Okay, today's title sequence is one that was a talking point for quite a while after my friends and I saw the film.
The Ring (2002)
But whaaa? That is not a title sequence and does The Ring even have one? Ha ha ha psych oh DIP I got you! The Ring is, in fact, title sequence-free and I love it. Why mess around with names and animations and blah blah blah? Let's get right to business, the film seems to say, and get right to business it do.
I don't even know how I'd feel about The Ring if I were to watch it today. The bits of CGI are likely dodgy by today's standards, and there have been so many "long-haired ghost girl" flicks in the last decade that the trope has been just about stripped of all its power. It's probably best if I leave my feelings and memories of The Ring in my horror movie hope chest for a while longer, where they are protected from the detrimental effects of time and air, and they smell of cedar and "potpourri sachet."
What a breath of fresh air this movie was, unlike anything else happening in American horror at the time...and part of that was the brazen–brazen I say!– lack of a title sequence. Nothing to lull you into the action. Nothing to soothe you after, say, a shocking five-minute cold open. You just sit down and the movie starts and The Ring happens to you and you get no relief. I love that. We all have shit to do, right? There ain't no time for cinematic gewgaws, we only have seven days!
5 comments:
I still really like this movie, despite what it spawned over the next five years or so.
But there's a rawness and an atmosphere of dread in the Japanese movie that is just unmatchable. And the fact that the videos images remain somewhat abstract makes it far creepier than the slick, expensive Hollywood version.
Ringu was one of the movies I got on VCD so I could watch it on my PSX with the VCD adapter... hmm, was that a long time ago O_O
I prefer the Japanese version. I saw it first, and the CGI in the remake didn't help matters. Which isn't to say that it was bad. It and Let Me In are two movies that would have been great if they weren't remakes.
I agree with you wholeheartedly that this movie was a breath of fresh air. It was incredibly well done and that slew of movies featuring creepy girls with long hair covering face was taking a page out of The Ring's book (To be fair, Ring took it from Ringu, which probably took it from something else, and so on). But the ending was fantastic! You think you're getting served a typical happy ending, but then you're left with something unsettling. Love it.
It never occurred to me The Ring doesn't have a title sequence. I was so intrigued I felt the need to revisit it. Lady, you ain't lyin', and I love it too!
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