Movie Review: Ringu 0

Ringu 0: Bâsudei (a.k.a. Ring 0: Birthday) 

Kadokawa Shoten, Horizon Entertainment, Japan, 2000. 

The video tape curse lives on. 30 years before the events of the first film reporter Akiko Miyaji (Yoshiko Tanaka) interviews Sadako's (Yukie Nakama) former teacher Mrs. Sudo (Kazue Tsunogae). She wants to write an article about Sadako's psychic abilities. The story Sudo tells gives many answers to the obscure things of "Ringu" and "Ringu 2." 

Akiko Miyaji

Sadako

Sadako is a shy and quiet girl. She has joined a theatre group. She is talented but is thought to be a freak. The star of the play Aiko Hazuki (Kaoru Okunuki) does not like her. Sadako goes to psychiatrist because she has scary visions. The members of the theater group begin to see weird dreams. Aiko dies mysteriously and Sadako gets the main role in the play. Sadako gains attention of sound engineer Hiroshi Tôyama (Seiichi Tanabe) which makes Etsuko Tachihara (Kumiko Asô) jealous. Also director Yûsaku Shigemori (Takeshi Wakamatsu) makes advances toward Sadako. 

Etsuko Tachihara

Hiroshi Tôyama

Yûsaku Shigemori

Weird things happen. Rumours arise that Sadako caused Aiko's death. However the truth is more complicated as there is a good Sadako and an evil Sadako! Good Sadako can use her paranormal skills to healing. As Sadako is pushed, her evil powers awake. Mob justice leads to the inevitable tragic end. 

Sadako's evil side

The last part of the original "Ringu" trilogy fills many of the gaps left open in the previous films. As such it is a satisfying finale and a good prequel. Again the story starts very slowly before reaching the horrifying climax. Mostly this is more psychological drama than horror. The plot has slight similarity to "Carrie" in some scenes although the revelation about Sadako near the end takes the story to more supernatural direction. We see the sympathetic side of Sadako and what finally pushed her over the edge and made her evil side take control of her. 

The director changed for this part. Maybe Ogata's style is a bit more straightforward than Nakata's as the story is easier to follow than "Ringu 2." Also music by Shin'ichirô Ogata is quite different than Kenji Kawai's but still works well. 

Rating: Good

Starring: Kazue Tsunogae, Atsuko Takahata, Yoshiko Tanaka, Yukie Nakama, Seiichi Tanabe, Kumiko Asô, Takeshi Wakamatsu, Ryûshi Mizukami, Kaoru Okunuki, Yasushi Kimura, Mami Hashimoto, Daisuke Ban, Masako, Norio Murata, Kôji Yano, Hinata Takamine, Tasuku Unô, Akira Igarashi, Kôji Nakano, Kanji Watanabe, Senzaburô Makimura, Shûichirô Idemitsu, Yoshiyuki Morishita, Tsukasa Kimura, Akane Tachibana, Mahito Ôba, Yôji Tanaka, Manabu Kadowaki, Chinami Furuya, Tsuyoshi Shimada, Yukimi Koyanagi
Director: Norio Tsuruta