Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Rings (2017)

 

Rings is a very loose sequel to, but mostly a reboot of The Ring and The Ring 2, which starred Naomi Watts. This one again involves the video of Samara that causes people who watch it to die in seven days. Of course, this movie is set in the present day, so the video has evolved beyond the VHS copy and is now digital, which presents its own set of complications. The crux of the story is that the hero, Julia, played by Matilda Lutz ends up watching her boyfriends' copy of the video (the only way to keep him from dying in 12 hours) and discovers that the way to break the curse is to find and cremate, Samara's physical remains.

The movie is a decent b-level horror movie that looks like a big-budget movie. I think that one thing the movie really missed was the lack of star power in the lead roles. Even though Johnny Galecki (from The Big Bang Theory) and Vincent D'Onofrio have roles in the movie, they are not leads, and while Naomi Watts is not a megastar, she was more well-known when she helmed the franchise than Lutz is. Secondly, I do not think that the movie was nearly as suspenseful or scary as the original movies. I think that has a lot to do with knowing how the movie was going to progress and just trying to figure out how they were going to pay it off. That said, the movie does have its share of jump-scare moments, and the ending was not the typical horror movie ending. It does have the benefit of being a more psychological horror movie as opposed to a gory one. So, if you do not like movies with a lot of blood, this may appeal to you. 

For those who get the blu-ray, the A/V quality is great. Even though the movie was shot with a digital camera it very much has the look of a movie shot on film. For extras, there are about 20 minutes of deleted and extended scenes, a 12-minute featurette on the film series starting with the original movie and how this one ties into that movie, a feature on bringing back the character of Samara, and a collection of the "scary" moments from the movie. Not a ton of material, but it is there if you like it.

The movie is okay but not much more than that. The plot is similar to those of the first two movies but updated for the digital era. Unfortunately, that is not enough to bring the quality of this movie up to that of the original films. It is ultimately a movie that did not have to be made, but if you are in the mood for a suspense/horror movie, it can be used to kill an hour and a half.