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.