Woh Saat Din. Review on The Ring Movie

I am faint hearted. I avoid horror movies as I get nightmares and “daystallions”. I managed to watch “The Ring” last night – “managed” is an understatement. The goose pimples are still there, the inner voices are still there, the hallucinations are still there – I am a nervous wreck. Hopefully in seven days I get back to my old self, I mean new self, I mean old new self, I mean new old self – whatever.

Remember “Woh Saat Din” (Anil Kapoor, Padmini Kolhapure starrer) – my countdown has begun. Today is Day One. Six more to go.

The Plot:

Two teenagers – Katie and Becca are discussing an old legend about a mythical tape whose viewers are supposed to die mysteriously in seven days after receiving a phone call. Katie confesses to viewing the tape along with her boy friend Josh and two others at an inn in the woods. The events leading to Katie’s death are bone-chilling.

Katie’s aunt – Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) is an investigative reporter with Seattle’s local newspaper. Her son Aidan Keller (David Dorfman) becomes reclusive after his cousin Katie’s death.

The circumstances leading to Katie’s death take a mysterious turn when Rachel realizes that all the four who viewed the tape died at exactly 10 p.m. – seven days after viewing the cassette. Rachel visits the Inn and gets hold of the tape and watches it and the phone rings with a voice pronouncing that she has seven days to live.

Rachel decides to get to the bottom of the mystery and seeks the assistance of her ex-husband – Noah Clay (Martin Henderson) who is a video geek. Noah views the tape and gets the mysterious call. The tape itself seems to be some kind of an amateur documentary with flashing images of a house, a lady in a mirror, dead horses, an abandoned well, a ladder, a fly , a tree and finally a ring before it abruptly ends in a static.

Rachel makes a copy of the tape which gets accidentally viewed by Aidan. And the phone rings….

Racing against time Rachel analyzes the tape, and the story meanders through a light house, a string of suicides at a horse ranch, the owner of the horse ranch – Anna Morgan, a mental institution, reference to a daughter – Samara Morgan (Daveigh Chase) etc.

Each day brings new discoveries and images from the tape become visible to Rachel, Noah and Aidan. The final image before death is “The Ring”.

I would highly recommend you to watch this film to find out for yourself about the mystery surrounding the tape, and the legend behind the deaths of the viewers.

The Performances:

# Naomi Watts as Rachel Keller gave an excellent performance as a reporter and a mother. I would rate her performance better than Mulholland Drive. Her eyes portrayed the fear and she was gutsy to get to the bottom of the mystery knowing very well that she has seven days to do it.

# David Dorfman as Aidan Keller - the son. His innocent eyes oozed eeriness. Amazing performance by this kid.

# Martin Henderson as Noah Clay. He ably supported Rachel in her investigation.

# Katie and Becca – the teens in the opening scenes – creditable performance to set the tempo for the movie.

# Daveigh Chase as Samara Morgan – the mysterious daughter. Alternating between angelic innocent looks and a devilish nature – she was scary.

Special mention must be made of Hans Zimmer – the music director. With haunting music at the right time and at the right pitch – the scary scenes became even more scarier. The direction was superb and the script was very tight.

As when dealing with the supernatural, several questions are unanswered – but I for one, do not want to know the answers – I am afraid of even asking those questions.