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The Ring

(2002, Rated PG-13, Horror, Starring Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, Amber Tamblyn)
  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 15, age appropriate for kids over 18; suggested age 15.
  • Is it any good?

    3.0
  • Common Sense says

    This movie is very, very scary.

Why We Rated This iffy for Ages 15–18

What to watch out for

  • Messages:

    Strong female character
  • Violence:

    Intense peril and violence, deeply disturbing images, characters killed, death of child
  • Sex:

    A wet t-shirt and some references to dating (and staying together in the mountains) without parental knowledge.
  • Language:

    Some strong language for a PG-13
  • Consumerism:

    Not an issue.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Brief, unspecific reference to drug use
 

What Parents Need to Know

About The Ring

Parents need to know that this movie is very, very scary. Four people and a horse die on-screen, with the potential for many more untimely demises throughout and -- don't read on if you enjoy surprises -- beyond the end of the movie. The overall tone is creepy and would leave many of the staunchest of moviegoers in dire need of brightly lit rooms and laughter.

Read our full review by Nell Minow

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about the decision that Rachel makes at the end of the movie and the ramifications of her actions. They might also wish to discuss the way that different characters deal with the untimely death of a loved one.

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Our Members Say

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  • What did you think about The Ring?
  •  I think this movie is

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See all 62 member reviews

Most Recent Reviews

  1. Teen Reviewer Age 15
    Lives in Pennsylvania
    I rate this title iffy for age 15 and give it 3.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence
    • Inappropriate sexual content
    • Negative message

    the FIRST movie to actaully give me the creeps

    okay, i was in 2nd grade and me and my best friend watched this movie watched it by our selfs. it was cold that day and lights were off. then the girl came out of the tv and i felt goose bumps.if you wanna get freaked out, go watch this

  2. Teen Reviewer Age 15
    Lives in Missouri
    I rate this title on for age 14 and give it 4.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence
    • Inappropriate language

    LOLS

    On Haloween when i was 13, My mates forced me to watch this scary movie.but I found it quite funny that i was not scared but my mates were terrified! The idea of a video tape that has a girl crawl out of your TV screen sevan days later and then gets pushed down a well is strange, but is pretty freaky, and sad when her child watches!!!

  3. Teen Reviewer Age 14
    Lives in Washington
    I rate this title iffy for age 10 and give it 5.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence
    • Negative message

    Good for kids 10 and up who can handle getting scared... badly.

    I loved this movie! Warning parents: This movie is VERY SCARY!!! Also has some very disturbing scenes (girl suffocated by her mother, and then dropped into a well.) Also has brief, mild nudity (can see nipples through t shirt cause its wet)

  4. Teen Reviewer Age 14
    I rate this title iffy for age 13 and give it 1.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence

    Overall, I hated this movie. I am a big fan of suspense/thrillers but this was just twisted. At the end, I was really shocked but not scared. I just thought the whole thing was stupid. I mean come one, a girl coming out of a TV to kill people ? What's up with that?? We see a girl being drowned by her mother, which is pretty crazy, a few people in a mental institution and 2 dead bodies that are quite shocking.

  5. Teen Reviewer Age 15
    Lives in Virginia
    I rate this title iffy for age 15 and give it 4.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence

    • My highlights are:
    • Good role models

    Scary scary scary *spoilers*

    I haven't seen many horror movies, but this one was freaky. I can't think of any family appropriate words for how scared I was after watching this last Halloween. I had to sneak into my sister's room for the next two nights and listen to audiobooks to get any sleep at all. The Ring, though it has many somewhat gory and very disturbing images, has less of a horror feeling than an overall creepy feeling of impending doom. So, for those who are curious, I will try to name all the scary parts that I remember, so you can be on the lookout. If you don't want to know, don't read them. The beginning was scary; the one girl tells her friend and the audience about the tape, and then reveals that she watched it- 7 days ago. As the clock strikes 10, when she watched it the week before, things start happening (I don't actually remember the specifics). Either way, it's all very creepy and ominous- the TV turns on and off and on, static fizzing from the living room (I was afraid of static-y TVs for weeks, by the way). She opens the door to her room, and screams, and that's the end of her. You don't see what happened to her until the reception for her funeral, which our protagonist attends- the girl was her niece. They talk about her roommate (or was it her mother..?) finding her in the closet and BAM! Before you can blink, a quick flash of the girl, crouched in a closet and grotesquely distorted. The movie continues in similar ways- a man commits suicide in front of Rachel by electrocuting himself in his bathtub, a horse drowns and is chopped to bits by the propellers of a boat, Rachel pulls a long wire covered in black hair out from her throat. The tape itself is the creepiest thing I've ever seen. Simple shots of clues to the mystery of Samara, the ring girl. The climax is scary, but I'm not quite sure, as I was hiding behind a pillow the whole time. But the action- and gore- doesn't stop there because PLOT TWIST! And when Rachel is about to spin the chair around to see what's his face's face, don't look. I'm so glad I didn't- my friend still shudders to think of it. But, by this time, you are tired of plot twists, and just want it all to end. So, in conclusion: Scariest movie I've seen, disturbing images, and just a bit too long. Rachel is a good role model, who wants to save not only herself and her son, but everyone else who may ever watch the tape in the future.

  6. Teen Reviewer Age 13
    I rate this title on for age 13 and give it 4.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence

    Great Movie, but Definitely not For Young Kids

    This is, without a doubt, the scariest movie I've ever seen. The movie revolves around a tape. If you watch this tape, you'll die within seven days. The opening scene is very scary. After the video-tape has finished, the person gets a phone-call with a spooky voice on the other end saying "seven days". The movie isn't violent as much as it is frightening. This is a good movie to watch on Halloween.

  7. Teen Reviewer Age 13
    I rate this title on for age 2 and give it 5.0

  8. I rate this title iffy for age 14 and give it 4.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence

    • My highlights are:
    • Good role models

    Higurashi no Naku Koro ni--but with a VHS!

    OMG, I am 14 and two nights ago from when I'm writing this, I watched the Ring. My mother rented it for me for a Halloween movie, after I had watched the Exorcist. Personally, I love anything Japanese, Death Note, FMA, etc... I thought that since this was based on the Japanese movie called Ringu, that I would be either very disturbed, or very interested (depending on how good of an English adaptation it was). In fact, it was a little of both. Kinda' reminded me of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni... I was able to handle this movie without puking, but I must say that this is VERY disturbing, especially when they are watching the "death tape" (oh and did I say I watched this at midnight on a laptop in the dark?). If I was any younger I might have wet myself. It wasn't a perfect movie, but it was all very good. The plot does a 360 nearing the end which will make people kinda surprised (epic plot twist!). And some bits are symbolic and have meaning. I rated this iffy for 14 because I was 14 when I saw this, and I didn't puke my guts out with fear! Anybody who likes this, I highly recommend Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Or the dreadful English version When Cicadas Cry (DON'T GET THE ENGLISH VERSION!) All in all, a pretty good movie--make sure to look up Anna Morgan's curse on youtube and send it to all your friends after watching it--or you too will die.... :-)

  9. Teen Reviewer Age 14
    Lives in Washington
    I rate this title iffy for age 11 and give it 4.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence

    for kids 10 and up who aren't scared easily.

    This is probably the scariest movie ive ever seen, period. i had no idea PG-13's can be so scary! also a little disturbing. DO NOT WATCH AT NIGHT!!!!!

  10. Kid Reviewer Age 10
    Lives in Florida
    I rate this title on for age 4 and give it 4.0

    So NOT horror!

    It was so expected and not scary AT ALL. But then again, I thought the poltergeist was not scary.......

  11. Teen Reviewer Age 15
    Lives in Minnesota
    I rate this title on for age 14 and give it 5.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence
    • Inappropriate language

    Depends on your kids

    This movie was really good. It is not that scary but still know your kids

  12. Teen Reviewer Age 15
    Lives in Illinois
    I rate this title off for age 10 and give it 5.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence

    Spectacularly scary, but deeply disturbing

    This is one of my favorite horror movies of all time, topped only by The Orphanage. I saw this in 4th grade and it freaked me out for weeks. (That probably wasn't a good decision on my part to see it that early.) I'd say a person around 12 or so could pretty well handle it. The faces in this movie (if you see it, you'll know what I'm talking about) are probably the most disturbing thing I've ever seen in a movie.

  13. I rate this title off for age 15 and give it 4.0

    A film for OLDER TEENS! Not for kids.

    Intense film, although not scary. It's very disturbing and atmosphere is out-of-this-world.

  14. Teen Reviewer Age 14
    I rate this title on for age 14 and give it 4.0

    I watched this movie for the first time last week, and i found i freaked myself out over nothing. Everytime tension builds, nothing scary happens. I enjoyed the storyline, it's quite complex and the movie in general i found extremely gripping. Although i didn't think it was scary, it's still a great movie :)

  15. Teen Reviewer Age 14
    Lives in Texas
    I rate this title iffy for age 11 and give it 4.0
    My concerns are:
    • Inappropriate language

    Still scary but a let down after all the build up

    This movie is very interesting and you have to think about it at parts but but as far as being scary, it has a few suspenseful scenes but not very many surprise scares. The last 20-30 minutes are by far the scariest so to get the whole story you have to endure the movie at its horror high. After being murdered by the film (which is random pictures of severed fingers, a nail being driven through a finger, cord being pulled out of someone's throat, multiple images of a well, and other strange images separated by television fuzz) victims are shown very pale, with their jaws stretched, and strange black liquid leaking from their mouths. The victims are surrounded by water. Besides a few disturbing scenes and a couple scares, the only other worry is the strong language throughout. (No f-words)

  16. Adult Reviewer
    I rate this title on for age 15 and give it 5.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence
    • Inappropriate language

    WOW!!!

    THE scariest movie of all time. It's not for kids...not at all. But it's very good for teens who love horror films. It's not so much violent as it is disturbing. The scary scenes stay with you for a long time. Not for the squeamish or easily scared.

  17. Adult Reviewer
    Lives in Illinois
    I rate this title iffy for age 13 and give it 5.0

    Very good, not gory at all, but will give you the creeps!!

    This movie is scary in more of a creepy sense. It WILL disappoint people who are expecting gore. There are some scenes of dead bodies, but they are only shown for a second or two. Overall, it has a very, very creepy feel that will linger after the movie is over. I loved it...and it's unfortunate that more horror flicks aren't as good as this one!

  18. Teen Reviewer Age 14
    Lives in Michigan
    I rate this title iffy for age 13 and give it 3.0

    More of a mystery than a horror movie, but it is still very good!

    I was expecting this to be a horor movie, but there isn't much horror, but it is still creepy and it's a good mystery too! It has a few issues though: 1. Little blood, some scense are startling and creepy, a man comits suicide, The movie in general is dark. 2. language includes a few S--ts, and some milder language including B--h, h-, and a-s. The best way overall to describe this is an Alfred hichcok movie that wasn't directed by alfred hichcock. But teens will like it.

  19. Parent Reviewer
    Lives in Iowa
    I rate this title iffy for age 13 and give it 2.0

  20. Teen Reviewer Age 14
    Lives in Maine
    I rate this title iffy for age 12 and give it 4.0

    Cool movie,but not scary

    This is a cool movie,but not scary ... just the scene in da end when samara comes out da tv and kill Noah... but if u've seen da japanese version... you won't feel scared with da scene...

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