Customer Reviews

The Ring Virus [VHS]

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The South Korean version of the Ring, titled Ring Virus for US distribution, more or less follows the Japanese original. There are the expected name changes of characters, but there are a few instances where elements of Koji Suzuki's original novel pop up that didn't appear in even Ringu. One of them involves why "Sadako" was killed, another involves her brief career in show business.

Yes, there is a journalist whose niece died from mysterious circumstances. This time, she's Hong Sun-Ju, and she is a single mother, but with a young daughter, Boram. Sun-Ju investigates the death of Sang-Mi and as it turns out, her friends, Kyung-Ah, who paged Sang-Mi before her own demise, and Chang, who was on the phone with Sang-Mi before she died. The coroner's verdict is cardiac arrest, yet Sun-Ju wonders "Why would you grab your own hair during a heart attack?" She gets some help from her colleague Kim, who'd rather go out with her. He does investigate the whereabouts of Park Eun Suh, the Sadako of this version.

Eventually, she traces things to a resort where there is a video in a plain white case, and which she watches. So who does she work with? Her partner is Dr. Choi, a quirky coroner who relies more on gut instinct rather than concrete evidence. He believes Kyung-Ah and her boyfriend died from some supernatural shock rather than some virus from a recent meteor shower. "You're playing a dangerous game, Sun-Ju. It's like nothing you've ever seen," he warns her. His laidback nonchalance gets on Sun-Ju's nerves, especially as when they search for information, he insists she does something, reminding her that she has less time than he does. He's so flippant he tells her "why don't you show the video to lots of people? You'll have plenty of helpers on your hands." Yet he sees this as "a game of life and death" and professes to a certain curiosity. Yet later, when things look hopeless, he says the only thing that scares him is dying before solving what he considers a third-rate riddle. The interesting difference is that there is no previous association between Choi and Sun-Ju as there was between Reiko and Ryuji in Ringu. And the supernatural element is caught on earlier by Choi

The familiar things in Ringu, such as the distorted photographs, ghostly apparition coming out of the TV set, the dialect, investigation into the paranormal, the trip off the mainland, and flashbacks to the past are all there. The cursed video isn't that creepy, but the differentiation between abstract images and those that are more concrete is a dynamic from Suzuki's novel that gets a mention here. Another thing from the novel played out here is that it's the four teenagers who spitefully erased the curse's solution that was on the video after the images, presumably to scare the next people watching it. If their selfish perverseness was the reason, then they definitely deserved to die.

The only other unique thing other than having a young daughter (Boram) is the idea of a hermaphrodite exemplifying feminine beauty and masculine strength in the age where cloning has been introduced. This is from an artist Sun-Ju interviews at the beginning. Later, Choi reintroduces that idea in reference to Eun Suh's medical condition, then ties that in with this: "we only know parts of reality, but we can't know the beginning or the end. That's life."

While not a bad rendition, Ring Virus suffers primarily in its female lead character, Hong Sun-Ju. She's a bit of a cold fish here, not at all personable, and one doesn't care whether she lives or dies. At least the characters of her little daughter and Choi are more fun. And some of the subtitles are introduced out of sync with the dialogue. Other than that, worth a look as a comparative study with the far superior Ringu.

Believe it or not, Gore Verbinski's "The Ring" wasn't the first remake of the hit horror movie. A few years before that, a Korean remake of the original Japanese film was undertaken, but "Ring Virus" lacks a cohesive script, dramatic tension or semi-realistic characters.

Journalist Hong Sun-Ju (Eun-Kyung Shin) learns her young niece and her pals have died mysteriously -- the official report is that they all had heart attacks, but Sun-Ju notices that the girl was tearing out her hair. The one similarity is a videotape full of odd images, which Sun-Ju watches. At the end is a warning that she will die in seven days, if she doesn't follow the following instructions. Too bad some idiot taped over those instructions.

After what has happened to her niece, Sun-Ju is freaked out. She seeks the help of the quirky coroner Dr. Chin (Jin-yeong Jeong), who supports the curse theory of the videotape. The two of them explore the sinister past of a Korean island, a famous psychic, and the mysterious young girl Eun-suh (Du-na Bae) who is the key to the curse.

Yeah, it sounds pretty similar to both "Ringu" and "The Ring," and it does have the same basic plot. There are a few differences, like Sun-Ju having a daughter, but in essence it's the same plot. Except, of course, that the movie surrounding that plot is a stinker.

The thing that kills "Ring Virus" is director Dong-bin Kim. His direction is choppy and often lifts scenes from the far superior Hideo Nakata -- which basically means that comparisons are inevitable. He doesn't know how to make the movie creepy and tense, or to take advantage of the suspenseful moments, like the face hidden in Eun-suh's hair.

Eun-Kyung Shin does a passable job, but she seems too passive; Jin-yeong Jeong has a fun character, and he plays up the quirkiness well, but he sticks out like a sore thumb. Especially since his entire reason for being in the film (besides being a love interest) is to make wild leaps in logic, and telling the audience information that he can't possibly have figured out on his own.

The most disastrous character is Eun-suh, the ghoulgirl who made the curse in the first place. The entire plot essentially revolves around her scheming, evil personality. Turning her into a mopey teenager -- complete with flashbacks -- rather than someone who has become utterly evil essentially destroys the whole idea of the cursed videotape.

"Ring Virus" has one or two interesting things going for it, but the stumbling direction and terrible Eun-suh are enough to sink it. This is one virus that should be medicated away.

Let me get this straight -- MOST people reviewing this are talking about the Japanese version, which they shouldn't. This is the KOREAN REMAKE OF THE ORIGINAL JAPANESE VERSION. Oy. Anyway, the Korean remake is slightly confusing -- it's almost as if they expected you to have already watched the original Japanese version. The acting is very stale. Very, very stale. The two main characters are often in conflict with each other, even when they shouldn't be. Their portrayl of Eun-Suh (Sadako, Samara, in other versions) is rather interesting. Rather than hiding her face completely, she is portrayed as a feminine figure. Hmm. Go figure. I'd recommend this to fans of the Japanese version only, unless you're in a good mood and want to try something new.

Ring sneaks up on you like an H.P. Lovecraft story you dismiss as "not scary" while reading it during the daytime, only to let it bare its full haunting, paranoid terror in the evening as you lie on your bed alone in your room.
I was lucky to catch this horror masterpiece as well as two of its sequels (Ring 2 and Ring 0) at the 2002 Cinemanila International Film Festival in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines.
Seeing this film makes me realize how bad a lot of Hollywood slasher films are: heavy on the gore, but less filling on the terror. (I can only be skeptical about the planned Hollywood remake with Naomi Watts).
My initial reaction to the film was one of derision and oh-no-here-goes-another-Scream rip-off. But by the end of the film I was shamed into paranoid fright.
The images of the "curse video" are creepy enough, but the final moments are unforgettable. The acting is extremely competent. The music literally pounds you into submission. The direction is masterful.
One reason I can give to why this film can scare ... people is that it denies the viewer "the scream release". Most horror films rely on shock value, jolting the audience into screaming, thereby allowing them release from the terror. But RING is far more radical. In its most tense moments, it breaks that momentum by making the audience laugh. Thus, the terror is unreleased, and remains days after.
I watched it twice and the terror never ebbed the second time, even though I knew what was coming.
I saw grown men in the theater grip their armrests, stiffen their spines, and turn their faces away from the screen. A woman said in Filipino "I can't take it anymore".
After the film, my girlfriend refused to walk past buildings with reflective surfaces on them.
I vocally told the story of the film to two of my friends who did not see it, and it freaked them out.
And after you see this film, be prepared to also avoid reflective surfaces for at least a week ...

Although a great fan of Japanese culture, I bought this DVD (& the sequel, which is even better) based on reviews in UK movie magazines. A mammoth horror hit in indie cinema outside of its homeland, Ring tells the tale of an urban myth - of a video in circulation that contains cryptic & harrowing imagery. Immediately after watching the video, the phone rings (hence the title) announcing death to the watcher within 1 week. This, the first movie of the trilogy, introduces the viewer to Sadako, the famed body who crawls out of the well & through the viewer's TV to kill them, leaving the corpse inexplicably frozen with fear. We join a journalist & her ex-husband go on a trail to discover the origins behind the horror of the video after the journalist watches it herself & receives the call. This is not a movie that depends on blood, guts & intense music to create drama - it happens itself as we pursue the myth of Sadako & some gruesome deaths along the way. The first time you see Sadako, your hairs will rise on your neck!!! Great, great movie, the sooner it gets a US DVD release, the better. Love the movie & it reminds the viewer that great cinema does not necessarily come from Hollywood big budgets, or more importantly, English speaking nations.

Upon publication in 1991, Koji Suzuki's novel "Ring" was a fairly well received novel but didn't exactly fly off the shelves instantly. Over the years word spread about this unique tale and finally in 1998 a film adaptation called "Ringu" was made. So successful was Ringu that it spearheaded a phenomenon called "J-Horror" that swept the horror scene in the early 21st century and that sees no sign of slowing down. In 2002, an even more successful American sequel followed which was widely viewed by much of the general movie-going public. The average fan might not be aware that a third and equally excellent version was made, a Korean film called "The Ring Virus".

On one fateful day, 4 people die from mysterious circumstances. Although the 4 died in separate incidents it appears they all knew each other. Journalist Sun-Joo does not believe this to be mere coincidence at all and begins investigating. Her search leads her to uncover a tape that contains a series of bizarre and haunting imagery. At the end of the tape subtitling at the bottom of the screen warns "whoever watches this will die exactly one week from now." With only one week left to live Sun-Joo, along with a neurologist who also watched the tape, delve deep into the mysteries in an attempt to uncover a way to reverse "The Curse".

This slick-looking version of "The Ring" is utterly excellent and criminally underrated. Better than the original and equal to the American remake, it does the best job out of the three at explaining the origins of the curse. It is filled with flashbacks, and lots of subplots involving other previous victims. The two main characters play the roles of full-blown investigators as they spend the next 7 days traveling through lush wilderness and finally onto a remote island in an attempt to reverse their fate. The acting is excellent and the chemistry between the two leads gets better and better as the film progresses. I really did not expect this type of quality, everything from the acting, the locales, the cinematography and scare tactics is very well executed.

"The Ring Virus" is not really an action-packed horror movie the way the American version is. It's closer to a mystery or "noir" film that keeps you guessing right until the very end. There is definitely its share of scares but there's more of a focus on mystery, adventure and the fear of death. We feel deeply for the two leads who keep wondering what death and the afterlife are like, what they could have done better in their lives, as they near their last few days of existence. Many scenes are memorable in this film but most notable is the one with the well. Remember how scary that well looked from a distance in the American version? Well, in this version the two leads actually venture INSIDE of the well to explore what's below. Creeeepy!

Believe it or not, Gore Verbinski's "The Ring" wasn't the first remake of the hit horror movie. A few years before that, a Korean remake of the original Japanese film was undertaken, but "Ring Virus" lacks a cohesive script, dramatic tension or semi-realistic characters.

Journalist Hong Sun-Ju (Eun-Kyung Shin) learns her young niece and her pals have died mysteriously -- the official report is that they all had heart attacks, but Sun-Ju notices that the girl was tearing out her hair. The one similarity is a videotape full of odd images, which Sun-Ju watches. At the end is a warning that she will die in seven days, if she doesn't follow the following instructions. Too bad some idiot taped over those instructions.

After what has happened to her niece, Sun-Ju is freaked out. She seeks the help of the quirky coroner Dr. Chin (Jin-yeong Jeong), who supports the curse theory of the videotape. The two of them explore the sinister past of a Korean island, a famous psychic, and the mysterious young girl Eun-suh (Du-na Bae) who is the key to the curse.

Yeah, it sounds pretty similar to both "Ringu" and "The Ring," and it does have the same basic plot. There are a few differences, like Sun-Ju having a daughter, but in essence it's the same plot. Except, of course, that the movie surrounding that plot is a stinker.

The thing that kills "Ring Virus" is director Dong-bin Kim. His direction is choppy and often lifts scenes from the far superior Hideo Nakata -- which basically means that comparisons are inevitable. He doesn't know how to make the movie creepy and tense, or to take advantage of the suspenseful moments, like the face hidden in Eun-suh's hair.

Eun-Kyung Shin does a passable job, but she seems too passive; Jin-yeong Jeong has a fun character, and he plays up the quirkiness well, but he sticks out like a sore thumb. Especially since his entire reason for being in the film (besides being a love interest) is to make wild leaps in logic, and telling the audience information that he can't possibly have figured out on his own.

The most disastrous character is Eun-suh, the ghoulgirl who made the curse in the first place. The entire plot essentially revolves around her scheming, evil personality. Turning her into a mopey teenager -- complete with flashbacks -- rather than someone who has become utterly evil essentially destroys the whole idea of the cursed videotape.

"Ring Virus" has one or two interesting things going for it, but the stumbling direction and terrible Eun-suh are enough to sink it. This is one virus that should be medicated away.

Here's a confusing film to review. What were dealing with is a remake of the original Ringu from Korea that actually stays far closer to the novel than the first film. The weird thing is that The Ring Virus assumes you've already seen Ringu, and thus doesn't bother to explain the actions of the two main characters. To say the least, it's an interesting look at another directors attempt at remaking Ringu, but it's easy to see why this film is the forgotten remake. If your like me, and you're a HUGE fan of the Ring franchise, then it's worth seeing this movie. If your a big fan of the American Ring films, check out the Japanese quadrilogy and see how much you like them before venturing over to this Korean film.

This movie bored the hell out of me. Maybe because I already knew the plot having watched RingU first? Maybe because there were hardly any supernatural moments at all?
It plays out like a long and boring detective story rather than a creepy horror film or ghost story. I like the added details that were omitted from the Jap version, but other than that, I wish I would have not wasted time buying this.

This Korean remake of the now classic Japanese horror film Ringu manages to sap out every ounce of scares leaving behind a dry, dull rehash of a familiar storyline as a result. Stick to the Japanese or American versions. The Ring Virus is a slow moving, dialogue heavy, special effectless, unscary movie. There are no scares at all with the exception of the end and even the end is anti-climatic. Nice try, but not very good. See this only if you're a fan of the other films and are curious to see this remake.