Ringu
Michael Dougherty Selects
•
1h 35m
1998 • Japan • Directed by Hideo Nakata
In 1998, director Hideo Nakata (Dark Water) unleashed a chilling tale of technological terror on unsuspecting audiences, which redefined the horror genre, launched the J-horror boom in the West and introduced a generation of moviegoers to a creepy, dark-haired girl called Sadako. The film’s success spawned a slew of remakes, reimaginations and imitators, but none could quite boast the power of Nakata’s original masterpiece, which melded traditional Japanese folklore with contemporary anxieties about the spread of technology.
A group of teenage friends are found dead, their bodies grotesquely contorted, their faces twisted in terror. Reiko (Nanako Matsushima, When Marnie Was There), a journalist and the aunt of one of the victims, sets out to investigate the shocking phenomenon, and in the process uncovers a creepy urban legend about a supposedly cursed videotape, the contents of which causes anyone who views it to die within a week – unless they can persuade someone else to watch it, and, in so doing, pass on the curse…
Arrow is proud to present Ringu, the film that started it all, restored from the original negative in glorious 4K and supplemented by a wealth of bonus materials.
Up Next in Michael Dougherty Selects
-
One Missed Call
Tapping into the same brand of terror as the Ring and Grudge movies, visionary director Takashi Miike ('Audition', 'Blade of the Immortal') presents a modern, high-tech twist on that mainstay of Japanese folklore, the yurei or vengeful spirit, in the form of its own iconic antihero - the terrifyi...
-
Basket Case
1982 • United States • Directed by Frank Henenlotter
The feature debut of director Frank Henenlotter (Brain Damage, Frankenhooker), 1982's Basket Case is a riotous and blood-spattered "midnight movie" experience, now presented for the first time ever in 4K.
Duane Bradley seems like a pretty ord...
-
Children of the Corn
1984 • United States • Directed by Fritz Kiersch
A young couple travelling cross-country find themselves stranded in the small town of Gatlin, where they meet a mysterious religious cult of children. With no adults in sight the terror brews as the new arrivals find the secrets of the prospering ...
