Ring (1998) [2000]

Amazon.co.uk Review

A major box office hit in the Far East, Hideo Nakada's Ring is a subtly creepy Japanese ghost story with an urban legend theme, based on a series of popular teen-appeal novels by Susuki Koji. Far less showy than even the restrained chills of The Blair Witch Project or The Sixth Sense, Ring has nevertheless become a mainstream blockbuster and has already been followed by Ring 2 and the prequel Ring 0. A Hollywood remake is in the works.

Investigating the inexplicable, near-simultaneous deaths of her young niece and three teenage friends, reporter Asakawa (Nanako Matsushima) learns of a story about a supernaturally cursed video-tape circulating among school kids. As soon as anyone has watched the tape, allegedly recorded by mistake from a dead TV channel, the telephone rings and the viewer has exactly a week to live. Those doomed are invisibly marked, but their images are distorted if photographed. Inevitably, Asakawa gets hold of the tape and watches it. The enigmatic collage of images include a coy woman combing her hair in a mirror, an old newspaper headline about a volcanic eruption, a hooded figure ranting, people crawling and a rural well. When the phone rings (a memorably exaggerated effect), Asakawa is convinced that the curse is active and calls in her scientist ex-husband Ryuji (Hiroyuki Sanada) to help. He watches a copy of the video a day after Asakawa is exposed and willingly submits himself to the curse. Even more urgency is added to their quest when their young son is unwittingly duped, apparently by the mystery woman from the tape, into watching the video too, joining the queue for a supernatural death.

On the DVD: For a film made in the digital era, the letterboxed (16:9) print is in mediocre state, with a noticeable amount of scratching, though the Dolby Digital soundtrack is superb, making this a film that's as scary to listen to as it is to watch (the squeamish might find themselves covering their ears rather than their eyes in some scenes). Otherwise, there are trailers for the first two Ring films and Audition, 10 stills, filmographies for the principals, a review by Mark Kermode, blurb-like extracts from other reviews and the ominous option of playing Sadako's video after a solemn disavowal of responsibility from the distributors! --Kim Newman

Customer Reviews:

An iconic, inventive and at the time, highly original mystery/suspense thriller........2008-02-26

The thing I like best about Japanese horror is the sense of atmosphere. The use of lingering, slow burning tension, when a character approaches a closed door that we know they shouldn't open, but we still want them too regardless. For me, it's everything that horror should be. No gratuitous gore, no shock MTV style montages; just a slow, lingering feeling of dread that grows with intensity from one scene to the next. It also helps that the majority of these films are directed with flair and imagination, whilst - for the most part at least - offering us intelligent characters and interesting scenarios.

Ringu (1998), or The Ring as it is more commonly known, is largely considered to be the first major release to kick-start the recent revival of Asian horror/supernatural cinema in the west. As a result, it has probably lost some of its initial appeal since first gaining cult-notoriety as a straight to video picture ten years ago (doesn't time fly?); with countless parodies, rip-offs and the inevitable Hollywood remake all detracting from the original film's sense of slow burning mystery and suspense. Now, I'm certainly not going to pretend that I was amongst the very first wave of viewers to champion the film; especially since I only got around to experiencing it after having already witnessed the 2002 Hollywood version, as well as having experienced countless other Asian horror films, such as The Eye (2000), A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) and Ju On: The Grudge (2003). It must also be said here that all three of those particular examples excited and enveloped me much more than any fastidious viewing of Ringu; although again, this is perhaps down to how iconic and over familiar the images of the film have become from the innumerable references that have been made to it in the name of popular culture, as well as something of a process of refinement; with each subsequent Ringu-knock off expanding and elaborating upon the template set here.

Like Psycho (1960), The Exorcist (1973) and countless Spielberg blockbusters, Ringu has become one of those iconic films that are familiar to audiences who have yet to experience even a single frame. As a result, you could probably call the film a victim of its own success, or maybe even something that really needs to be experienced within the context of which it was originally created. You also have to try and disassociate yourself from the hype; something that seems to have confused certain viewers and led them to lash out at the film with a plethora of one-star reviews because it perhaps failed to deliver on what someone on the Internet suggested it would. This isn't really a fault of the film, as obviously, different people will always like different things; with the majority of Asian horror being so deeply rooted in the religious, historical and social conventions, concerns and taboos of actual Asian culture that it will always going to require a certain element of compromise on the part of an audience more familiar with westernised horror cinema; which tends to place more emphasis on sex and violence (be it psychological, or merely physical).

Like the subsequent, similarly-themed films that came in its wake - such as Audition (1999), Ju On: The Grudge and director Hideo Nakata's own ensuing feature, Dark Water (2002) - the horror of Ringu looks back to the days of the slow-burning, classical Japanese horror of films such as Kwaidan (1964), Onibaba (1964) and Kuroneko (1968); films that perhaps don't seem all that horrific to a more adventurous or desensitised audience, with the horror really coming from the personification of ghosts and demons, or the sense of taboo. There's also elements of social commentary, with the idea of home entertainment pushing people further outside of society and allowing them to wallow in loneliness and alienation; an idea that is further developed in Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Pulse (2001). So, it was and still is a kind of horror that the majority of UK/US viewers were unaccustomed to, and this in itself is one of the reasons why I'm so fond of this particular style of filmmaking, and Japanese cinema as a whole. It also worked as a great gimmick too, with the idea of an audience renting a video about a tape that causes anyone who watches it to drop dead. This, for me, only added to the sinister atmosphere of foreboding menace; especially as I watched it alone at 2:30 in the morning (really the best time to experience any kind of horror film, in my opinion).

Although admittedly less immediate in terms of shocks than the Ju On series, and a lot less thematically successful than similarly minded Asian horror such as The Eye and A Tale of Two Sisters, Ringu is still a solid piece of supernatural mystery and suspense. Yes, it is slow, and yes, it might require more than a single viewing to get the full effect, but it does stand up surprisingly well; even though I'm sure most potential viewers will know the broader aspects of the plot already. Ringu is definitely a film for anyone who appreciates interesting characters, intelligent and deliberately-paced plotting, and an atmosphere of claustrophobic and foreboding dread.

Spine chilling yet sometimes jovial drama.......2008-01-30

I have always been a fan of Chinese films, ever since I saw 'Seven Samurai' in my wilderness years. 'The Ring', or 'Yoshimoto' as it is known in its native country begun life as a childrens novel before being turned into an adult film with a twist. In the original book, it is about a magical phone which brings good news to whoever answers it. In the film, it is about a video tape which brings death, so as you can see there was a slight adaption.
Director Tiguta Mihawmi delivers a chilling movie with ghosts, ghouls and creepy children crawling under floorboards. What struck me most is how the director plays with sound and in some parts of the film there is total silence for several minutes at a time, even where dialogue is being spoken.
Lead actress Jenny Lee is strong as the heroine but casting an actress with a famous father was always going to raise eyebrowes. Her father is Hollwood legend Tom Selleck.
The film was remade for American audiences but this version is the best as it has the original soundtrack provided by Chaka Khan, which the other version lacks.
Well worth a viewing!

a good film but maybe a little overrated .......2007-10-23

in 1998 hideo nakata directed this film based on a book,which deals with urban legends,this case being ,that a videotape exists that if you watch means that you die a week later.The story is now very well as most people know this film and sequels and prequels have been released as well as two american remakes,the second of which is directed by nakata himself,but this is where it all began.
The film is slow,painfully slow,the horror isnt visual but plays on the mind more and kudos to the director for realising that tactic is just as fierce as showing blood pour from the screen.
I feel that although this film is influential and opened up the japanese horror industry in its wake that its pace is a problem,when the scary parts occur they are stunning but the work between the journalist and her ex husband are just too punishing in terms of maintaining interest.
This is a good film,but not a startling one but still worth owning i would say.

Ring .......2007-10-13

Being highly favourited as "One of the best Horrors of all time" and incredibly loved worldwide, there's no surprise that it's also one of my favourites as it's terrifying, full of suspense and thrills, and totally original!

After the sudden inexplicable death of four friends who, rumour has it, died exactly one week after watching a cursed videotape. Enter one of the friends' aunt, Reiko Asakawa, a news reporter who's doing a feature on it.
Her investigation leads her to a vacation resort in the suburbs where she discovers and watches the cursed videotape, which features surreal imagery, and is told by telephone that she'll die in seven days...

Now if the storyline doesn't pull you in, then maybe the direction of Hideo Nakata (Dark Water, The Ring Two) might intice you with his use of creepy camerawork and chilling atmopshere. Maybe it's the tremendous work of the actors; Nanako Matsushima who portrays Reiko with such authencity that you feel apart of her demise somehow, or maybe the terrific support from her fellow cast, Hiroyuki Sanada (The Twilight Samurai, The Last Samurai, Sunshine, Rush Hour 3), Rikiya Otaka as Reiko's 7-year-old son Yoichi and Rie Inô, who plays the cursed Sadako. Or perhaps it's the scare factor that shoots through the roof with its frightening ambience, dark visuals and a spine-chilling soundtrack that'll play on you mind for years to come!!

Anyways, this is the best J-Horror ever to set foot in the film industry and it's going to stay with us for all time. So don't just sit there reading my review, seek it out and experience the TERROR for yourself!

A big disappointment.......2007-09-13

Having looked forward to seeing this film for some time now and being unmoved by the US version, I was utterly bored when I finally came to watch it. I found nothing in this movie to like. The acting is pedestrian, it lacked anything to make me care about the characters in any way and there is more shock value in the ingredients of the average ready meal. Needless to say I shall not be wasting my time with the sequel or the prequel.

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