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The Ring opens up on Oct 18th. Just wanting to hear some of the forum responses to the movie. What was your take on some of the imagery presented in the movie. Any subliminals jump out at you?

I’m really looking forward to this one. The preview alone is worth a couple bucks.

I was intrigued by the preview, and then even more enticed by the “Dreamworks” logo tagged on at the end. What else should I know about this one? Tubes and balls? Ok, put me in the time-out box, but you’ll have to catch me first.

The movie is actually derived from a 1995 Japanese book and subsequent 1998 Japanese movie release. The original (also known as Ringu) is to date the number one selling movie in the Orient (China, Japan, Korea, etc.)

What, if any, is the connection between this movie and Lynch’s Lost Highway, because from what I’m hearing, the stuff with the videotape reminds me of the basic plot of Lost Highway. Is it possible that Lynch’s Lost Highway came from this book or is it purely coincidence? I don’t know, even the style of the film (and the fact that Naomi Watts is in it) reminds me of Lynch.

In Lost Highway, a couple finds videotapes of themselves sleeping. In The Ring, there’s one videotape that if you watch it, you die. I see the connection and it’s very possible that Lynch read the book before making Lost Highway (‘97). The Japanese version wasn’t released until ‘98. It does sound like something Lynch would be interested in. Both films have a serious surrealist influence. And I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for the surrealists. The story of The Ring is easily understood. With Lost Highway you’re still scratching your head four years later.

The Ring is also slightly more terrifying than Lost Highway. I saw it this weekend, and I must say, it’s the most frightening movie I’ve seen. Ever, I think. I was really, really scared and still am today.

JaBird, what do you mean by subliminals? Do you mean the little between-scene frames of the ring thrown in every once in a while? Or do you mean the subconscious stuff that was on the video itself. Straight outta Freud and Jung. Man, just thinking about it and writing this is freaking me out. I want to both see it again, and get as far away from it as possible.

While I do not know of the Lynch connection, and I imagine it is coincidental, I see the point. While the original Ring was released to theaters in 98, there was a mini series of the film that was released in 95. Still, the concept of the Ring video is far different from Lost Highway. The Ring video is more like “your worst nightmare” on tape.

Yes, the subliminals I was speaking of were the “inbetween scenes” shots of the ring itself.

Glad you liked it!!

The ring was amazing. I was worried that this was going to be your typical slasher horror movie not knowing much about it. It even appeared to me it was going to be that way thoughout the begining of the film, However once it started messing with my mind I fell in love with it. I knew that this movie was one of my favorite horror movies while I was driving home from the theater and my mind was still going in circles.