American remakes of any foreign horror film suck. Period. The Ring (2002), while a functional thriller, is a piece of paranormal poop compared to the 1998 Japanese original. Ringu ranks as one of the few films that has genuinely scared me in my adult years. I went about watching Ringu with an open mind, as I saw it after seeing Gore Verbinski’s neutered redo, a film which left me unimpressed. Oh dear was I sorry I didn’t just skip The Ring altogether.
Reiko (Nanako Matsushima), a single mother and reporter investigating rumors of a tape popular among teens, is drawn even deeper after the tape claims her niece. Reiko follows clues to the getaway cabin where her niece and her recently departed friends stayed, whereupon she finds the cursed tape. The actual content of the tape is one of the most eerie string of scenes Ringu has to offer: a series of disturbing images, among them a brief glimpse of our haunting antagonist. Reiko’s ex-husband, Ryuji (Hiroyuki Sanada), an implied psychic, is shown the tape and after she makes him a copy, joins her in her investigation. A specific dialect on the tape is recognized by Ryuji, sending them across the sea to the island of Izu. Shortly before their departure, Reiko’s son, Yoichi (Rikiya Otaka), watches the tape as well, claiming the spirit of his cousin (Reiko’s niece) directed him to view it. It is also implied here that Yoichi may possess abilities similar to his father, Ryuji. Once on Izu, with the clock now counting down for both Reiko and Ryuji, they learn of the powerful psychic Shizuko Yamamura (Mazuko) and her eventually labeling as a fraud. As their investigation deepens we learn of Shizuko’s more powerful daughter, Sadako (Rie Inoo), the implied daughter of a sea deity. Deducing that the video tape is the manifestation of Sadako’s psionic wrath, they learn that Sadako’s resting place lies in a well hidden beneath the cabin where the tape was initially found. With time almost out for Reiko, they hurry to the well and exhume Sadako’s decayed body, hoping it will appease her raging spirit. The day passes with Reiko alive; however the next day, Sadako emerges from a television to claim Ryuji. Stricken with sorrow over Ryuji’s death and Yoichi’s clock still ticking, Reiko discovers that copying the tape and having it viewed by another lifts the curse and passes it on. Determined to save her son, Reiko moves forward with an important favor to ask of her father (Katsumi Muramatsu).
What makes Ringu function is its atmosphere, an airy and gloomy mood that is maintained perfectly throughout. The music here is minimal and is often replaced with a stressful and eerie cacophony. You always feel like something is about to happen, leaving you in an ever present state of suspense. The slow revealing of the tape’s origin leaves you guessing and eventually entranced. Sadako’s oceanic origins are a pleasant and creepy tribute to Shinto folklore and ancient Japan’s reverence of the sea. The evil of Sadako herself makes you wonder about the nature of her supernatural origins, specifically, how terrifying it must be.
The climax of Ringu is its centerpiece. The same ghost coming out of the television scene in The Ring cannot compare to the terror this scene presents in Ringu. As Sadako climbs out of the television, she lays herself prostrate, her ripped fingernail hands scratching across the floor, and in a trance-like ghostly manner, rises. Without so much as a few steps she stares down Ryuji, the very meeting of her gaze causing his death. Every time I see this I am left with chills riding up my spine like a roller coaster.
There are many reasons to watch Ringu, if not to compare it to The Ring or just watch a well made film. I revere this film for its minimalist approach: its terrors are sparse but when present, leave you in shock. Ringu is the most terrifying movie I have ever seen.
New Comments