An inquisitive reporter views a mysterious videotape that is linked to several deaths she sets in motion a chain of events that puts her life in danger. Now she is in a race against time to solve the mystery before its too late. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 05/01/2007 Starring: Naomi Watts Brian Cox Run time: 115 minutes Rating: Pg13 Director: Gore Verbinski

With its disturbing images and a few good shocks, The Ring is the kind of frightfest you'll watch to set a chilling mood or spook your susceptible friends, but when you try to sort it out, this well-mounted American remake (of the 1998 Japanese hit Ringu, based on Koji Suzuki's popular novel) becomes a batch of incoherent parts. The negligible plot follows a Seattle reporter (Naomi Watts) as she investigates the death of her niece, the victim of a mysterious videotape that, according to urban legend, causes the viewer's death seven days later. (Fear Dot Com borrowed the same idea while avoiding this film's lofty pretensions.) The countdown structure follows the reporter, her son, and her estranged boyfriend into deepening layers of terror--all quite effective until the movie attempts to explain itself. At that you're better off shutting down your brain and letting the creepy visuals take over. --Jeff Shannon