t help herself lol. None of us could resist bad if we were cursed like her
Here's a fun story, the actress who played the little girl from the American version of the Ring actually attended my middle school a year or so before I attended. Our seventh grade English teacher told us the story that after attending a screening of the ring over the weekend she went to class a little tired and zoned out for second. When she looked up she looked over and the actress had her hair down over her face causing my English teacher to jump out of her chair and scream. Apparently it startled the whole class including the actress. After that she always made sure to pay close attention to that class the rest of the semester.
And I'm two times two
Cool
Samara is one of my favourite villains. She’s unique among horror villains. Most “child” horror villains usually are something else just disguising themselves as a child like in Omen, Exorcist or The Orphan. Samara on the other hand is actually a child, just with supernatural powers. Also, like Doug said she’s represented as being bitter and angry, rather than straight up evil and deranged. She’s not a simple predator like Michael, Jason etc.
YES THANKYOU! Samara is indeed my #1 fav horror villain. Her demon DNA is what was evil but not herself. She was as you said bitter and angry as she was killed cruelly. That’s the ONLY thing she was a victim of…not choosing her DNA. Yes she had free will but she was just a child. In Japanese version, she was an adult. Killing her obviously was a bad idea because it backfired and made her more dangerous than before. They should’ve found another way
Yes. She has unique powers I mean the ability to come out of any screen (Also phone and tablets now) too is something o haven’t seen in other villians . It was fresh back in the early 2000s
"Am i really saying that a visual this iconic couldn't creep me out even a little?"
Being iconic might be the reason it didn't affect you. If you see it everywhere or have seen it before, i imagine that would affect the impact it has.
Agreed. The movies that truly scare me are little-known or schlocky films few see or talk about anymore. The big franchises mostly bore me and I'm not saying this to sound pretentious. I love vintage mystery and horror unapologetically.
Scary Movie 3's parody of The Ring -- which was hilarious -- ruined it for me. Watching this video, some of the clips reminded more of that movie than The Ring.
On the other hand, there's a reason it became so iconic and oversaturated the market - back in 2002 it legit scared the shit out of a lot of people.
@@adrianmizen5070 for some reason people really don’t seem to like Scary Movie (the series as a whole). I haven’t watched them in a long time, but I remember laughing my ass off as a kid. Do they really age that badly as you grow up?
Side note, not enough people talk about Superhero movie. That shit’s hilarious, not least because Leslie Nielsen’s in it
@@jordinagel1184 It's one of those things, where immature laugh turns into cringe, as you grow up. Can depends from person to person ofc.
Fun fact: Until Stephen King's IT (2017), this movie was the highest-grossing horror remake in history (IT 1990 and Ringu 1998), with a total worldwide gross of over US $249 million.
Technically, IT was a re-adaptation and not a remake... >__>
@@FoggyBadger there’s a difference?
@@ninjanibba4259 Yes. It was based on the original source material, not trying to redo the Tim Curry one.
The game sucked so much
Ringu itself is an adaption of the book of the same name. I read the series, it read like a mystery and I enjoyed it.
Ooo seeing the Nostalgia Critic do this makes me hope he does The Grudge.
Then Phelan will cameo as Toshiro
Yes maybe and old vs new western vs the original
I always confuse that movie with this onr
Yes yes the grudge my favorite
and Shutter
I'll admit, I do love the ending in this movie. The fact that they went through all that effort, just for Samara to kill them anyway, is just hopeless and dark as fuck xD .
In the book the curse was a "psychic virus", smallpox that was warped and imprinted on the tape by Sadako's powers. It's possible the curse was automatic and driven by the virus' need to replicate, so even if she was appeased the curse would not stop.
However in the book the solution to the curse was in the film itself, but some bumblefuck recorded over it without realizing. If that one guy hadn't ruined everything, noone would have died because they would know to copy it.
@@leiderhosen7110 In the book the Ring is based on you said the solution is copying the tape but doesn't that pass the curse to the next person? Does somebody else HAVE to watch it for you not to die? Like if I made a copy and put it in a safe deposit in a bank would I live and not spread it?
@@jacquelinecallejas1390 Nope. You pass it or you die. So long as it keeps being copied no-one dies but it never ends
@@leiderhosen7110 Never read the books but judging from the movie Ringu and Rasen, the writer forgot that the people died from being so scared their faces got warped and their hearts stopped. In Rasen it was like people just got heart attacks after watching the video, or reading about the video. I'm surprised they didn't spread it by just talking about it. It was such a clusterfuck story wise and it ruined most of the flow and atmosphere there was.
@Dantesgrill- books came first and it was heart attacks that killed them (and it didn’t have to be from a TV, it could be from any reflective surface). I’ve only read the first but will be doing the rest later.
So can we talk about that ending with his joke paying off? Brilliant.
A detail that is not mentioned here is that when the characters are watching the video, the last scene in the well keeps getting longer, at first we saw a glimpse of a hand and latter we get to see Samara's head starting to show up
nise speling
@@michaelthesanta3610 Yep - nyce spheling...
You’re totally right! The first time I saw this film, when Aiden finishes watching the tape and you just see her head just slowly start to rise up before it cuts away… That freaked the hell out of me!
The fact it's always raining and sickening muted with the colors is perfect for Seattle and Washington in general.
Also, the ending of the movie is supposed to suggest you watched the movie in the movie
Just like Twilight, which is what always draws me in, the esthetic relaxes me
Not gonna lie, even as a 20 year old young man, after that ending I was kinda on my toes the whole week after watching that movie. The fact that we rented it on VHS from Blockbuster did not help.
@@ninjanibba4259 only difference is death never comes
After watching it
@@BurningRubber454 hate to break it to you, but death always comes. Just not that punctually.
@@ninjanibba4259 Yeah, I was going to mention that.
To be honest The Ring actually creeped me out a lot, the visuals and the final scene of Samara crawling out of the television with a static appearance, that's a very haunting and chilling image. The overall image of green also to me represented a sort of sickness and disease which in my opinion is what the tape itself is, it's a virus/disease that spreads from person to person.
Fun fact: The Ring novel compared Sadako's (Samara) curse to smallpox. So disease definitely played a role.
I agree and not to mention, you’re cursed for the 7 days leading up to your death. I noticed the green becomes a bit more prominent after she watches the tape. She has dreams, weird occurrences, nosebleed and has physical signs as the day of death draws closer. Maybe the green symbolizes the curse being that ‘sickness’ following you until your end?
I found the whole scene with Sadako and the dude really cool, but when I saw his corpse in the chair it messed me up for a long time.
Yup! I was 11 back on 02. Was terrified back then but now I love that scene. No one breaks the fourth wall like my girl Samara!
"Thank you! I can now pass on in peace!"
"Really?"
"NAH! I'M JUST SCREWIN' WITH YA!"
"Scary Movie 3" was a hilarious farce that managed to combine "Signs" and "The Ring" pretty much perfectly.
With 8 Mile too
@@GBmovieluv You just hate me cause I'm black
@@chyaboi11 Where did that come from?
@@GBmovieluvit’s in the movie! The white guy who tries to rap says it lol
@@blaketindle4703 Oh yeah. Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve seen Scary Movie 3. The only line from when that character was on screen in his 8 Mile look I can remember is from the trailer…
I have a dream
To do what?
To have a dream
I had a babysitter that let me watch this movie when I was pretty young and it had traumatized me ever since. I’m actually grateful for this video bc of Critic’s attitude towards it and all the comedic parts added.
Yer when it came out a bunch of people watched it at my school. I refused to watch it and was called a chicken. But afterwards everyone was really freaked out. We were only 12 so clearly I was the smart one.
It, along with The Grudge, messed me up for a week straight. Slept on top of the sheets that week.
@@AirQuotes I'm surprised they let you guys watch it at school at that age (unless the teachers didn't know?). I was in a Japanese film class in college where they watched the original Ringu and the professor allowed me to skip that class as long as I read a synopsis.
@@Miyanoai14 my "school" at the time was in a facility for kids with mental health issues so not sure if that's better or worse. I think the people watching us just didn't really care
When i watched this during my younger days i was freaking scared of my own mother with BLACK HAIR and WHITE SLEEP DRESS. The imagery of the mutilated faces is still quite terrifying. Solid enough horror movie which is ruined by a zombie face thou'.
"Hello?"
"Seven days."
"That obscure mid-90s time traveling sci-fi show on UPN? I love that show."
It was pretty good
@@JachAnen oddly enough that show randomly popped into my head while at work just last week.
LOL That was a fun show :P
is you seen antiques roadshow?
*late 90s
It’s hard because when people call me up and say, “Seven days,” it’s because I owe money…
Do as I, never answer the phone. People never call you for anything but trouble anyway.
@@PikaLink91
same. if i don't have you saved in my contacts, your ass goes to voicemail.
@@Chrono_Mitsurugi Damn right! *high five*
You never did return my call...
And that is source of those "missing people" rumors :D
I would love to see a nostalgia-ween review of Stephen kings Christine
Well you know he's gonna do a Stephen king this year so maybe
That would be a good episode for the Halloween season
actually your not wrong that be a great idea
I was just thinking that would be an awesome Steven King movie to review. Especially because John Carpenter did the practical effects for the car.
Or Carrie!
Great episode, but I just wanted to elaborate on what Doug said about the green filter: the green used in the color palette is specifically blueish green, which resembles water.
Water is a recurring visual motif throughout the movie: the island, the inside of the well, the ferry boat, the TV leaks water when Samara comes out, it's also implied that due to her supernatural origins Samara may be the spawn of an Ocean demon/entity. By using a combination of green, blue, black and grey, Verbinski and his cinematographer Bojan Bazelli make you feel like the characters are trapped inside of Samara's world of terror. In fact, the only scenes in the movie where a warm colour is used, are the ones in the cabin where the tape is located. When Rachel watches the tape the sun sets and hits the tree outside, making its leaves look red (a colour often associated with the Devil and Hell in general), to imply that Samara is now aware that Rachel watched the tape.
By the way, and you can look it up on Google, that tree is specifically a Japanese maple. You know how the Japanese maple seeds are called? That's right, Samara. Because she's a bad kid, so she's literally "a bad seed".
I'm legitimately disappointed that one of the questions Doug got from the call in the opening wasn't "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?"
WHA-HA! WHA-HA! WHA-HA!
Scary Movie 3 wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I have to say, I loved their sendup of the Ring.
It's one of my favourite installments of the series.
Threading together the plots of The Ring, Signs, and 8-Mile was pretty impressive.
My favorite of the Scary Movie series. XD It helped me conquer my fear of this movie.
Same. I remember watching Scary Movie 3 with my dad when I was younger. That Ring scenes are the ones I remember the most.
i actually like all 3, the 8-mile part was pretty hilarious. Also i loved The Ring parody because i didn't like movie back then and still don't
I resantly saw Ringu and what scared me the most was the last line in the movie.
”Would you sacrifice someone else to save your life”
You can’t stop the spirit, but there is a way to save yourself. The question is; would you bring death to someone just to make yourself live?
All the antivaxxers say yes.
There is always a death row inmate
You're not sacrificing them if you tell them to make a copy too
*recently
Well, we all have that one ex...
“Wish I was around more?”
“Wanna be around more?”
Damn, 😂😂😂😂
That was a quick and fast burn. I think that was the only reason they had whole subplot so the kid can say that.
Hey, kids don't know they're being savage, that's why it cuts so deep.
Lilo: Seven Days.
Stitch: Ohana means your ass is grass!
Lilo: STITCH!!
Stitch: **Giggles**
Fun fact: The girl that played the ghost is also the voice actor of lilo😄
He does a pretty good Stitch impression!
It look like a joke that Lilo and Stich will make
@@middleeasternforhire8985 😧😓
@@PrincessHarmonyMoonlight I know I won't watch lilo and stich like before again😂😂
Love that you put in Lilo and Stitch in one of the calls because the girl who plays Samara also voiced Lilo along with Chihiro from Spirited Away.
For the people who don't know (and it seems to be a good amount) Samara's design is actually inspired by burial traditions of Japan, along with a specific myth. Which makes sense given the Ring's Japanese roots. I bring this up only because of the people who think when making an American version of a J Horror, it's best to remove all elements of Japan. Yes, they exist.
Noted.
The creepy woman with long black hair in a white dress is an onryō. That’s traditional in Japanese folklore for young women who were wronged and wreak vengeance on the living
@@LucyLioness100 I know
@@SuperSwordman1 Not only Japanese horror. Any japanese medium in general.
Look at Edge of Tomorrow. One of the best light novel adaptations and it was because it knew how to proerly accomodate the elements tha worked into a more international way
@@LucyLioness100 can you tell me more of the myth please?
I'll never forget staying at a hotel and opening up the DVD player to put in a movie and the DVD for The Ring was sitting in there. That was super freaky.
Better that scenario than staying at a motel and discovering a copy of "Vacancy"?
Oh, I've got one for YOU.
To this day, I still have nightmares about Samara from time to time. It doesn't happen often, but she's burned into my subconscious.
One night, I was sleeping over at my half-sister's place, so I was sleeping on the couch. I had just jolted awake from a really bad nightmare about Samara, but told myself to go back to sleep and that it was just a dream.
Well. The second my head hit the pillow again, I guess the power had gone out that night, but I didn't notice because it wasn't raining or anything. So electronics were adjusting themselves. And across the room, I saw in the dark, the clock on the VCR turn on.
The fucking VCR. Turned on.
I nearly screamed at the top of my lungs. Thought the next image I'd see would be of that damned well or that black and white ring on the TV.
You don't know true fear until you actually believe what you're about to see is paranormal.
I won't never forget that as long as I live. Guess the movie did its job, to have me jump at almost nothing... where it was just electronics readjusting themselves to the storm outside.
@@Whimsy3692 I remember those days. Before flat screens, it was in the land of box televisions. I don't remember the brand we had. Every time there was a storm, there was a short surge in the power. It was as if the power company turned on a generator; a split second lights went off and back on. Naturally we just shut all electronics off until the storm passed.
One afternoon we followed that routine for a storm. Power went out for a few hours and lights came back on around night time. I passed by the living room at that moment and the television turned on too. Before this movie, I always thought since it was an old brand television it was normal for that to happen from time to time when the power came back on. After this movie, I was so paranoid that I ran to unplug that television and hide on my bed like Home Alone.
So yes, this movie will always leave an impact on us when we are young.
I was a young kid when this came out. Everyone was freaked out by the seven days message, even if you hadn’t seen the movie
Even pictures from this are enough to scare the shit outta me.
it would just randomly show up in your bathroom stall.
This was the first horror/thriller I ever watched in the cinema.... Christ
17:00 = Cinema of 20 odd people and we *all* laughed. It's ok... It's a film.
ah yes, I too saw this movie as a grown adult
Almost 20 years later, I still have to brace myself when they reveal the girl's body in the closet. I was an adult when I first saw it, but it still shook me to my core!
20:25 This one line from the kid left me aggravated. I was thinking, "What was the point of giving this kid special psychic vision powers if he was just going to be vague in his intentions? Why he do all these drawings for Samara? What was his motivation? Why did all of your actions seem to hint as if you wanted your mom and dad to find where she was trapped in the well?"
I completely forgot the little girl in this movie voiced Lilo in Lilo & Stitch! Nice touch adding the Stitch voice over, NC! 👌
WHAT?!!
@@questworldiangreenknight7455 Yeah, i just found out a few years ago. If you Google her you'll see she voiced Lilo. Hence the Stitch joke when Rachel answered the phone.
A white girl voiced a Hawaiian? ! 😮😮😮
The horse committing suicide was one of the more memorable bits that freaked me out, personally.
Especially since it didn't even make it clean over the side of the boat, ugh
Oh yeah, that scene really freaked me out. I kinda forgot the horse was attacking MC and I was sad when it died in such a violent way.
I wish you mentioned the deleted scene ENDING where they leave the copy in a video store under "employee picks". I can't BELIEVE they cut that out!
The scene when Samara comes out the tv still gives me chills
Even though you can pass on the curse once those 7 days are up you are completely fucked as the ghost takes just enough time to let terror of you imminent demise set in giving you that sense there is no longer any espace. We don't actually see the death themselves only the bodies which look they went through hell.
I have a unique experience with The Ring, my brother and I was watching it at the time...I don't remember if we found it particularly scary until the phone started ringing right as the credits started rolling...forgot the entire movie. My mom's timing was amazing and she had no idea
My brother had the exact same experience when he and a friend watched the movie when we were all kids. The phone rang right when it ended. Really freaked his friend out.
I actually had a funny experience with this movie when it came out on VHS. I rented the movie from a local video rental store and the day after watching it I had got an anonymous voicemail message on my phone. I listened to voicemail message and it was a man's voice just saying "You have 7 days" in a really creepy voice that was all that was on the message. I ignored it obviously as this was a common joke at the time. A couple of days later I took the movie back to the video store I rented it from and I was telling the guys behind the counter that somebody tried pranking me by leaving me a voicemail message. Then the guys behind the counter just burst out laughing and said they had been calling everyone who rented the movie and fucking with them. I was like you bunch of ass holes!. 😂
That’s awesome
The only green place I can think of, being in the midwest, is right before a really bad storm, the sky looks kinda green. I used to feel really unsettled whenever I saw it.
Streaming: You sure this won't be a problem?
Blu-Ray: Eh, we'll last forever.
Streaming also probably hold a knife behind it's back waiting for the right moment.
I don't know why DVDs are viewed as outdated. I still watch plenty of shows and movies on them. Streaming lacks something somehow, although I like the convenience.
@@matthewkoch6937 👍👍. I also miss VHS.
Eh, I personally don't believe streaming offers anything worthwhile over blu-ray except for convenience, which, while obviously a big pro, won't be enough to keep the medium going with the recent boom of competing services spreading content too thinly over too many services.
Blu-rays, and even DVDs, offer a tangible copy of the film that you own, without fear of being retracted by the distributors, as well as the fact that they offer content to those who live in areas where internet connection struggles to reach.
@@matthewkoch6937
Plus, Streaming can be altered. DVDs and Blu-Rays are immortalised.
I think the reason for the green colour tone of the movie is because green naturally cancels/neutralises red tones, so it gives all the actors a more pale look in their skin, as well as making the shadows on their faces harsher. Obviously when people die all the colour drains from their face, so I think the green overtone is just meant to signify the theme of death .
My dad watched this movie for the first time alone super late at night and as soon as he finished the movie his phone rang. He doesn't scare easily but he said his heart stopped when he heard that ringing.
I watched the original Japanese version, then the Korean version, then the American version. The thing that slightly annoyed me about the American version is how they took out the subplot where Sadako's mother (name changed to Samara by the by) was psychic and she was too only more so. I'd like to see you take a look at Tucker and Dale VS Evil next.
I think the original Japanese Ring book has even more of the psychic subplot, showing how Sadako's powers mutated and turned into something of a virus spread by watching the tape.
unironically, I found the whole psychic aspect taking me out of the experience and bc of that, I didn't enjoy Ringu as much as the Ring
at least to me, adding another layer of supernatural to a ghost haunting story just bloats it - especially given how unnecessary it really is
I actually thought it was a great idea to remove the ESP plot with Sadako’s mother. ESP is scarier/creepier in the Japanese context because psychokinetic and telepathic curses were taken a little more seriously, especially in the 90s when certain New Religions were doing experiments with/about ESP. (This, in addition to the idea of vengeful ghosts that have populated Japanese popular fiction for centuries. Also, FWIW, in my experience in Japan, those who claim to have psychic or supernatural powers aren’t immediately dismissed as charlatans, even if one is skeptical of the claims.) ESP, and therefore the story about Sadako’s mom, doesn’t work as well in the American context because most people who grow up in the US are taught to be skeptical of those claiming to be psychic or have supernatural powers. So, for a film targeting and released to an American audience, removing the ESP elements helps maintain the realism that the film is clearly going for.
(Obviously, it’s far more complicated than this, and I certainly don’t mean to imply that Japanese people are more superstitious than Americans/Americans are more skeptical than Japanese. I’m just trying to explain that ESP had immediate cultural relevance in Japan in the 90s but didn’t in America, and that that is why the story of Sadako’s mother is best removed for the American adaptation.)
That would've been a cool part of the story. Isn't the girl meant to be adopted in this version?
I vote for Tucker and Dale. “We had a doozy of a day.”
My favorite comic “Erma” is based on a character who is physically identical to Samara, to the point where everyone thought that the comic was a Ring Spin off and that she was the Daughter of a somehow grownup Samara, mainly because her parents aren’t given actual names until the prequel comic “Spirits Bloom”.
Does OutcastComix still make Erma? Or did he shelf it?
@@NEETKitten he still makes it.
I love that comic!
@@NEETKitten he had a longer break after a surgery but now he's drawing again
Hey, an Erma comment! I like that bundle of eldritch joy, and hate her grandparents (though that's the norm, really).
Okay, the gag with the TV at the beginning was pretty good.
9:10, also, I was waiting for a Lilo and Stitch joke.
I had already seen part of a Scary Movie before watching The Ring. I just knew she would come out of the TV. And while watching that moment, I was actually wondering, "Scary, but how can it get worse?" Well, it did. And even though I expected it, it was still terrifying. She just gets closer and closer to Noah, without stopping. He can't even run. And the reveal of Samara's hideous, waterlogged face...That entire scene is not something I'll forget. All this...after I thought the movie would have a happy ending due to Noah saying, "It's over." Yeah, I bought it without question.
Yes though I’m a parody fan I won’t lie I HATE how heavily parodied the ring was. Made it lose some of its edge
@@lessismore8533 True, but the Ring was parodied because of how good it was. When it came out, it started something.
I think the movie within the movie isn't supposed to be scary in the sense that it's terrifying, but that it's unsettling and off-putting, and I think that it accomplishes that just fine.
As I recall there is a character in the Japanese series who figures out that she needs to come through some kind of reflective surface and so he avoids mirrors and TVs, but is ultimately done in because he was wearing a motorcycle helmet and she got him through the visor which provided a reflection. Can't speak to how accurate this is because I've never found the scene in question, but I did find that there is a victim whose skull is crushed in a motorcycle accident, so there may be some truth to how it played out. That said, I'm curious how the scene is played out.
I think that might be a common trope. I remember from the 80's a show called Amazing Stories (and man, do I feel old now) where a guy was haunted by something in reflections. Each reflection had it closer to him, and it was poised to strangle him from behind. He nearly escaped it, but saw it reflected the final time in his girlfriend's eye.
@@GoodMoviesForLater I'm right there with you. I was a kid when that show was on, and I really did find that to be an amazing show (pun not intended.) Looking back at it, though it was for television, it was probably my first exposure to the "short film" format, and that gave writers/filmmakers a lot of room to play with and experiment with ideas. I wish I'd remembered the show when I took screenwriting classes back some 15 years ago or so. I never really followed through in writing more, but it's concepts like that show that make me want to go back and play with the stories in my mind, even if they never get made.
The Lilo joke works on too many levels.
"Oh good! My dog found the chainsaw!"
Going over my head, explain please
For me, what made this movie special was the idea that there was a purpose -- a goal, a function, a reason -- for the haunting. She wanted the entire world to see the video about her death. So she created this curse to force everyone to make copies and show it to more people. That's what made the premise of this movie so unique and memorable.
In the Japanese original, she is the daughter of a sea demon and wants to destroy all of humanity, and not just show a video of her death
And then took the next step in the third movie and turned it into a viral video
@@yu_rin8351 Wasn't Samara Morgan also supposed to be the child of some kind of sea demon? I don't think Samara actually wanted to hurt anyone though, she just couldn't control her power. I would actually love to see a spin off where she never dies just to see what she's like as a teenager or adult lol
@@bestrafung2754 Maybe Samara didn't want to. But Sadako (original), yes, she wanted to destroy humanity. And deliberately killed others. For example, she killed a whole group of children while they were swimming in the sea.
Yer I was always confused if she was always evil or if she was led to it and her death made her a vengeful spirit.
Fun fact, there was actually some real events put into the movie. Such as the woman named Sadako, a psychiatrist wanting to study people, etc. Now granted not all of it is real but I would definetly suggest reading the book titled The Ring. It's actually a good book and gives more information than I can here.
The Ring is the fictional novel the movies are based on. None of the story is real.
@@MandleRoss some is
@@MandleRoss I never said the movoe was real, only SOME of the stuff.
@@MandleRoss Actually Saphira is right.
Some of its based on the "supernatural research." Of Sadoka (Now debunked and seen as medical negligence.) And of the myth of the girl with the plates in Japan.
@@saphirawinters7028 Nope... all fiction, but some things presented as fact... Like when Blair Witch first came out
Watching it on a VHS to enhance the feeling is a good idea. I did the same when I watched "Unfriended." Watching it in my laptop to make me feel like I was in the chat
The scene where Rachel notices all the people in their respective apartments actually gives a little nod to Rear Window here. You can see a man in a wheelchair with a broken leg practically recreating the first scene in Rear Window complete with race cars leading up to the crash that broke his leg.
I never noticed that! Holy cow! 😲
Genre-Killer: This film, together with 28 Days Later that same year, effectively read the obituary for the teen horror genre of the mid-late '90s, and arguably for the slasher genre as a whole. While it was rated PG-13, it removed its Decoy Protagonist teenage characters from the picture after the opening scene and featured adult protagonists from there on out, while also eschewing the body-count slasher formula. Both it and 28 Days Later were sleeper hits that were widely acclaimed by critics and horror fans, and teen horror and slashers, which were already on life support by that time, mostly faded out in the '00s.
cool
And now they are back... in a manner
I don't know if I'd lump 28 Days later in with slasher films, but it basically killed the genre of Scary Zombie movies for nearly a decade.
...Then Scream came out. Twas supposed to be the final nail in the coffin, but instead revitalized the slasher genre by making it self-aware. Thanks, Wes Craven.
Off by almost a decade. The slasher genre peaked in the late 80s and was long dead. Scream is more of an obituary/parody/deconstruction of that genre, but came out in 1996, a full seven years before The Ring. Psych/atmo horror had already become prominent with Blair Witch Project, Sixth Sense, etc. in the late 90s.
Not gonna lie, I burst out laughing when Rachel was smacked by the TV down the well. That was hilarious.
Edit out the "Not gonna lie". No reason for that to be there.
I giggled when I saw it
@@cutieboychase I find no issues with the “not gonna lie” 🤷🏾♂️
Yes but if you fell in a cursed well in real life there’s no way you wouldn’t be scared. Especially alone. At least Rachel had a partner
The phone jokes were solid. Well done. It’s always your intros that get me
My favorite was the Stich one
4K Ultra HD: "Are you sure this won't be a problem?"
Blu-ray: "Eh, we'll last forever."
Blu-Rays are out selling 4Ks. Just so you know.
When I was a kid this was THE movie that scared me. I hated TV static and unknown telephone callers because it traumatized me.
The Ring, one of the rare American remakes to a foreign film that actually turned out pretty well.
Snowpiercer was a good foreign film.
@@somerandolad Never saw it. I hear it’s terrible.
Godzilla 2014
@Cjrebirth Didn’t the director of the original Japanese film (and original actress for Kayako) do that?
@@chasehedges6775 it's definitely not terrible.
I'd love a remake of this where instead of the creepy girl it's just Larry the Cable Guy trying to get out of his car
😂😆🤣
Your wish was half granted because there is a sketch from Blue Collar TV, where Larry is tormented by Samara, who is his wife.
Seven days! That's how long I been stuck in this dang car! Help me out! Call somebody! 911 won't take ma calls since I pranked 'em on ma Halloween special!
I couldn't help but notice how much you went on a tangent about the green hue throughout the entire film. Maybe you could make it head cannon that this takes place inside the Matrix.
I read your comment in Agent Smith's voice because of your profile picture
There’s a manga where a young girl named Sadako tracks down the cursed tape so she can help the evil Sadako join the modern age and start up a UA-cam channel, since no one has VHS anymore.
Sounds more like a short cartoon.
lmao I have to see that! Could someone please find the name of the manga?
@@bestrafung2754 it's Sadako-san and Sadako-chan by Aya Tsutsumi.
The nostalgia from the intro hit me like a truck. It actually made me search and rewatch it again
Edit: For anyone curious or can’t remember, it’s from Donald Duck Trick or Treat
When I hear the movie "The Ring", I think about Lord of the Rings with Gandolf and hobbits and the power of the ring to control the world. Btw. Nice new intro, Nostalgia Critic! I like the animation on it. You improve for the last fourteen years since 07'.
Same
Now I'm thinking of a mash-up of the two.
Lord of The Ring
Gandolf is my favourite character
Wouldn't Lord of the Rings and The Ring be the weirdest crossover ever?
_"In the land of Mordor, where the shadows lie, the dark lord SAMARA crafted in the fires of Mount Doom, a master ring. One ring to rule the all... on a VHS..."_
You messing with the Ring girl by flipping channels was HILARIOUS
I think The Ring is probably the better one of the "Let's remake Japanese horror movies without the context" trend of the 2000s, certainly better than the Grudge movies.
Never been able to take any of the Grudge movies seriously, or find them in anyway scary. Actually think the newest one bored me to sleep.
ring is the only one I think that is slightly better then the original, it's about par in most parts except 1, the video, some how the video was so much spookier. Unlike the grudge where the parts that made me want to curl up in a ball crying...were just eh? Like the girl climbing down the stairs at the end, CREEPY in original, remake...okay? And don't think it's just because I already saw it, the motions and sound just didn't seem right.
Shutter was solid.
agreed.
? Grudge was good. Wait, I think... which one was grudge?
I adore this movie so much, I’m glad they got the original Japanese screenwriter to help out with this one.
The scariest part about when I saw the ring was when the credits rolled in, the phone rang. My mom and I looked at each other, and at the same time said," you answer it".
Tough Act to Follow: The 2002 film has gone down in history not just as one of the best remakes of a J-Horror movie: *but also one of the best remakes ever, period.* In addition to the film's sequels not being as good as the original, no other J-Horror remake has come as close to The Ring in terms of acclaim, success, and legacy (the only possible exception is the 2004 remake of The Grudge, and even that has mixed reviews at best).
Both American versions of the Ring and the Grudge were meh
Who else is hoping he does M. Night Shamylan”s “Old” for Nolstalgiaween?
You really should play the scene from family guy for her. “Giggity giggity crabbity giggity”
Fox is owned by Disney, dude. That would draw the copyright hounds like flies to shit.
The Ring remains one of my top favorite horror films of all time. Mainly because of both the mystery-themed plot and the imagery.
The way I see it, the green filter was to invoke a feeling of coldness, the way the blurry photos make it seem their faces are underwater. I liked that detail, I felt it added something to the style of the movie...
Noah being Aidan's father is significant because it means there is another person determined to save this boy. Also, it gives Aidan renewed hope that he can finally be part of a real family. Do you not remember that cute moment where he wakes up smiling in the car to see his parents on the verge of getting back together? He finally seems happy, and this makes Noah's death even more tragic. I think the family unit makes this way more compelling than your average slasher movie.
Fun fact: The character and story of Sadako (the name of the girl in the original Japanese) and Ringu was inspired by a mix of a real life experiment and a folklore tale of a woman who was thrown down a well whose ghost would haunt the man who killed her.
It’s not just the one folklore story; look up “onryō”. The Samara-looking vengeful spirit is its own mythological class in Japan, much like how werewolves or vampires are for us over here.
Nostalgia Critic Review Request: Wallace And Gromit: Curse Of The Were-Rabbit??? Please????
I love that movie.
Which is why i suggested the flick, it being Nostalgia-Ween, there's a possibility.
I second this. Comedy, child friendly horror and more double entendre than you can shake a, er, can you put that away please? This is marketed to kids.
Streaming: "You sure this won't be a problem?"
Blue-Ray: "Nah, we'll last forever."
This was one of many of those horror movies that I find one of the ones that I love and would watch over and over. The jump scares are well done. There were good scary imagery. And The Ring girl always haunts me how good her design is.
That Horses 'Oh sh*t" was one of the funniest moments in NC history 😂
Random girl: Peter don’t they say if you watch the video you die
Peter: aw that’s a lot of baloney *begins watching it*
Girl: *ran off*
*Mannequin theme song*
Peter: *dies*
(Family guy reference)
The main problem I've had with this movie is the ending plays it safe with Rachel and her son. I thought it was going to end right when the guy died and that would have left the audience there to sit and think about what went wrong. It gives us a mystery element for us to discuss. It sets up a sequel while not needing to really have one at the same time. But no. After he dies, we find out what they actually needed to do to help the kid and then they do it.
It honestly gives us everything in a single movie. Its like if final destination 1 ended where they actually found a way to beat death successfully. Can't really have a sequel if the first movie answers everything and leaves nothing lingering for potential theories/sequels. Even if a sequel was about a different group of people, we as an audience already know the answer and we have to watch these new people play catch up.
I think The Ring is a good horror film. It’s definitely not a bad horror film. So it’s in that interesting rare gray area for horror films. I love it personally.
I think Noah being the father was necessary to build upon the tragedy of the end. As it shows, Samara wasn't looking for peace, but more for causing damage and death so everyone can understand her pain. With both, Rachel and Noah, come together by the end and having a small glance for a happy ending, killing Noah needed to happen so we have the bad ending. Rachel deciding to screw up someone's life (and potentially the world) just to save her child is part of her destruction as the good hero we were used to.
I mean, this is what I understand by looking at Ringu and its sequels.
Next should be Monster House and maybe one or two of the Child’s Play movies. Maybe Bride and Seed of Chucky. Frankinweenie would be a nice review.
Monster House would be great!!
The first, second and third child's play were done long time ago un a crossover with another youtuber,
Please review Stephen King’s “Rose Red”! I’ve been hoping for over 10 years you would eventually get to it. At some point it has to come true right?
I remember watching Rose Red as a kid and I've never heard anyone talk about it. It was pretty good from what I remember. Let's hope he actually does it this year!
Rose Red was so creepy! And the house is stunning.
Ryan Hollinger has a really good video on it if you haven’t seen it already.
Honestly this nostalgia-ween intro is just such a damn bop
Wow even after 2020, Brian Cox's words at 17:50 hit really far home!
17:40 I don't find the Ring scary. Now DreamWorks's career path....NOW THAT'S SCARY!
Okay messing with Samara by flipping the channels is pretty funny,
How many more shows and movies can you torture her with?
Supernatural? Ghostbusters? Freddy Got Fingered? Demo Reel?
Ghostbusters definitely! I'd love to see how she'd fare against proton streams and ghost trap, after all she is a ghost.
@@RaphBlade7 that’s not the real Samara. Lol that’s a parody obviously. If you actually watched the ring you’ll know no mere humans or man made electric items will do ANYthing to her . Though she’s made fun of alot..she’s no joke
That ain’t the real Samara obviously
12:14 Stay Tuned. Now that definitely needs a review.
The images of the ghost girl directing the film and so forth got a real big laugh out of me, thanks for your work as always Nostalgia Critic team!
17:08 Thank you, Doug! Me too! I saw this movie in theaters and laughed my ass off when the horse went over the side if the ferry. That shit is hilarious
This movie terrified me for years. I dreamt about the ring girl for literally 10 years. I love this movie. It never fails to creep me out
That and the stair scene from The Grudge. Hated stairways for awhile
Yup! The Ring got video stores shut down back then!
Well, someone has to ask, might as well be me:
What’s this year’s Nostalgiaween intro referencing?
Good question
The Donald Duck short Trick or Treat.
An old Donald Duck short with his nephews terrorizing him on Halloween. I only know this because I watched Mickey’s House of Villains as a kid.
It’s an old Donald Duck cartoon called Trick or Treat. I remember seeing it on Mickey’s House of Villains
ua-cam.com/video/bE2KdKVp5NY/v-deo.html
2:36 How the original Ring should've ended
7:30 that is disturbing but how did the ghost kill her? Did the ghost make her have a stroke or brain aneurysm?
Apparently seeing the ghost instantly kills you
Tamera and malcom are great in this video I love how they just act like it’s another day in the office sitting on the couch with Citric