#ring 0

[roserosette]

Ring 0: Birthday, 2000, Norio Tsuruta

[advancedessence]

Ring 0: Birthday (2000)

[uspiria]

Ring 0 (2000) dir. Norio Tsuruta

[s3lene]

First movie in my epic Ring watch: Ring 0

Sadako joined an acting troupe and gave everyone nightmares, lol

[nyarlathotep-thecrawlingchaos]

Just a heads up, you guys can probably expect a handful of impromptu reviews on horror films/series from me, from probably now until at least a month after Halloween. Horror has been a love and passion of mine since I was a tiny little crawling chaos writing silly ghost stories in crayon, and I'm in my element this time of year. I also have no one to really talk about horror with so I have to get my thoughts out somewhere.

I keep trying to find a good horror movie to scare the shit out of me and just keep ending up sad??

I just discovered there was a prequel to the original Japanese Ring.

And I watched it

Aaaaand now I'm trying not to cry. Hooray!

Normally not big on origin stories, but this was was surprisingly beautiful. The cinematography alone was lovely. Wouldn't call it horror in the same way the original Ring and its sequel were horror, and definitely not in the way the American remake was full of cheap jump scares and "shocking" visuals.

Ring 0 gets under your skin in a different way. It lingers. It depicts the horror of prejudice and mob mentality and how it can affect otherwise stable individuals. It plays on the pain of being an outcast and, aided by supernatural elements, the struggle of post-trauma. It gives the sequels more of an emotional impact without detracting anything from them. It does what an origin story is really supposed to do.

A little suspension of disbelief is required to enjoy it in certain instances, but not so much that it takes away from the story. Just don't go into it expecting to be scared if you give it a shot. There is a little blood and a few frightening visuals, but they're very tame and not terribly shocking in their presentation. It moves slowly, and the "horror" elements presented throughout are more existential and tragic than they are outright frightening.

Again, it's the type of horror that gets under your skin and lingers there, that leaves you with no promise of happiness, the kind that you might find yourself thinking about days later. I probably will be.

So, even though I wasn't looking for a movie that would make me feel WAY too many feelings, I don't regret watching it at all. I'd give it a 7/10, almost purely because I feel it's misrepresented as traditional horror. As a tragedy and an origin story and companion piece to the rest of the Ring films, I'd give it an 8.5.

If you too enjoy being sad and scared at the same time, I also recommend The Orphanage/La Orfanato (2007). Slow-burn psychological horror meets traditional ghost story. Sadly not streaming ANYWHERE at the moment (at least not in the US), but if you find it, I recommend giving it a go. It's one of my favorites, even though it rips my heart out and tears it to tiny little pieces every time I watch it.

[euporiavortex]

Just read the wikipedia summary for lemon heart by koji suzuki which is the short story ring 0: birthday was based on and i think it’s safe to say that without even reading the story itself i already like the movie better

[localhorrornerd]

A Guide to the Ringu/Ring Films

This one was very hard to put together as there is just so much Ring content out there, so hopefully I’ve got everything here, and if not, I’m sure this guide will have to be updated later on anyway!

A Quick Introduction

Ringu/Ring is a series that centers around Sadako Yamamura (aka Samara Morgan & Park Eun-suh) and a cursed video that causes all who watch it to die within seven days (or in one version, two days). Sadako’s backstory varies from entry to entry in the franchise, but it is generally portrayed that she had some sort of psychic powers before she died, partially leading to how the curse works.

Ring originally started out as a series of novels written by Koji Suzuki before it was adapted as a tv movie in 1995, then followed up by an actual theatrical movie in 1998.

The Japanese Ring Films

As stated, the first actual Ring movie is a 1995 tv movie.

Ring: Kanzenban (1995)

This adaptation follows the original story of the novel, so there’s many differences to the version that we know now, but Sadako is still a part of the story. It’s certainly worth a watch if you’re interested in the novels.

Now this is where things become a bit more confusing. At some point with the Japanese films they sort of split into four categories: the ones that follow director Hideo Nakata’s timeline, the ones that follow the book timeline, the ones that follow both timelines, and the versus films. 

Both Timelines

Ring (1998)

Ring 0: Birthday (2000)

Ring/Ringu is obviously the movie we know today, that is very beloved. While it partially follows the books, it also has Hideo Nakata’s personal touches to it, that you’ll sort of see no matter what timeline you look at. Ring 0, however, is an origin story, and gives you a look into Sadako’s life before she died while she was a part of a theater troupe. It’s extremely tragic, and one of my personal favorites. 

Hideo Nakata Timeline

Ring 2 (1999)

Sadako (2019)

As implied, these two movies follow Hideo Nakata’s storyline, and are also two other movies in the franchise directed by him. Would recommend these two if you want to see a continuation of the story from the characters in the first film.

Rasen Timeline

Spiral/Rasen (1998)

Sadako 3D (2012)

Sadako 3D 2 (2013)

So here’s the interesting thing about Spiral/Rasen, it was actually released at the exact same time as the original 1998 movie. However, there ended up being much more interest in Ring rather than Spiral, so it quickly flopped upon release and is why we saw another sequel to Ring come out the next year. Though there was certainly some interest in it, as the Sadako 3D movies were released in 2012 and 2013. While these follow different characters, they still have ties back to the ones from Spiral, and follow the books to some extent.

Versus Films

Hikiko-san vs Sadako (2015)

Sadako vs Kayako (2016)

Bunshinsaba vs Sadako (2016)

Bunshinsaba vs Sadako 2 (2017)

Basically, a bunch of movies portraying Sadako fighting other ghosts from Japanese/Chinese media. Each one is vastly different, but definitely fun if you’re into seeing that sort of thing! Note: at this time I am unable to find a translated version of the first Bunshinsaba vs Sadako movie, however, it won’t be an issue to watch the second as I was able to watch it easily without knowing the plot of the first (if you can find a translated version though, feel free to inform me!) Note: the Bunshinsaba vs Sadako films are actually Chinese movies, but since i was covering the vs films here, I felt it’d be best to just add it rather than making a whole different category.

The TV Series

Ring: The Final Chapter (1999)

Rasen (1999)

The last bit of Ring media we have to cover in Japan, Ring actually got a tv series with two seasons, one with 12 episodes and the other with 13 - the episodes running about 45 minutes each. Though I have not seen it yet so I can’t give great detail, it’s said to loosely be based off the novel along with the 1998 Ring film.

Updates

since making this of course more Ring media has came out, so any updates i will add as they come along

Sadako DX (2022) - haven’t seen it myself yet, but it’s stated to be a sequel to Spiral (1998)

The Ring Virus Film

A quick extra stop before we get to the American films, The Ring Virus (1999) is a South Korean remake of both the 1998 Ring movie, but also Ring: Kanzenban to an extent as well. It borrows many elements from both, and instead of Sadako we have Park Eun-suh as our cursed ghost this time. While I wouldn’t say it adds really anything new to the series, still worth the watch if you want to see all of the Ring movies.

The American Ring Films

The Ring (2002)

The Ring Two (2005)

Rings (2017)

I don’t think much needs to be said here. The Ring was a very popular remake in America and is what is credited for starting the J-Horror remake phase over here. The popularity caused for two current sequels to be made, one even directed by Hideo Nakata himself (The Ring Two). Obviously it’s a much more Americanized version of the series, with Sadako this time being replaced with Samara Morgan, which unlike herself in both the Japanese and Korean films, is a child, which adds a lot to how Samara’s story is played out differently from Sadako’s. 

Other Media

If you’re looking for other media pertaining to the Ring Franchise, here’s some for you:

The Ring novel series by Koji Suzuki (consisting of 6 books: Ring, Spiral, Loop, Birthday, S & Tide)

The manga series (consisting of 6 different volumes all following different movies)

The Ring: Terror’s Realm (Dreamcast Game)

Rings (2005 short film)

Various other mangas and comics by different authors (Sadako-san and Sadako-chan, Sadako at the End of the World, Sadako)

And there you have it! A hopefully helpful guide to the Ringu/Ring franchise! Of course, new stuff will be added as time passes.

[ozu-teapot]

Ring 0: Birthday | Norio Tsuruta | 2000

Yukie Nakama