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As a massive fan of the original J-horror Ringu, and also the brilliantly translated Western adaptation and its respective sequel (Gore Verbinksi’s The Ring and Hideo Nataka’s The Ring 2), I had big hopes for this third installment in the western Ring films and was intrigued to see how director F. Javier Guiterrez would play it out.  Especially given that it has been 15 years since Ring 2, it’s now the YouTube and file-sharing age and VHS tapes are an antique.

So much promise right?  But what I saw was akin to a bad meme of the original films.  It is a disappointing no-brainer teen flick that relies on a good looking varsity-aged main cast, tepid jump scares, a melodramatically boring script and a ridiculous plot line that limps along lacking all of the psychological mind-screw elements that made the originals so great.  I should’ve known by the R13 rating.


It starts on a freaking plane of all places, focusing on a sweating all-American jock who is checking his watch and then asking the pretty girl next to him if she’s heard about the video that kills you in seven days.  She writes him off as a nut job and tells her mate about his question.  Shock horror, her mate knows that the video is real and rushes to jock-guy to ask if he made a copy… of course he didn’t – that would ruin the chance at an “impactful” opening.  He glances at his watch to see his time run out.  One guess at what happens next on all the plane’s TV screens before the inevitable Final Destination rip off.  Yawn.

The one-dimensional wannabe “heroes” of this lame ass offering are teenagers Julia (Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz) and her jock boyfriend Holt (Alex Roe) who is on his way to board at Varsity, while her sweet innocent self remains back in their small hometown to look after her Mother.  While at Uni, Holt crosses paths with the current owner of the cursed VHS – an arrogant professor (a totally misused Johnny Galecki) who believes that with help from the VHS and lab rat students, he can prove… get this… the existence and immortality of the soul.  For real.  Sad isn’t it?


After Holt starts ghosting her, Julia has a weird Skype with a seemingly drugged out female student who is also looking for Holt.  Julia decides to head over to his Uni to find out what’s going on and after playing martyr to her boyfriend, discovers that she’s some kind of “Chosen One” as she sees more images within the video than anyone else.  A hidden video within the video for sweet innocent Julia’s eyes only.  Double yawn.

Whereas the first film was centred on searching for Samara’s adoptive Mother and the second on her biological Mother, this one searches for both her biological parents to further unravel the mystery behind the entity, to ultimately “save” Samara.  I won’t spoil it for you, but the tedious journey is overly predictable and cliche.  There’s a few cool sets and some beautiful landscapes, but yeah.  If it wasn’t for the wonderful company I had while watching the movie, it would have been THE biggest waste of my time.  Ever.

Save your money.  Unless you’re a bad meme fan or a sucker for punishment or Helen Keller, look at this movie like it’s the cursed VHS itself and don’t watch it.

Rings (Paramount Pictures – 2017) Review
Film Details

Year: 2017
Rating: R13
Running Time: 102 MIN
Genre: Horror
Director: F. Javier Gutiérrez
Starring: Matilda Lutz, Alex Roe, Johnny Galecki, Vincent D'Onofrio
Production Studio: Parkes/MacDonald, BenderSpink, Marci/Edelstein, Vertigo Entertainment, Waddieish Claretrap
Distributor: Paramount Pictures</p

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