Nanako Matsushima plays a female reporter who begins her own investigation into
this urban legend when her niece, Tomoko, is found mysteriously dead with a
horror-struck expression frozen on her face--supposedly as a result of her being
the latest victim of this strange curse. Three of Tomoko's schoolmates are also
found tragically dead, with the same horrified expression on their faces; it's
as if the sight of the very last thing they saw had literally scared them to
death. And all photographs of the doomed students, taken after they had seen
the videotape, show their faces oddly blurred and distorted. Matsushima's
investigation takes her to the Izu Peninsula, where she discovers that Tomoko
and her friends had watched the strange tape in a cabin. When Matsushima finds
the tape, she watches it, and then receives an eerie phone call that tells her
she has one week left to live.
The story jumps into high gear as Matsushima enlists the aid of her ex-husband,
played by Hiroyuki Sanada, a teacher with ESP abilities. At first, Sanada finds
his ex-wife's story hard to believe-until she urges him to take her photo with
an instant camera. When the photo reveals Matsushima's face to be just as
distorted as those of the doomed students, Sanada grimly resolves to aid his
ex-wife in finding out the facts behind this morbid mystery.
Directed by Hideo Nakata in a sparse, no-frills style, "Ringu" is a disturbing
little film that slowly works its way under your skin. The scares are effective,
and truly frightening, especially the moment near the end of the film when the
true horror of the ring is revealed. I've seen dozens of horror movies in my
time--and laughed at most of them--but the imagery in Ringu's revelation scene
really frightened me. All in all, it's good fun, and probably should not be
watched in a dark room late at night. Ringu is available on DVD in its original
Japanese language with English subtitles. The DVD itself is rather spare, with
no real extras or behind the scenes documentaries. Still, the film itself is
highly recommended, especially if you're looking for a good scare. --SF