Caged: The Ring and John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns

"We trust filmmakers. We sit in the dark, daring them to affect us. Secure in the knowledge that they won't go too far"

Can morbid imagery destroy us? Does the artistic expression of a madman make us mad upon viewing? Can evil lurk within the celluloid and pass itself through to an unsuspecting audience? This is the underlying theme of today's cage-up, Gore Verbinski's The Ring, and John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns.

The horror of both films lurk in the film within the film, one a mysteriously anonymous video cassette, and the other a covered up old film reel, both which harbor a vicious after-effect on anyone who dares watch it.

Our tour guide through the cursed cinema world of Cigarette Burns is Kirby (Norman Reedus), a down and out theater owner, who moonlights as a locator of valuable and obscure film prints. An ominous businessman (Udo Kier), offers to get Kirby out of debt via locating an infamous cursed film, Le Fin Absolute De Monde (The Absolute End Of The World). The film had only been screened once, which resulted in the entire audience going insane and murdering each other.

The Ring's Rachel (Naomi Watts) is exposed to a VHS tape which has been passed around. Upon viewing, a phone call is placed with only the words "Seven days", after which the viewer dies horribly by an unseen spectre. Believing in spreading the wealth, Rachel's ex husband and son are also exposed to the tape, resulting in a race against the clock to save each other.

The lore behind The Ring's tape is Samara, an evil orphan who is able to psychically attach herself to inanimate objects. Once murdered by her adopted parents, Samara attaches her 7 days of suffering to those who view the tape. The film takes the supernatural route to create a terrifying foil for unsuspecting film viewer fodder. Anybody with even the slightest education in pop culture knows Samara all too well.

Le Fin Absolute De Monde is a monster of a film. A collaboration between its director, Hans Bakovic, and the devil. The film depicts the act of de-winging an angel, a sacrilegious horror which destroys the viewer psychologically. It's effects are instantaneous and mostly fatal. To further compound it's legacy, anybody unlucky enough to get too close to the film begins to see "cigarette burns" and disturbing imagery.

CB feels like vintage John Carpenter. The directing is tight, and the feeling of impending doom builds steadily throughout Kirby's journey. 

The score by Carpenter's son Cody, also sounds like vintage JC, reminiscent of Halloween.

The visual horror is thankfully spread out, creating a much bigger bang in the final scenes, when the film itself finally reveals itself. Reedus sells the Kirby character very well; a broken former addict trying to make sense of things. Not unlike the man who has hired him, Kirby's dark side takes the wheel a lot, leaving him confused and tormented. The curiosity to finally see that which is forbidden is a driving force. The eventual explosion of horror in the final minutes is a sight to behold.

The Ring is undoubtedly a horror classic. Though an odd piracy loophole allows for an escape of Samara's wrath, there is no doubt that she is a terrifying movie monster. The acting and direction are top notch.  It's rare for a remake to surpass the original, but this is one of them.

Similar to Kirby's cinema employee shamelessly collecting film clippings of obscure films, we all subconsciously enjoy to see things that many have not. When boundaries are pushed and new horrors present themselves, we are excited. When the horrors seep into our day to day lives however, is too terrifying a concept to fathom.

Which is the scariest threat? A homicidal phantom summoned to scare you to death, or your inner demons brought forth to destroy you from within? I'd say it doesn't matter and enjoy the film. Pass the popcorn.