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Ring Movie Review

Ring is a 1998 Japanese horror film directed by Hideo Nakata and starring Nanako Matsushima. It’s an iconic J-horror that isn’t amazing, but it surely is memorable.

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“Tomo-chan watched the cursed video!“

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It follows a reporter who is racing to investigate the mystery behind a cursed videotape that kills the viewer seven days after watching it. Thematically speaking, this is an excellent movie as it deals with the clash between modernity and traditionalism in Japan. On the one hand, you have these folklore tales of older times. On the other hand, you have the video tapes and television technology. The combining of the two was a clever idea and the ambiguity of whether or not the spreading of technology is positive or negative for this culture was fascinating.

As for the horror elements, they are also great, but unfortunately sparse. The video itself is very powerful in its creepy, even disturbing imagery, and the idea to have this video as well as some flashbacks in black-and-white made for a much more eerie watch than it would have been otherwise. The most iconic moment comes when that cursed woman crawls from the television screen. That was very creepy and unforgettable.

The element of mystery was also well realized and the movie being crafted as a supernatural mystery overall was interesting, but unfortunately it never quite makes full use of its excellent premise due to its incredibly slow pace and a first half that simply never gained enough momentum for me personally. All of the good stuff comes in the latter part, but before that it’s quite a chore honestly.

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Ring also doesn’t quite have the most memorable protagonists. Hiroyuki Sanada is great as he always is, but his role isn’t the greatest. The opposite goes for Nanako Matsushima. Reiko is memorable and likable as a character, but the actress isn’t the best with the more emotional scenes not being well acted at all. The cinematography and the editing are strikingly good, but overall the movie needed a quicker pace and a more eventful first half. It also needed more pure horror scenes, though the decision to cut the final confrontation in the end made for a very different, interesting conclusion.

Ring isn’t amazing due to its very slow pace, uneventful first half and the sparseness of big horror scenes, but this is still a memorable J-horror that benefits from a unique ending and that iconic scene of a woman crawling from the TV screen. The theme of modernity versus tradition was well explored, and the mystery elements are some of the highlights along with the chilling black-and-white video and flashback sequences. More could have been done with its great premise, though.

My Rating – 4