I've read an article about Hideo Nakata's "noble attempt to resurrect dying genre of J-horror". I've also read an announcement that this movie is said to be based on Koji Suzuki's "Tide", what gave me hope of "returning to the roots" and ending the discord between the author and the director... Nakata and Suzuki made some good horrors (Ringu, Dark Water), so I hoped for another fruit of their teamwork.
But I was deceived. None of those promises were true.
For the first, this movie has literally nothing in common with Suzuki's novel "Tide", neither with any of his books. For the second, this movie is everything which original "Ringu" wasn't.
1. Lack of the music. Ringu Saga (1, 2 & 0) were richly adorned by Kenji Kawai's disturbing soundtrack, what was a huge help with building fearsome atmosphere. And in this movie we have basically no music, what makes "scary" scenes looking like stupid mockumentary. Oh wait, there is some sound - literally ONE SINGLE PIANO ACCORD, recurring sometimes - neither scary, nor touching, rather annoying.
2. Painful graphic. Although Mr. Nakata avoided casting 3D and CGI effect here and there, he still couldn't help but show off 4K resolution. I mean the resolution allowing you see the very single blade of grass. You know that human eye may see clearly either near, or far, but never both simultaneously! It's about lens's shape, which turns flat for far sight, and round for near sight. Lens cannot be both flat and round at the same moment! And... this movie shows both near and far planes painfully sharp simultaneously, what confuses and tires our eyes. What's the purpose of this showing off? Turning our attention away from plot-holes?
3. Lack of the plot. Not Sadako is the main heroine, or anti-heroine, but she's overshadowed by a generic girl with dahrrrk past (ripoff from Akane and Fuko from respectively "3D" and "3D 2") and some bratty, gloomy girl (ripoff from Nagi from "3D 2").
4. Acting. As much the characters are painfully generic and bringing literally nothing to "Ringu" franchise, as the actors portraying them are also bland. Elaiza Ikeda (Mayu) can only gape blankly with bulging eyes and opened jaws, what gives her looks of not-so-smart person. But maybe it's only an impression because of her mismatched hairstyle, which was a ripoff from Mai Takano... Maybe little Himeka Himejima tries hard, but her character is still unoriginal.
All Ringu-maniacs remember motherly Nanako Matsushima (Asakawa), snarky Hiroyuki Sanada (Takayama), gloomy Miki Nakatani (Takano)... You loved them? Too bad, because we won't see them here, even in a retrospection. From the "old school" remained only Hitomi Sato, but her character (Masami) became terribly twisted and humiliated.
5. Masami Kurahashi herself. Yes, she was just secondary character, who appeared in "Ringu 1" as cheerful, mischievous, giggling schoolgirl, and in "Ringu 2" as deeply traumatized patient with some psychic skills. In both roles I found her rather cute. Yet, now she was turned into some old, fat, perverted auntie, stalking young girls.
For people who aren't familiar with Japanese mentality... 20 years ago there existed a term "stalled Christmas cookie", referring to 25-year-old woman who was still unmarried. But it was two decades ago! Now it's not so rare for Japanese women to get married at their 30's (instead of 20's). Many Japanese women nowadays want to get education and professional career, so marriage and maternity should be postponed. Thus, instead of "stalled Christmas cookies" (25-year-old "spinsters") now we have "bimajo" (beautiful witches) - women in their 30's, who are still looking young and alluring.
In 1998-1999 Masami was a teenage kid around 17. 20 years later, respectively, she should be "bimajo" around 37. Yet, due to baggy clothes and terrible makeup, she's characterized as middle-aged lady in her 50's! Mr. Nakata, where were you during the last rwo decades, while the Japanese society managed to change their conception of unmarried women in their 30's?
6. Sadako herself. In "Ringu 1-2" she was terrifying, powerful demon wanting revenge (Rie Inou). In "Ringu 0" she was sweet, innocent girl, who wanted to love and be loved (Yukie Nakama). Even in "Rasen" she was purpose-driven, sentient being. In Suzuki's books she simply wanted to be reborn, and the tape was the key. There were also rules, making Sadako kill some people while sparing some others.
And now... she's just a mindless "uuuh, braaaiiins!" zombie without sensible purpose... aside killing everyone indiscriminately, without any rules...
And she's now a ripoff of her own clones:
- Kayako (crawling, using her hair as ropes)
- Hikiko (using brute force to drag people)
- Mitsuko (producing dark water and drowning people - sadly, not the first Nakata's auto-plagiarism, vide "Ghost Actress" and "Ghost Theater")
...While originally she had no problem with standing and walking, and didn't even need lift her finger to kill people - she simply stopped one's heart from afar... But hey, at least she isn't a grasshopper, like in 3D atrocity.
7. Shizuko Yamamura - she's now pretty, but empty porcelain doll. Shizuko, portrayed by Masako, was able to show strong emotions (shock, rage, despair). This one's acting is very artificial, and her emotions look lukewarm at best.
8. Backstory of Sadako and Shizuko, alongside the events from the original saga, became shamefully flattened and shortened.
9. Cursed video itself. I know that some actors passed away during the two decades, what may cause some copyright problems, but Mr. Nakata could simply pay their heirs for reusing scenes with them (Masako, Yuko Takeuchi). And pay the other "old" actors to make good reminiscences with Asakawa, Takayama or Takano. Instead, we have some bland, chaotic scenes. Which are, like the whole movie, overly bright and colorful.
Sadako lived in times when most of the movies were black-and-white, and their quality and resolution was questionable. So her "nensha" movie should be black-and-white and pixelated as well. It's NOT a flaw! It's crucial for the horror's climax. The video's bad quality gives us an impression of something old, obscure, abandoned and long forgotten.
While the new video is sepia-colored ("warm and nostalgic" and not "cold and ominous") and in 1080p resolution...
Sorry for this long rant, but... When the author and the director don't get along, the grudge is born... And this grudge is not even close to real horror... Just Hideo-us.
