Ringu 0: Bâsudei (2000)

Director:

Norio Tsuruta

Writers:

Hiroshi Takahashi (screenplay)
Kôji Suzuki (novel)

Release Date:

22 January 2000 (Japan)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

In this prequel to Ring, a young Sadako becomes an actress in hopes of escaping her troubled past. But strange visions and terrifying powers begin to manifest...

Plot Keywords:

Prequel | Horror Movie Prequel | Theater | Journalist | Tragedy

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Yukie Nakama	...	Sadako Yamamura
Seiichi Tanabe	...	Hiroshi Tôyama
Kumiko Asô	...	Etsuko Tachihara
Takeshi Wakamatsu	...	Yûsaku Shigemori
Ryûshi Mizukami	...	Wataru Kuno
Okunuki Kaoru	...	Aiko Hazuki
Yasushi Kimura	...	Togashi
Mami Hashimoto	...	Joshikôsei
Daisuke Ban	...	Heihachirô Ikuma
Masako	...	Shizuko Yamamura
Norio Murata	...	Gekidan'in
Kôji Yano	...	Gekidan'in
Hinata Takamine	...	Gekidan'in
Tasuku Unô	...	Gekidan'in
Akira Igarashi	...	Gekidan'in

Also Known As:

Ring 0: Birthday (Japan) (literal English title)
Ringu zero: Bâsudei (Japan) (alternative transliteration)

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White (some sequences) | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

USA:Not Rated | Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Denmark:15 | Germany:16 | Japan:PG-12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15

Company:

Ring 0: Birthday Seisaku Iinkai

Movie Connections:

References Les yeux sans visage (1960)

Soundtrack:

Hole

Good prequel to round out the Japanese Ring series

Combining elements of drama and horror, Ring 0 is a very worthy installation of the indie horror franchise. This film really starts, though, as a drama, telling us the story of Sadako in a very linear fashion (which, deliciously, has become the more difficult and confusing path to take, since we already know the end of the story). We see Sadako as a human (!) who is not scary or evil at all but actually seems rather pleasant and almost painfully shy. A while later in the film, we see that Sadako is actually warring desperately with herself . . . and is losing. Her eventual slide into the monstrosity of the first and second Ring films is a sight to behold (and, hardcore fans will note, is echoed by a similar fall of Ando Mitsuo in the less popular Rasen).

The social overtones of this film are also outstanding and a fine addition to the series. Whereas the first two films are more exercises in combining psychological terror with techno-horror, Ring 0 takes a more Romero-esque approach to the social aspect of Sadako's transformation, meditating on the cruelty of her peers and the burning need for revenge of one journalist that brings the whole tragedy crashing down.

Incidentally, although it takes some time, this film WILL scare the hell out of you at the end. Just wait for it.

Very, very good. See it.