Like many parents, Rachel had a hard time getting her son to stop watching Spongebob Squarepants.

It's that spooky movie time of year again and Hollywood is obliging those of us looking for a good scare with The Ring, a cautionary tale for anyone who's ever considered putting random, unmarked videotapes into their VCRs.

Here's the setup: there's a videotape containing surreal, nightmarish images. Anybody who watches it receives a phone call immediately afterwards and hears a voice saying, "Seven days." If that were a Jeopardy answer, the question would be, "How long do I have left to live, Alex?"

After four teenagers all die on the same night, intrepid reporter Rachel Keller decides to look into the matter. She watches the tape, then shows it to somebody else. (Nice, huh? Why doesn't she just feed him some tainted potato salad.) The clock starts ticking as they try to figure out why people are dying and how to stop it.

Horrifying nightmare image, or subliminal ad for Krispy Kreme?

This fairly ludicrous sounding concept works because The Ring twists it into a spooky, old-fashioned ghost story, the kind we rarely see anymore. The script by Ehren Kruger, based on the novel by Koji Suzuki, weaves a story that is terrifying without being violent. Its chills build slowly as the noose tightens around its potentially doomed protagonists. I also liked that they actually respond by doing smart things. (Well, except for watching the video in the first place, but it wouldn't have been much of a movie if they hadn't.) There's possibly even a deeper meaning to the whole affair about how the things that we see can damage us in ways that aren't readily apparent, but I wouldn't be presumptuous enough to say so.

As much as you might want to, it's almost impossible to turn away from The Anna Nicole Show.

Director Gore Verbinski (Mouse Hunt) fills the movie with haunting imagery, which is important in a movie where the frights are based on, well, haunting images. He makes excellent use of the fall landscape in all its barren beauty, and the whole thing is evocative of Ingmar Bergman or one of those other depressing Swedish directors.

Naomi Watts, whose quest for a killer videotape is actually less bizarre than her last starring role in Mulholland Drive, does a great job. Rachel has a hard edge and a softer side and lots of moods in between and Watts shows us all of them in a believable and sympathetic way.

What it all comes down to is this: I like movies that manage to scare me without leaving me feeling icky when they're over. They're all too rare and so it's a particular joy when they come along. The Ring is such a movie and I hope — really hope — that I can persuade at least one of you to go see it. Write to me in seven days and let me know if you liked it.

Gorilla Pants rating: 3.5 out of 4 bananas