Customer Reviews

Ringu 0

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Cheesy villains are the ones who just kill because they want to. A good villain has a backstory.

And for weedy-haired demon-girl Sadako, the backstory is "Ringu 0: Bâsudei," a prequel to the hit movie "Ringu." It starts off as a quiet movie about a quiet outsider who falls in love, but rapidly turns into a shocking story about a demon in human form. Of the "Ringu" series, this is the only one that rivals the original.

Sadako Yamamura (Yukie Nakama) is a member of an acting troupe, and though she is pretty and quiet, the other actors don't like her. Then an actress dies unexpectedly, and Sadako takes over the lead part... except now more people are dying, and the survivors are blaming Sadako. The only one who doesn't is Hiroshi Tôyama (Seiichi Tanabe), who is falling in love with her.

To make matters worse, a reporter with a grudge against Sadako is nosing around, searching for evidence that Sadako killed several people... with her psychic powers. The acting troupe finally attacks Sadako, and travel to her childhood home. What they uncover is the OTHER Sadako, a horrific demon who is slowly overtaking her "good" half...

Yes, yes, it sounds like some sort of Japanese "Carrie," if Carrie had an evil twin. Fortunately Norio Tsuruta is too talented a director to try cheap thrills or the "outsider angst" approach. Instead, he creates a tight, dark, intense little story that unfolds slowly, right up to the shocking ending. It's inevitable, but still shocking.

Most of the movie is a gradual buildup, with Sadako slowly turning into the monster of the other movies. There's a cute, innocent romance with the boyish Tôyama, which is sad when you consider what will happen. But most of it is a slow buildup of frightening deaths, mysterious healings, and nightmares of Sadako's alter ego.

Tsuruta is definitely a talented director, with a sense for both horror and tragedy. While the climax is made up of Sadako's bloodthirsty rampage, the most horrible moments are the ones that show inexplicable hatred, doomed love, prejudice, and worst of all, destroying someone you love. Tsuruta hits all the right emotional buttons, and leaves you stunned.

Nakama is a talented actress, even with her blank expressions and slouchy body language. And as a dancer, she is able to do that bone-crunching, jerky walk as if she were being pulled on strings. The supporting cast is almost completely excellen. But Tanabe is a standout as the naive, kindly Tôyama, who doesn't care who or what Sadako is.

As prequel, "Ringu 0: Bâsudei" is excellent. But it's also an outstanding movie on its own, with solid acting and a shocking, tragic story. Shatteringly good.

This has to be tops on my list of Japanese horror films. Very well acted and presented in a way that you are drawn in until it's shocking climax in the woods. The direction and camera angles at the end, in my opion, were excellent. In broad daylight, you see the demon floating in the trees, in the back ground, just glimpses, until....well...watch and see. I was creeped out. The story is very well thought out, with sadness, compassion, and violence. By the end of the film, you are both saddened and chilled by what you have seen. Alot of the vilence happens off camera, and that, I feel, adds more to the impact.

Too bad Ringu 2 and Ring 2 couldn't have learned lessons from this truly amazing film in the Japanese horror genre.

When the entire Ringu series came out on DVD, I had had the movies before (but unfourtainately they went missing) so I had to buy the box set. Still an awesome movie!

In this prequel to the first Ringu, Sadako becomes an actress in hopes of escaping her horrible past. Everyday she keeps getting rejected and misunderstood by her classmates. And (almost) everyone in the school hates her except a man named Toyama, who absolutely loves her. But then, Sadako's powers become more visible to the members of the school. When a woman named Aiko dies, she replaces her role. But then, everyone in the staff and a woman who's researching her form a band of pople to try and kill Sadako.

Ringu 0 is easily the best in the series. So if there's one movie that you want for a cry, then make it Ringu 0.

The mystery of Sadako deepens as we are taken back 30 years to witness the events that led to her present state. We are introduced to a beautiful, sweet young girl, whose socially awkward demeanor hides a dark, deadly secret. RINGU 0 is an excellent prequel to RINGU, giving us a unique blend of love, paranormal suspense, and disastrous terror. If your tastes run to the bizarre, the different, or the horrific, then you can't go wrong w/ this masterpiece...

The other two reviews here were complimentary, and I was greatly looking forward to learning more about Sadako. Instead, this movie drove me NUTS. Yes, I learned more about Sadako. But what I learned bored me and didn't make much sense.

This is a prequel to Ringu, set approximately thirty years in the past. A reporter, whose fiancé died at Shizuko's ESP presentation, is investigating Sadako with a vengeance. We learn that every reporter that was there that day died.

The Sadako we meet is as meek as a mouse, and it's very confusing. We are expecting a monster, of course. Admittedly, they explained her behavior toward the end (I won't give it away), but even then I felt cheated because I didn't buy the explanation. I didn't buy it, frankly, until I looked up differences between the books and the movies, and saw how the movie twisted this explanation. It made perfect sense in the book. Ah, the wisdom of film directors.

We spend an agonizing amount of time with Sadako looking meek while she performs with a theater troupe. I found my eyes wandering to the clock on the DVD player more often than not. Even the strange things that happen around her - mirrors break, theater lights tremble, people die - couldn't keep my interest. It just wasn't compelling.

At the end of the film, everyone Was Very Stupid, and did things that only Very Stupid People would do.

There is value to this film. It is part of the Ringu tetralogy, and you will learn more about Sadako's childhood. You'll probably find, though, that it wasn't enough.

"Ringu 0", the prequel to "Ringu",
stands alone as a great horror film
and so much more.
It needn't be viewed with "Ringu"
at all, although if you have only
viewed "Ringu" and liked it or not,
you ought to check out this film.
"Ringu 0" is superior to "Ringu".

An extremely well done follow-up
that maintains the atmosphere of
the first film but surpasses it
with a great plot and excellent
acting.

Sadako has a split personality,
in the extreme.
She has an evil-acting alter-ego
that has separate existance
and defies the attempts of her
"father" (who is her real father?)
to suppress it.

Like "Carrie", she wields a
preternatural power that is
subject to her unstable
emotional state.
It is used for the good as healing
power.
At other times it is a murderously
ambitious and vindictive power.

The power of true love which might
have reigned in the dark side of
the power cannot overcome the
danger that is intrinsic to its
nature.

There is no explanation of how
the evil spirit of Sadako comes
to inhabit a virtual world of
electronic media and crosses over
into the real world in "Ringu"
after her horrible death.
I guess it is just some spooky
ghost stuff.
Perhaps it is explained in one
of the sequels "Rasen" and
"Ringu 2" which I intend to
check out ASAP.

This is a must-see film for the
horror film fan, in particular,
the Japanese horror fan.

The spoken language is Japanese
with pretty good English subtitles.