Quick - turn off the TV!
Review of Ringu (1998) by
JessL
Advantages: Much scarier than most horror films
Disadvantages: Doesn't live up to the hype, confusing
...and is less confusing. However, Ringu is still a great film - just not as scary as expected, and is very confusing.
It is worth a watch, although don't be surprised if your nerves are ripped to shreds and you suddenly become very suspicious of unmarked videos and girls with long, black hair!
Obviously, Ringu is made in Japanese, but that's what the subtitles are there for, and you shouldn't have any problem understanding the plot. Don't let ...
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05.11.2003
(23.02.2004)
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Not Actually About A Ring After All...
Review of Ringu (1998) by
peppersinclaire
Advantages: Creepy, psychological horror.
Disadvantages: Hate subtitles? You'll hate this.
...few other Ring movies – Ringu 2 (apparently crap), Ringu 0 – a prequel (again – not so good, they say), Rasen – a sub-sequel that was made at the same time as Ringu – and scoffed on by Ringu purists. Finally there’s Ring Virus – a virtual remake from Korea. Phew! Most hardcore Ringu fans dislike this version, though it does include more elements from the novel (part one of a trilogy itself) than Ringu does. ...
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09.05.2002
(10.05.2002)
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Ring a ring of roses
Review of Ringu (1998) by
claires_cult
Advantages: Brilliant acting, well written script.
Disadvantages: Bad subtitles
It’s a familiar story, I’m sure we all know it well now. Someone makes a really good, if low budget, movie. The film probably never does particularly well, but everyone who does watch it thinks its great. Then along comes Hollywood, and before you know it, it’s a really crap re-make, which makes a whole load of money, but has little or no integrity. Know what I’m talking about? *cough* The Haunting, Psycho etc *cough*
Well, the plus side of this ...
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20.01.2003
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Don't watch this alone
Review of Ringu (1998) by
pbyron
Advantages: Scary, in the old fashioned sense
Disadvantages: Subtitles and Asian style storytelling
Horror films seem to be getting worse these days. Ok, so it’s a sweeping statement but the world of horror in director and screenwriter’s eyes these days seems to be made up of quick jumps and lots of blood. This, in my humble opinion, is what’s known as a ‘bad move’. I was reminded about this the other day when I had a chance to catch the showing of Ring and Ring 2 on Channel 4 over the last week. The first of these ...
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17.05.2002
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Frolick In Brine, Goblins Be Thine
Review of Ringu (1998) by
wampyrii
Advantages: It'll scare ya
Disadvantages: You might not like that...and its subtitled
It has been a while since I watched a horror movie which actually managed to freak me out. Western horror movies seemed to go through a stage of either being ultra gory(before being clamped down on), then slipping into self-parody and have now spun full circle back to the old, tired slasher movie genre which has even made someone believe the 9th sequel to Friday the 13th was a great idea(it wasn't - arrgh!). Hollywood seems almost completely devoid ...
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17.05.2002
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Far superior to the remake
Review of Ringu (1998) by
Thehonesttruth
Advantages: -
Disadvantages: -
...toes,alert and guessing.Unlike THE RING, Ringu avoids cheap scares.No chasing,no bathtub electrocutions, no gore, no physical battles and no mad suicidal horses in this version.
While the remake was big on swish camera action, strange noises, and scary psychiatric assemssment videos, Ringu is much more simple, streamlined and uncluttered.The tape in the original is shorter than in the remake, with much less yuck in it. No fingers pierced on nails, ...
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14.11.2004
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Ringu
Review of Ringu (1998) by
wheeljack77
Advantages: Very atmospheric,more psychological than gore-fest.
Disadvantages: Rushed ending,patchy plot in places
...who don't know the story, Ringu is set around a kind of urban myth-a cursed videotape-which causes the viewer to die seven days after watching it (no Batman & Robin jokes,please!).
Of course, it is not just a myth, as we find out within the first five,excruciatingly tense minutes, as two girls sit alone in a house talking about the tape.
One of them, as it turns out,watched the tape the previous week,and the girls get edgy when the phone rings ...
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07.04.2003
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Sorry you couldn’t get through
Review of Ringu (1998) by
pesky33
Advantages: terrifying visuals and soundtrack
Disadvantages: not as good as the remake in my opinion
It was inevitable that I would watch this original version of ‘The Ring’ (reviewed last week), if only to compare and contrast the two different treatments of the same story. I was surprised by the big differences in story line, as I expected the American version to be a frame-by-frame remake, when it actually changes a lot of the story by a fair bit.
I’m going to try and review the film as a stand alone, and then try and compare the two afterwards, ...
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04.06.2004
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Get ready to feel scared. . .
Review of Ringu (1998) by
djchopper
Advantages: genuinely scary, original concept,
Disadvantages: subtitled, specific japanese culture references
Do you like scary movies? No, really. After the self knowing, irony by numbers of Scream I truly thought that horror as a genre had had its day and I'd never be scared by a film ever again. The dull art school posturing of Blair Witch Project only served to re-enforce that belief. So whats gone wrong? Well, we're all so knowing these days, safe in our 21st century homes - we just don't scare that easy. Monsters, zombies, vampires, even serial killers ...
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10.09.2002
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Classic that can still spook
Review of Ringu (1998) by
mtrekster
Advantages: a gem and a plus
Disadvantages: subtitles
Sometimes there is a lot to be said about those rare films that not only can rattle a person, but even do it while being made in another country.
This very proper distinction is for the film "Ringu", made by Hideo Nakata, and also is one of the most bone rattling films I have ever seen.
The way it starts is as this.
At its beginning,there are 2 girls who are chatting, enjoying each others company, until one of them tells her friend about seeing ...
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17.11.2003
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This scared me to death
Review of Ringu (1998) by
Derek300
Advantages: Scary, very entertaining, good for a night in with pals
Disadvantages: poor special effects
Well, If you know me and have read my opinions, then you know I am not squeamish when it comes to horror films but this one gave me the shivers. This is probably the first film since the exorcist that actually scared me deep down, call me a wimp but it really did.
After seeing the 2003 version on a plane about 6 times all the way through, no kidding, I was on a journey to Australia so I had a lot of time to kill. I loved the film and it did shock ...
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09.05.2003
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very weird!
Review of Ringu (1998) by
fingertoe
Advantages: very spooky
Disadvantages: quite slow between scares
Ring is a supernatural Japanese horror film that has only recently arrived in England, despite being made nearly three years ago. Its success in Japan was such that it has already spawned two sequels.
The story centres around an schoolkids Urband Myth about a weird video tape. Anyone who sees it dies exactly one week later. After a group of young friends die after allegedly seeing just such a video, a young female reporter and her ex-husband try ...
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09.09.2000
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The original and best
Review of Ringu (1998) by
GreenFluffBob
Advantages: Great plot, genuinely spooky
Disadvantages: People might be put off by subtitles
Contrary to what the title suggests, The Ring (or Ringu, from the Japanese) does not focus on a ring, but on a videotape. It begins with a rumour that there is an evil videotape that kills you seven days after you watch it. A reporter watches it and, with her ex-husband, sets out to work out how and why it kills people, before she too dies.
The film is beautfilly simple in it's premise and the plot remains coherant and intriguing, by the use of ...
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06.07.2004
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Deeply unsettling
Review of Ringu (1998) by
sonofsanta
Advantages: Will scare the living bejesus out of you
Disadvantages: Will leave you unable to function as a proper human being for some time
It's long been apparent that American cinema is suffocating in its own stagnation and lack of new ideas... so, to Japan we must turn. Originally released in 1998, Ring has long had cult status as the scariest film ever, even more so now the Americans have filmed their tribute to it (for that is all it is... a pale mockery of this film).
Yes, it is in Japanese, and if you're a relaxed moviewatcher who likes to relax to films, this probably isn' worth ...
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26.11.2003
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An excellent plot
Review of Ringu (1998) by
st_mak
Advantages: A very tight plot, with a well thought out twist
Disadvantages: Losing sleep over it.
The story was originally from a popular Japanese novel, which subsequently released as a horror comic, then finally as a film.
The story is about the lead actress Reiko (a reporter) inverstigating a rumoured tape which lead to deaths for its viewer. Those who viewed it will receive a phone call (hence the title RING) telling them they will die within 7 days.
Reiko and her husband got hold of a copy, watched it, and the phone predictablly rang. ...
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18.08.2003
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