Over the past few weeks i had the itching to watch Japanese horror films. I've always heard that J-Horror has some of the most terrifying films ever made and since i'm always on the hunt for films that will scare the living daylights out of me, i decided to give it a go. Finding these films online was tough as not many places really had them uploaded, but i was mainly successful in my quest. Along with watching the original Japanese films, i decided to watch whatever American remake of said films to get a comparison between the 2. For this list i decided to go with Ringu (known as the Ring in the States) and ended with Sadako 3D. Not listed in these rankings are Rasen and The Ring: Virus as i learned Rasen was completely ignored for Ring 2 and Ring: Virus is a remake of the original. So here we go!
7. The Ring Two
I went with this one at the 7 spot because it never quite captured the magic of the first remake. I realize they were trying to give Samara more of a backstory but nothing really creeped me out. Samara's mother was the creepiest part of the film i think and it kinda takes away from Samara to a point. We go from her just straight up scaring the shit out of people in the first one to all of a sudden going after Rachel because she wants a new "mommy"? The deer scene was also the best scene of the entire movie. Seeing an animal notice there's something about you that doesnt seem quite right is always terrifying.
This one deals with a son developing the same powers so to speak that Sadako had. This one felt the weakest of the Japanese version to me, mainly because they tried taking the powers away from Sadako via a swimming pool "exorcism" of sorts. I didnt really care too much for this one.
5. Ring 0: Birthday
One of my favorites out of the main Ringu trilogy, this one explores Sadako's backstory indepth and what it was like to see her trying to live a normal life before it all hit the fan. In this one it shows Sadako trying out for a play while everyone suspects that she is under the influence of some kind of evil while people are dying off (including the director). I like the idea of making the audience sympathetic for Sadako, her cast mates dont want her there, there's a woman trying to make her life hell by essentially trying to dig up all the information she can, and everyone finds her to be dangerous, except the costume designer. Eventually Sadako's pure and "evil" form combine to just take everyone out. Amazing film.
4. The Ring
I'm pretty sure we all knows what happens in this one. If you see The Ring, you die in 7 days. What's amazing about this one is that they actually have the full video on the DVD as an extra, i've watched it a few times and i'm pretty sure i never got any phone calls nor did i die....unless life being hell makes up for it then i guess we can leave it at that. I really wish they would of shown what Samara actually does to scare these people so bad their faces are contorted. That's what these movies are missing IMO and i really hope they show the actual terror in Rings.
3. Sadako 3D
I may catch some flak for this as to why these films are so high on the list because they scared the shit out of me. Instead of watching a cursed video tape, you now watch a video on the Internet of a guy committing suicide and then your laptop or whatever else goes haywire. That's why i think i enjoyed this one more than the previous Ring films, they changed it up and it actually works. You see Sadako in her evil form more than you do in the other ones and this one includes....SADAKO CRICKETS!! Or something that resembles a cricket, either way it was terrifying.
2. Ring
The original that spawned everything listed previously. The differences from the American version is that the father of Sadako was a psychic (instead of Samara's father being a horse farmer). If you also watched the tape, you have to make a copy and pass it onto someone else so the curse surrounding you is broken. I would recommend this one over Ring 2.
1. Sadako 3D 2
This is the one that freaked me the hell out. A girl named Nagi is the centerpiece as strange deaths start occuring and after each one, she always seems to be around, implying she is the one that's causing them. It's also assumed she has inherited Sadako's powers due to Sadako possessing her mother in the first film. Instead of Sadako killing her victims via computers, this go round involves any kind of technology, which includes cell phones. This one also takes a turn in becoming a full on possession movie as the jump scares are prevailant. Easily the one that started me the most.
What are your thoughts on the rankings? Do you agree with them? Where would you place all the films (provided you've seen them all)? Discuss!
ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.