Tiscali rocks! I can now be online ANY TIME, cor blimey, guv. So, i'm going to try and catch up with...
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Member since:23.07.2003
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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, but obviously I might slip into comparisons earlier than planned. This is unfortunately necessary, as there was a lot of the Japanese film that I would not have been able to follow without the previous knowledge afforded to me by the remake.
***Plot***
Reiko Asakawa, a young newspaper reporter, is writing a story about a videotape that is rumoured to cause the death of anyone who watches it within seven days. Meanwhile, her young niece dies in suspicious circumstances, and at the funeral, Reiko talks to some of the girl’s friends. They say she went to a cabin with some other friends, and these friends also died on the same day. There have been rumours about a videotape they all watched, but nothing concrete. After finding out where they stayed, Reiko visits the
cabin, and finds the videotape they watched.
After watching it, the phone in the cabin rings, and Reiko realises that whether or not the story of the videotape that kills you is an urban legend, she has only seven days to find out.
***What I thought***
I personally found this a fairly confusing film, which wasn’t as terrifying as I had been led to believe. It seems to bog itself down with extraneous supernatural details in some areas of the plot, whilst leaving other parts threadbare.
I was particularly annoyed by the convenient plot developments involving Reiko – such as the fact that she had already heard the urban legend, and was already investigating it, before her niece died in this manner. She also watches the video tape, despite already hearing the horror stories, and knowing that four students died after watching it; I’m not superstitious at all, not half as much as Reiko herself, and I wouldn’t have watched it. All this doesn’t take very long, but the whole story wouldn’t work without it, no matter how illogical it seems.
A lot of questions are also conveniently answered by Reiko’s ex being a bit psychic, and being able to see into people’s past by touching them. This ability has been passed onto their son, who is an uninteresting side character in my opinion. I didn’t really care enough about him to be that bothered about what might happen to him
The plot plods randomly to its conclusion, with clues being discovered by luck or latent psychic ability, rather than scientific methods such as careful study of the actual tape itself. Despite this, it’s still an interesting mystery story for the characters to solve; I just didn’t actually find it very terrifying until the last ten minutes. To its credit, it does have a great feeling of time running out for the characters; the plot speeds up as the film goes along, and by the end, you get a tense feeling, wondering if they’re going to make it in time.
One of the last scenes is definitely the stuff of sleepless nights. If you’ve seen the remake, you’ll know the scene I mean, as it’s more or less the same. However, Hideo Nakata’s vision is somehow more realistic and more horrifying, and is what stopped the film getting only a single star.
***Comparing the original with the remake***
PLEASE NOTE; There are spoilers in the following, so please don’t read this section unless you’ve already seen one of the films.
I personally found the plot easier to follow because I watched the remake first. I also found the plot a bit easier to believe in the remake. The whole idea behind how the images came to be on the video in the first place was also explained better in the remake. What I did prefer about the original was the way she wasn’t made out to be a monstrous murderer as she was in the remake. The original portrays her more as a victim of circumstance.
Visually, she’s a much better character in the original, as you never see her face until the end, and even then it is only her eye. In the scene where she climbs out of the television (referred to in the previous section), she is jerky, and moves in a more supernatural way. In the remake, she appears more like a video image come to life, and therefore much less of a threat (a point well made by Zoë in her ranting comment on my review of the remake).
Finally, I preferred the videotape contents in the remake. Everything on it was there for a reason, which was explained as the story progressed, whereas the original tape was full of random images, which didn’t seem to be there for any good reason. I think, if anything, the videotape they watch highlights the bigger differences between the two films.
***Conclusion***
As a film with a plot that beautifully ties itself at the end, whilst still leaving an opening for a sequel, I prefer the Verbinski remake; it’s more frightening, albeit in a more obvious way, whilst still maintaining some of the charm of the original.
However, the original is definitely worth watching, as it is really a different story, just with the same outcome. I’m sure it will be loved by people who prefer their horror to be less obvious, based on the supernatural, and very subtle.
Pictures of Ringu (1998)
Movie poster
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1998 - Horror - Director: Stephen Norrington - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, N'Bushe Wright, Donal Logue, Udo Keir, Traci Lords, Udo Kier
Production Year: 2000 - Horror - Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Carmen Electra, Anna Faris, Kurt Fuller, James Van Der Beek, Keenen Ivory Wayans
I can't wait to see the original, I've just started reading the book by Sukuki. Lynne x
nalatie 19.06.2004 20:51
I have to disagree with you on this one, the original by Hideo Nakata without a doubt surpasses the American remake in every which way. I saw 'The Ring' against my better judgement, having heard some not so bad reviews... I was misled! The remake lays everything on the plate for lazy American film-goers, not bothered about intrigue or preferring to work things out for themselves. I myself am not easily scared, but the scene with Sadako and the television did give me a few too many sleepless nights... I have never been so genuinely scared by a horror film in my life! It's all about providing the audience with a few clues and letting their imaginations do the rest of the work, I find that anything you yourself imagine is always far scarier than an image you see on a screen. Ring is just one of many Japanese films with newly acquired cult status and deservedly so.
Brilliant review though... exscuse the rant! x
clownfoot 09.06.2004 13:50
Good review - however I find the original to be far superior for the simple fact that by not explaining everything in a nice and easy, believeable way, it makes it all the more supernatural. Who actually cares how the images got onto the tape - all you need to know is that their is such a tape in existence, the fact it cannot be explained coats the film in an air of mystery and suspense. With the remake explaining everthing so neatly for the audience to understand, it takes away the imagination of the viewer and their reliance to ask questions and think for themselves when the credits roll. It's neat, it's tidy, but it lacks a pervading sense of mystery because of this. The psychic aspects of the Japanese version are developed more in Ring 2 - especially the boys latent ability. Still a very readable and enjoyable review though! Alboy
Jun 4th, 2004
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