Le Cercle

Bien que The Ring ne propose rien de nouveau dans le cadre des clichés et que le scénario soit légèrement troué sur le plan logique, le film est réalisé de manière brillante au point qu'on ne peut que s'incliner. L'horreur est tranchante comme une lame de rasoir, avec une caméra sombre et pluvieuse, une musique terrifiante, un jeune garçon idéalement casté et surtout avec la magnifique, naturelle et spontanée Naomi Watts. (06/04/2003)

An excellent horror, just the behavior of the characters at the beginning was a little strange. Verbinski layers up atmosphere, combining unpleasant chill with several very effective shockers. The investigation into the origin of the video tape drives the story nicely forward and several scenes are wonderfully surreal - the horse on the ferry, falling into the well, Samara’s emergence. Very good. (24/03/2013)

Genre-wise, it's one of the best psychological horror films of the decade, a very successful remake of the original Japanese version, which is stylistically more appealing but less digestible for the Euroamerican viewer. In terms of gradually building atmosphere, it is very well executed both in terms of direction and screenplay. Overall impression, 90%. (12/01/2008)

There are some excellent scenes, and a few compositionally clever shots, but after it finished I told myself “Is that it?”. I don't know what it was that didn't work, but I just wasn't scared, which is a pretty serious problem with horror. The Ring just fizzled through my head. I have quite a problem with remakes of Japanese horror movies. (02/03/2003)

After more than ten years since the creation of the film, I am surprised how much the audience is fixated on Kruh as a devastating horror. And yet it works much better in its thrilling suspenseful dimension. Verbinski's move with the endless delaying of all the scary moments evidently succeeded. It then leads the viewer towards death through suspenseful scenes (watching the tape, discovering its images in the real world, the horse, the old Morgan) right to the literal edge of the well. You don't want to hurt anyone, do you? - But I do (29/01/2006)