IS IT STILL RELEVANT? RINGU

Jason revisits the origin of the new millennium’s first major international franchise, RINGU and asks if it is still relevant today… oh you better believe it is.

It’s easy to forget in this day of ghostly pale children, attacks in the shower by hair and Junji Ito that it wasn’t that long ago that the Asian horror market was a barren place, full of untapped potential, but with no output to captivate us with their differing take on the traditional ghost story. However, in 1998, American horror fans got a taste of what our brethren in the East was creating, and it kicked off a massive wave of Japanese horror films featuring effects that focused more on eeriness and less on blood, and despite the number of films that it inspired and proceeded in its wake, it still remains the undisputed king of Asian horror cinema.

Of course, we are talking about Ring.

I’m sure most of the people reading this are familiar with the storyline, but just in case, it follows a legend of a cursed video tape, in which once viewed, the phone rings and tells you that you have seven days to live. The film follows a journalist (Nanako Matsushima), who after viewing the film, must uncover the secrets of Sadako, a young girl briefly glimpsed in the video, to safe not only her life, but the life of her young son. What follows is a tense race against time where the days tick by like mere moments, and the intricate web of deception, betrayal, suicide and murder all eventually become clear, leading up to one of the most jaw dropping sequences ever to be shown in a horror film, and it’s accomplished without showing any blood at all.

Aside from the lack of gore, there really isn’t any death in this film to speak of for most of its run time, aside from the very beginning and the end of the film. Instead, the tension of the oncoming demise hangs heavy over everything, the threat creating far more unease than the actual act could, and for the most part, we the audience find ourselves hoping for a positive outcome, a solution to the curse so that all is forgiven and better days lie ahead, while knowing deep in hearts that this is the wrong genre for all that, and shit is probably going to get real before the credits roll.

Now, this is based on a book series by Koji Suzuki, which currently has five novels and a short story collection, which all except for the last novel are available in English translations, and all worth the read (His Dark Water novel is also excellent, and we will be discussing the film based on that as well). Three years before the theatrical film was released, there was a made for television film created that is still heralded as the most accurate representation of the novel, but it has never seen release outside of Japan, so I’m having to take their word for it. It spawned for two different sequels, and a third film in the Asian franchise, and was also recreated (although somewhat weakly) for American audiences by Gore Verbinski in the early part of the first decade of the two-thousands. While there are some reasons to explore most of the rest of the films, none come close to recapturing the magic presented in this first entry. I highly recommend that you avoid the American sequel and third film entirely, but you’re all adults. Live your lives. Just don’t say that I didn’t warn you.

While I’ve previously stated that the majority of the film is more akin to a mystery, with the gradual revealing of the full story the main focus, it is considered one of the scariest films ever made for a reason, and it’s a damn good one. The end sequence is easily one of the top ten horror scenes of all time, and even on repeated viewings, it still manages to fill the viewer with shock and fear, the kind that has you forgetting to breath while trying to climb through the back of your couch to get away from the images flashing across your screen. In just mere seconds of screen time, Sadako forced her way into the horror icons hall of fame with a fury that hasn’t been seen in a child actor since Linda Blair, and without uttering a single word caused an entire generation to have nightmares. I cannot think of a single movie where the way someone moves has caused so much uncomfortableness as this one does. This is a little girl, a child, and I am a grown ass man that likes to think that he doesn’t scare very easily, but I can tell you without any hesitation that I would not only run faster than I ever have before if she were behind me, but I would consider tripping any one around me to buy some time.

Before I leave you, I also want to address something that I’ve heard over the years, as close as one can come to criticizing this film, and that’s the disbelief that anyone would watch a film with a reputation for causing the death of anyone that views it, as people like to believe that they are immune to making choices that would see them deceased in a horror film, but I know for a damn fact that if I presented a room full of fans with a videotape and told them that those that watch it are rumored to die, every one of them would shout “bullshit” immediately before exactly zero of them left the room, because we as a society are amazing at convincing ourselves that the dark, deep things that lurk in the shadows aren’t real, the voice calling from the woods was just a bird and cursed videotapes don’t exist.

Which I hope not, because I wouldn’t leave that room either.

As always, boils and ghouls, I remain your humble servant in horror…

Jason Kuykendall has been a horror fan since the age of two, when his mother sat him down in front of When a Stranger Calls, so she began using horror movies as a babysitter. His favorite job was a mom and pop video store that he worked at when he was sixteen. He runs Creepy Bat Book Review but is thinking about firing and replacing himself due to how slack he’s become in his work. He’s made of 85% tattoos, 35% compassion, and 69% spite, and he also doesn’t understand math. He won’t pet your service dog, but he really, really wants to.

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing. Thank you for understanding.