Yes, that's right, kids. The trailer for Ring 2: Electric Boogaloo has gone online. See it here.
This trailer looks pretty kickass. I was a big fan of the first Ring, far preferring the American remake to the original Japanese film Ringu. And no, not just because my dream woman Naomi Watts starred in it, although that didn't hurt. Because I thought director Gore Verbinski really nailed the look, particularly the use of color, in the film, because I thought the kid actor was incredibly creepy, because I really liked the subtlety of the special effects, and because that last scene where the girl comes through the TV and kills future Torque star Martin Henderson is creepy as hell. Oh, and the scene with the horse on the ferry boat. And, yes, because Naomi Watts is smoking hot.
So, anyway, I was already looking forward to the sequel, also directed by Verbinski and starring Watts, this Spring. And this trailer really hits it out of the park, as far as I'm concerned. It looks like they're expanding the mythology of the tape in the sequel, rather than just rehashing the plot of the first film, which is always a good move for a second movie (unless you are the Wachowski Brothers, in which case, you should never make sequels again). So, this is definitely among my most anticipated mainstream films of 2005.
There are a whole bunch, though. Sin City, The Fountain, Corpse Bride, Batman Begins, Oliver Twist (directed by Roman Polanski!)...Actually, I'm going to save the rest...this is a whole article unto itself...
What I find interesting in those movies is using a malevolent feminine to inspire fear.
ReplyDeleteRings, cycles, water, etc., that is all ancient symbolism for the feminine that fits well with the malevolent character, etc.
I don't typically watch horror movies so I don't know how often a malevolent feminine has been used. But linking it with water, drowning, smothering, etc., ought to be typical.
Good point. I think there's much more going on in the original "Ring" than most people, critics included, acknowledged. It's essentially about a child killed by her mother, and the ongoing trauma affecting another mother-child relationship (the Naomi Watts character and her son).
ReplyDeleteInteresting, as well, that real life mothers who kill their children often do so by drowning. It's all this archetypal water-birth-mother imagery that persists in our brains for some reason.
Pajamo, I don't really think the American version is overall more "subtle." I used that word in terms of the special effects in the American version, and really I was comparing it to other Hollywood effects films moreso than the Japanese version (where the effects work was similar, as I recall). As with most Asian cinema, "Ringu" is a far more slowly paced, subtle movie than its remake.
ReplyDeleteI did see the American version first, and then caught up with the Japanese, so it's possible this affects my viewpoint. And I did notice the theme of "Western influence" in the original (granted, without the depth of your comments). I still say that the remake is my preferred film, subtler or no.