Ringu (1998)
Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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If you liked The Ring, you'll love Ringu, the original international box office hit that started it all!

A mysterious video has been linked to a number of deaths, and when an inquisitive journalist finds the tape andiviews it herself, she sets in motion a chain of events that puts her own life in danger.

Prepare yourself for an unforgettable experience!

NOTE: The re-release of this DVD in late 2003 should be about half the price of this release.

User Comment: movieguy1021 (movieguy1021@aol.com) Anywhere, USA • The original movie that the Hollywood-based hit The Ring is based on, Ringu is tons creepier and scarier, with better acting, better production, better script, and better everything.

Reiko (Nanako Matsushima) is a newspaper reporter who is learning about a cursed videotape: after viewing an odd video, a phone rings, and the person on the other end says, `You have one week to live.' After her niece dies from, presumably, the tape, she decides to investigate, so she gets a hold of the video and watches it. She, along with her husband/boyfriend Ryuji (Hiroyuki Sanada), dissects the tape frame by frame and tries to figure out the mystery.

This is the only movie that kept me up at night and had me terrified at night, which is odd because the American remake is basically the same, except that Ringu is in every way better. The video is shorter, and many things, such as flies, bloody noses, drawing rings, and shading faces, are not in this version, mainly because it wasn't necessary. Those were just to American-ize it. Also, the character played by Brian Cox in the remake has a larger role in this one. I did not `jump' once, while in The Ring, that seemed to be most of the scares. This one got its thrills naturally, not cheaply.

Hollywood movies seem to have booming music throughout the entire films, while Ringu only had music during the suspenseful scenes, which is odd, since, to me, the entire film was completely suspenseful. The ending, with the TV, was the same as The Ring, but it still gave us more answers than the remake, and didn't give us any unnecessary information (such as the horses dying). It did not seem over the top, in fact, it actually seemed plausible? It had to have palpable dread to get me this scared. There also was a lot with ESP, while there was none with the remake, which I unfortunately had to see first.

Matsushima was very good, she really acted well. I hope that Ringu 2 and Ringu 0 get released here in America so I can see more of her work, since she was very good. Sanada was also very good, and another standout is Rikiya Otaka (Yoichi, Reiko's son). He seemed to have ESP too, and was great. His role seemed very demanding for such a young age.

I would recommend seeing Ringu before The Ring because: it's better, the ending would be more of a surprise, and it's scarier. One more point: why is it called Ringu if there isn't a ring in the video? You won't notice if you're constantly biting your nails when watching, which is what you'll do.

Summary: Ringu: 10/10

--- JOYA ---

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