Last evening I saw The Ring. Please don't go on reading if you plan to see it since this entry is a complete spoiler for the film.

And good grief, I got scared! The film isn't perfect at all —the middle part, where the story develops, it's lame and unimaginative; the recourse to an undisclosed dream, cheap; and they don't know what to do with the (already archetypical) paranormal child in the end. But the movie's beginning is indeed terrifying, due to two remarkable facts. First, the simplicity of the plot —you see a particular video tape, get a phone call the very moment it ends announcing you're done... and you die in seven days, period. Second, while they're looking at the tape, you're seeing it, too, full screen... And you can't avoid some perspiration at the thought of the phone ringing, right then, by your side...

And then, when everything seems to indicate they're going to resort to the expected presumedly-unexpected big end fright, they don't... Instead, they manage to get to a more refined, startling, and funny finale, where the tape itself is, how could I put it, a kind of forgiving meme with those who get it copied... and a ring indeed.

I'll see part two tonight. I'll let you know...