Ring DVD Review

"Ring"

Review written by Bad Ash
1998. Distributed by Tartan Video
91 Minutes

Directed by Hideo Nakata
Written by Kôji Suzuki

Cast:
Nanako Matsushima as Reiko Asakawa
Miki Nakatani as Mai Takano
Hiroyuki Sanada as Ryuji Takayama
Yuko Takeuchi as Tomoko Oishi
Hitomi Sato as Masami Kurahashi
Yoichi Numata as Takashi Yamamura

The Story:
"Ring" is a Japanese Horror movie based off of a Japanese Novel by the same name, written by Kôji Suzukil. It is soon to be a remake in the United States. I have tried to be as vague as possible regarding details, but there are some mild spoilers below.

There is an urban legend that a strange videotape exists. If you watch the tape your phone will ring. Seven days after that call, you die. A reporter (Asakawa) is investigating this legend when her niece dies mysteriously. She soon discovers that her niece and some other friends had viewed this tape, and all of them had also died under odd circumstances. During her investigation, she finds the tape and decides to watch it. After viewing the tape, the phone rings…
She now has seven days to figure out the meaning of the tape and prevent her own death.
I went into this movie knowing nothing other than the basic storyline above. While I enjoyed the movie, I found parts of the plot to be slightly confusing and muddled. However, I think that this may have had more to do with the subtitling of the movie as the movie has a very deep plotline and trying to read and watch at the same time tended to be distracting. While the movie itself had a particularly creepy vibe to it, and had a few ‘disturbing’ moments to it. It was not particularly scary at all up until ‘The Scene” (you’ll know it when you see it.)

Picture:
Letterboxed and while not a bad transfer at all, it does exhibit some grain and specks in places. Overall, an acceptable picture.

Audio:
Audio is presented in Digital Stereo, and Japanese language only with English subtitles. There is not a whole lot of use of the speakers in this movie. However, all the dialog and sound is crisp, with no difficulties in hearing the movie. Subtitles are done very well, with an excellent translation. Because this is a very deep and detailed plotline, it can be confusing at times.

Extras:
Two trailers, a few biographies, and some pictures. Pretty bare-bones.
"Ring" is a very detailed plot-driven movie with a truly surprising amount of mood and ambiance. The film leaves many questions unanswered. However, there are a few sequels out there so I’m assuming a lot of them are answered. Also, having visited RingWorld ( http://www.somrux.com/ringworld/ ) since viewing the film, a lot of the questions that I had at the end of the film were answered. I think if you have any questions after viewing this film, this is the place to go.

Bad Ash's Chainsaw Residue:

A very good movie and one I would recommend to anyone who does not mind watching subtitled movies. Great atmosphere, some chilling moments, and a great ending round out a truly great Horror movie.

Movie 4/5
Video 3/5
Audio 3/5
Extras 1/5
Overall DVD 3/5