Rings (2017)
Genre: Horror
Certification: 15
Duration: 107 minutes
Directed by: F. Javier Gutiérrez
Starring: Matilda Lutz, Alex Roe, Johnny Galecki, Vincent D’Onofrio, Aimee Teegarden
KRS Releasing Ltd

Fifteen years after the first successful Ring movie and 12 years after its mediocre sequel, The Rings Two, comes the third instalment of the franchise. But critics doubt that Rings will revive it or earn new fans.

The protagonist of this new chapter is a  young woman named Julia (Matilda Lutz) who learns that her boyfriend Holt (Alex Roe) has watched the famous cursed video. She willingly exposes herself to it to shift the curse to herself, only to find that the curse-originating spook Samara has special plans for her.

Spanish director F. Javier Gutiérrez (Brazil, Before the Fall) has apparently made a less scary film.  Edward Douglas of the New York Daily News wrote: “The latest reboot of the horror franchise is fatally short on scares.”

The plot has been highly criticised. Kim Newman of Empire wrote: “The plot stutters as if radically different Ring scripts were commissioned and then shuffled together to justify creepy set-pieces without giving thought to the collapsing storyline or engaging characters.”

Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a poor five per cent rating and its critics consensus reads: “Rings may offer ardent fans of the franchise a few threadbare thrills but, for everyone else, it may feel like an endless loop of muddled mythology and rehashed plot points.”

Made on a $25 million budget, the film has so far garnered $51 million in box office sales.

Ratings
IMDB: 6.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 5%
Empire: 2 stars

Note: The Great Wall, starring Matt Damon, is being released on Friday. Information about it will be published today week.