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ring 1998

you must always start with the original. it is spooky month, so a rewatch of this movie is never unwelcomed. every time i rewatch a movie in the ring series, i remember it was really one of my introductions to horror. when i was a child, i was scared by anything and everything. balloons, electronic toys, the movie blades of glory (yes i'm serious). it was also not unusual for me to just walk into my moms room at the end of the day to watch tv with her. one of those days, she was watching the american remake of the ring. she had already seen it so knew i could most likely handle the slow, quiet dread the movie offered. she paused the movie right before samara kills the ex husband and made me leave the room. i remember sitting outside my moms room, door closed as i heard the scene play inside. mostly just sounds of static. i don't remember much else from watching the movie with my mom, but it was one of my first real experiences with a horror movie. i suppose it's almost fitting that i became so obsessed with the entire franchise.

while technically this isn't even the first movie in the franchise (i will get to the tv movie another time), it is truly what started it all. the novel was already very popular so it was only a matter of time until the full cinematic movie was made.
i think one of my favourite parts of the movie is how quiet it is. most scenes do not have a score, or even much noise in the background. it is all so quiet, it feels oppressive. the only sounds besides people talking is hushed whispers and the whir of tvs and machines. you don't hear cars go by outside, any sort of weather, even the people themselves don't move in most scenes but just sit quietly, unmoving.
I also have to talk about how much i love the cursed tape. i think it is one of the best examples of less is more. i by no means hate the remake, but i think it shows so perfectly how much less is more is true. the cursed tape is quiet, long still shots. again, no real sound besides what sounds like scraping. distant mumbles. one of the best shots is the close up shot of an eye with the character for "sada", the begining of sadako's name. i by no means know any japanese, but that character also seems to have the meaning of purity. the eye shot feels so close, like it is both looking at you and not at all. it also works as a good set up for what would be the scare of the entire movie. the tape ends on a still, silent shot of the well, almost like the tape cut off too soon. it wasn't over. it is ominously forshadowing what is inside that well. the tape could almost pass for home footage, besides how still it is, the shots don't shake like it was hand held, but it also is so vague and some shots are almost mundane looking, leaving it not quite movie and not quite home footage. making it just uncanny on every level.
the scare right after also illustrates the stillness of this movie. sadako is right behind reiko, and she sees her in the reflection of the tv. there is no audio sting, not even a scream. the loudest sound in the movie is the phone ringing. it is the most dominating audio in the entire movie.
i actually get bored with movies pretty quickly, movies that are too quiet or slow often have me looking away and getting distracted, and i can't really pin on why, but this movie keeps me interested the entire time, even with how quiet and slow it is. i can't even put an exact reason why. maybe it's the story that grabs you and you need to see how it ends, or the visuals that are so striking you don't want to look away.

the visuals often times are just as still as the sound is. the scariest shots are ones where things aren't really moving, but there is some reason they still feel scary. the imagery always feels out of place. throughout the movie, most of the time it feels like the only characters who move are the main cast, reiko and ryuji and yoichi.
the characters are also really interesting, and no not just sadako. reiko is a single mom who is, i suppose trying her best. ryuji is the ex who has quite a temper. while he does keep things moving he is rather pessimistic while doing it. he early on says they never should have had their son, yoichi, and at some point even says that maybe all three of them should just die. as apposed to reiko, who even after leaving her son behind, still wants to call him and becomes emotional just hearing him after they leave oshima.
the scene that truly sticks out with reiko is of course the scene of her in the well. her and ryuji have been working for hours, she's exhausted and her time is running out. sadako appears and grabs her arm, she doesn't scream. she holds this grotesque, but small corpse. at the end of it all, she is really sympathetic to sadako. even though the reason they find sadako's body is to save herself, there is still a care for the life sadako lived. even after they think its over, reiko is still shocked by sadako's fathers actions to kill his daughter. i can't even imagine what it must have been like to watch this movie for the first time, for people who didn't already know about what follows. what, on the surface, seems to be a picture perfect movie ending. the spirit at peace, the main characters safe.

but then, of course, we get to the most memorable scene in the entire movie. sadako crawling out of the tv. i cannot even begin to put into words how impactful this scene is, not just watching it, but even as a pop culture staple. from the first second you see sadako's hand peer out from inside the well, the dread is totally unmatched. like i mentioned before, this scene also emphasizes how true less is more is. the scene is quiet, yet again only hearing the same scraping sound. sadako has uncanny movements, which was achieved by the actor walking backwards and then reversing the footage. sadako crawls out of the tv, and finally the movie actually has an audio track behind it, emphasizing the total change this is having on the movies tone and feeling. the slighest amount of gore when you see sadako's fingers and the finger nails have been completely ripped out, a horrible reminder of her desperately trying to claw out of the well before her death. sadako's apperance is so startling for a movie that has been very light on actual supernatural happenings. it hits like a bus. and of course, my personal favourite part, the shot of sadako's eye. we don't see her face, just one terrifying eye. there is no gore, no blood, no loud stings to startle you, but the unease of this scene gets me every time. it's hard to even say what look sadako has. of coourse, we can't see her face, but the eye looks both filled with rage and pain at the same time. so much has already been said about this scene, so i will try not to show my sub par writing skills by trying to add anything else to the endless amount of praise this scene deserves.

now i get to talk about my favourite thing. sadako herself. i have always loved onryo, i love the concept of them. for those unaware, onryo are vengeful spirits in japanese culture, often times people who have died in tragic or malicious ways. they come back to further the pain they've gone through. it works almost as an abusive cycle. someone who has died cannot move on because of the wrong that was done to them, and furthers suffering to others. a lot of japanese horror villains have this in common, an odd amount of sympathy or tragedy to them. sadako is no different. the image that always sticks in my mind is sadako's nails dug into the walls of the well and her fingers even long after death still raw from having the nails ripped off. it emphasizes how brutal her death was. this movie also leaves it rather vague if sadako was evil while alive. i personally don't see her as always being evil. in the flashback, sadako lashes out violently with her psychic abilities, but i see it as a young child trying to protect her mother. a child who has no idea what her abilities even hold. she was born from infedelity, her father was married to another woman and had other children. her existance by nature is something "unatural". this movie doesn't go into all of her backstory, and even changes large portions of it from the book. i will get into more of it when i post about the book, which i'm currently reading, and rewatch ring 0: birthday. but to say the least, sadako really didn't deserve to die. especially not in a way so gruesome. it's one of the most deeply scary ways to die put in a horror film. but like the rest of the movie, the horror doesn't come from gore or blood. it's the fear of being alone, in the dark, likely for days. clawing to get out over and over.
sadako has lived on as one of the most recognizable horror villains ever. this movie is one of, if not the most well known japanese horror movies world wide. it deserves the popularity, and so does sadako. i am so thankful to this movie for partially introducing me to horror as a whole, and also sparking my love of jhorror. this movie alone started my down quite a path, more than a dozen movies, manga, novels. sadako alone really got me more curious about empathizing with evil. so thank you, my fucked up weird little ghost girl. let's hope rewatching the many... less than great movies you appear in not be a curse for me.