Ringu (1998)

Posted : 1 week ago at Nov 14 23:46

A superior film than the American remake, which itself is a solid horror movie. Ringu is more direct, with less emphasis on the back story of the murderous TV-witch. This has the dual advantage of making the movie shorter (by 15 minutes than The Ring) and more sinister in its ambiguity and lack of explanation. This film is also very confident in its ability to scare without any use of exploitation. There is no blood, no gore, no profanity and no skin. Similar to the great J-horror film Kwaidan, Ringu is a very impressionistic film, building tension through atmosphere, mood and bizarre sound design. Overall, Ringu is among the finest of horror films. Watched 11/1/2009.

Rating : 8/10

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago at Jul 5 16:31

Japanese horror movies don't come much better than this. A mysterious video tape kills people seven days after they watch it. One TV reporter tries to uncover the mystery which leads down several dark paths.

It was re-made into a Hollywood movie that tried to 'improve' it but only resulted in making it un-focused. If you're lucky enough not to have seen the re-make yet, do yourself a favour and grab a DVD of Ringu and get the living daylights scared out of you.

Rating : 9/10

Posted : 2 years, 6 months ago at May 5 8:43

Poor Sadako. She was too clever for all the people and could make their brains rot just by thinking about it. So they got scared and she got the ding dong dell treatment. So she kills everyone with VHS. Clever. Sadako is the ultimate emo punk.
Some people say this is a really scary series, but really it is beautiful tragedy. It made me cry. The books are very good and offer more insight into the character. If you are watching the videos it is good to see them in order 0-1-2

Rating : 9/10