Ringu

 

 

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* At the beginning of RINGU, a Japanese live-action thriller-horror
film, a group of students who watch a strange videotape while visiting
a resort all die abruptly a week later. They are physically unharmed
but died with a look of fear and horror on their faces. A young
reporter investigating the incident acquires the tape and watches it
herself, only to become convinced that she is similarly doomed and has
only a week to live. Together with her ex-husband, a university
professor, she sets out on a quest to unravel the mystery of the
cursed videotape.

I am not a big horror movie fan but I like Japanese movies, so I was
more interested in RINGU than its American remake, THE RING. However,
on watching RINGU I have to say that it is not a particularly
impressive movie. It was clearly made on a budget, which is not
necessarily bad in itself, but the acting is also strictly B-grade and
not very convincing.

To be sure, weak acting is sort of a trademark of run-of-the-mill
horror flics, but to inspire terror the actors have to convince the
viewer that they are actually terrified, and if they can't do this
when the viewer is willing to suspend disbelief the movie's got a
problem. RINGU is more slow than frightening. I would place it
somewhere in between the low-end made-for-TV movies on SCI-FI CHANNEL
and higher-end made-for-TV movies made for the more mainstream cable
channels.

RINGU can be watched in sort of an automatic fashion -- it is,
incidentally, not a blood-and-gore film -- but it won't disturb your
sleep. I hear the acting in THE RING is actually pretty hair-raising,
but like I said I'm not a horror fan and I doubt I'll check it out
any time soon.

Everyone has heard of "The Ring," a terrifying horror movie starring Naomi Watts. But before there was that film, there was "Ringu," a hair-raising ghost story where something as insignificant as a videotape can kill.

Four teenagers have died mysteriously, and another has gone mad. After finding that her niece was literally scared to death, Reiko Asakawa (Nanako Matsushima) begins investigating the cabin where the four kids stayed. There she finds a strange videotape full of bizarre images. Then the phone rings. It fits the profile of the "cursed video" that has been circulating, which will kill the watcher after seven days.

Reiko is understandably terrified -- especially when her young son also watches it. She calls in her ex-husband Ryuji (Hiroyuki Sanada), who initially discounts her fears. But soon he begins to believe as well, and assists Reiko in investigating the origins of the tape, and the strange images on it. They find that the source of it is a young girl with monstrous psychic powers, who was murdered thirty years ago...

"Ringu" has become one of those rare films that are frequently ripped off (especially in Asian cinema), referenced, and remade (especially in Hollywood). Crawling ghosts with long drippy hair, slow-acting curses and all that.

But as we all know, the first is usually the best. There aren't any masked slashers or bloody bodies in this. Instead, there is an everyday item that happens to be cursed, and a jerky-limbed girl who can kill with a thought -- and even death can't stop her. (Interestingly, Sadako and her mother were based on real people)

Hideo Nakata did a magnificent job with a film that could have been incredibly tedious; much of "Ringu" is detective work, with the ghoulish Sadako only entering the picture at the end. Instead, it has suspense. Colours are muted, and the plot grows more taut and claustrophobic as the characters try to beat the clock. And the end is a terrifying twist that can't be seen in advance -- but which leaves us wondering what we would do in that situation.

Matsushima and Sanada are excellent leads for this movie; not only do they have excellent chemistry, but they seem like a plausible pair of exes. Reiko is played as a strong, smart woman who desperately wants to save her son, while Ryuji is insensitive and rather brusque, but cares as much for Reiko as he seems capable of.

With a quietly taut storyline and a terrifying demon-spawn villain, "Ringu" strips horror down to its bare bones, and lets the ordinary scare us silly. Outstanding.

DEAR SIR/MADAM,
IT WOULD BE NICE TO WRITE A REVIEW IF THE PRODUCT WAS THE PROPER ONE THAT WAS SENT,BUT THE PACKAGE WAS RIGHT AND THE PRODUCT WAS THE WRONG ONE.
WHEN WE WROTE THE SELLER THAT SENT IT WE WHERE TOLD THAT IS TOO BAD.
IS THIS THE WAY YOU DO BUSINESS ON THE NET.THIS IS THE SECOND TIME I AM WRITING ABOUT THIS.
KINDLY CONFIRM
CARMEN.

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2.0 out of 5 stars mildly creepy, not scary
As a fan of Japanese cinema, I really wanted to enjoy this movie, especially since I'd read that it is much better then the American remake (which I haven't seen). Read more

Published on May 22 2005 by Gibby

4.0 out of 5 stars Creepy
Now, first of all, I thought Sadako was much better than Samara, because:
They didn't use special effects throughout all of the Sadako sequences. Read more

Published on Aug 28 2004 by Matthew Berardos

5.0 out of 5 stars Sadako Is Much Scarier Than Samara!
Ok I saw the American version first, and when I first saw it I didn't really like it, mostly because I wasn't really sure WHY I should be scared. Read more

Published on July 17 2004 by Lexxi

5.0 out of 5 stars Ringu
Let's get one quick thing out of the way: The American remake 'The Ring' is Not better. The Ring isn't bad, but Ringu is far superior. Read more

Published on July 4 2004 by C. James

4.0 out of 5 stars 'The Ring' is better
This review is spoiler-ish, and intended for people who've seen The Ring and were curious about this movie. Read more

Published on Jun 29 2004 by Henry Platte

3.0 out of 5 stars Endless Cycle
Ringu was an excellent movie, but I find I enjoyed the American version better. However, the Japanese movie explained things better. Read more

Published on Jun 19 2004 by Heather Hilburn

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Utilization of the Minimalist Approach
When a young girl dies mysteriously, presumably without cause, her aunt, a reporter, deems it necessary to investigate further. Read more

Published on Jun 9 2004 by CreepyT

1.0 out of 5 stars Oh, please!
I too purchased this movie after reading so many great reviews. Gosh! Were we watching the same film? In a word, it stinks. Read more

Published on May 15 2004 by Don

5.0 out of 5 stars I Liked Both This One and The U.S. Remake
Creepy film. Not very bloody at all for a horror film: the scares come from psychological tension and an intriguing story. Read more

Published on May 8 2004 by miles@riverside

5.0 out of 5 stars Original is always better...
This film is a masterpiece. I first heard about it in 1999 and I've chased it down until 2002 when I bought it in Chinatown. Read more

Published on April 29 2004 by Willis Williams

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