20 Things You Didn't Know About The Ring
At nearly 20 years old, The Ring won't stop spinning: Here are 20 things you may have missed...
In 2002, Gore Verbinski's stylish supernatural thriller The Ring was a box office giant. It helped launch the mainstream career of Naomi Watts and paved the way for an avalanche of J-Horror remakes and black haired villanelles, squirming their way into the language of modern horror cinema.
While investigating the mysterious death of her niece, reporter Rachel Keller hears rumours of a cursed videotape that kills all who watch it within a week. She tracks down the tape in a remote holiday cabin, and after she watches it, the phone rings immediately. The child's voice on the line simply whispers "seven days."
After her son Aidan watches the film, Rachel is in a race against time; she has less than a week to save not only herself, but the life of her child also.
The climax has become legendary and the film spawned a two sequels and an impressive short, with a rumoured Grudge crossover now in the works.
The production is of course littered with fun facts and stories; violent deleted scenes, the involvement of David Lynch and exactly how Samara melts your brain. Here are twenty pieces of trivia on the horror phenomenon of the girl who lived down the well...
20. The Cursed Video
The fictional 'cursed' (but definitely eerie) film was used in an early marketing campaign, with no mention of what it related to, which must have been baffling for those unfamiliar with the original movie. It was also sneakily inserted into DVD Easter egg menus and those who bought the thematically appropriate VHS got the full analogue experience.
Severed fingers, drowned horses, dripping blood, torn fingernails, menacing centipedes and writhing bodies - it's fully strange, yet all the images have a connection to the plot. If that one isn't enough, there's another two out there, the 'new' one used in the sequel and the Japanese original.
Extra credit for those sneaky enough to slip a copy into a charity shop drop.