8 Horror Remakes That Became Classics In Their Own Right
4. The Ring (2002)
This is the film that kick-started Hollywood’s heavy-handed obsession with J-horror in the early naughties that included English language remakes of The Grudge, Dark Water, Pulse, One Missed Call, The Eye, Shutter, Mirrors, and The Uninvited. The Ring, however, is the best of the lot.
Subtle, creepy and atmospheric, The Ring relies on suggestion rather than gore, capturing the essence of J-Horror perfectly. Released in a time when the genre was becoming post-modern with the likes of the Scream trilogy, The Ring was not afraid to go back to basics with its campfire ghost story tone.
The film has stood the test of time largely thanks to a committed performance from Naomi Watts who sells the far-fetched premise as if it were an Oscar season drama. Unfortunately, The Ring’s legacy has been tainted by some sub-par sequels which prevented it from developing into the horror franchise it might have become.