Rasen

I will say that I am certainly a fan of all the Ring films. Even at their most obscure, they give the horror genre a shot in the arm that is has needed for a LONG time. Also, the general concept behind these films (a post-Rosemary's Baby/Omen horror story) is pretty darned brilliant.

But, this. Wow. I'm just so torn. On the one hand, Rasen has some very good scenes that are missing from the other Ring films. Most notably, it doesn't shy away from human emotion. The fascinating juxtaposition of the suicidal Dr. Ando and a videotape which can kill its viewers almost passively makes for a very interesting story. Throw into the mix the sexual element (i.e., sex/death/intimacy and the relationships among them) and you have a very complex film. Rasen further shines as the story of a man who begins with the most honorable of intentions, only to find out, to his utter horror, that he has betrayed everything he thought he stood for.

BUT, on the other hand, there's the last 30 minutes or so of this film, which just left me scratching my head. Why do we need all this bizarre junk science thrown at us. What is Sadako up to? Is Ryuji a good guy or a bad guy? For that matter, why does everybody act like HE has all the answers? WILL SOMEBODY JUST STOP JABBERING FOR A MOMENT AND EXPLAIN THIS WHOLE LOOPY, HALF-BAKED PLOT FOR WORLD DOMINATION?!?!? PLEASE??!??!?

I can't reconcile any of this in my head. I know there's a way to make this movie great, and I think it involves re-writing the last half. Hey, Hollywood! Remake this one and see if it can be a little more palatable.

This film follows the Japanese version of the Ring known as Ringu. Where it follows I am not sure. The back of my box which is a collection of the Japanese Rings places it second, however the alternate title here suggests it was the fourth film. All I know is that this film is a sequel to Ringu, but a disappointing one. There are things that follow the first film, then things that are completely wrong and this one makes the mistake of trying to logically explain things and give reasons for what is happening. Kind of like the Phantasm series, the first one you wondered what the heck was going on and in the later installments they tried to explain everything and it just was not as intriguing anymore.

The story starts out with a man autopsying a former colleague who was the father in the first film. This leads to the best scene in the movie as this autopsy is rather bloody. Too bad that the highlight of the film is like less than ten minutes in. This doctor lost a son and soon stumbles upon the cursed video tape. He begins seeing things, and it is not long until he has played the video. However, things completely go off track as they start introducing a sort of virus in this one seemingly dismissing the little girl all together. And it is not even a little girl this time!

Yes, this film tries to scientifically explain things this time and it just does not work. Not for me anyway. It also changes the little girl into a woman. Maybe this was not the second installment and things were explained in the previous flicks, I only went by the order given me on the box, but I still hate the cause for all the deaths and stuff they give here.

So, what we get is a sequel that changes things around, but still has the core from the original. It may be enjoyable for some, I enjoyed it up to a point, but I certainly thought the ending was very dull. I do hope the movie titled Ringu 2 is better than this one was.

Filmed and released at the same time as it's predecessor "Ringu" (or "Ring", which inspired the hit American remake "The Ring"), "Rasen" (or "Spiral") is an ambitious idea. The theory behind releasing both "Ringu" and this sequel at the same time was that it would increase profits, as "Ringu" was already a successful book series and television series. However, while the 1998 release "Ringu" became an international hit, this sequel didn't sit well with people, as it is of a different tone and altogether different genre, and it wasn't as big a hit. Hence, it became the ignored, "forgotten" sequel, and was overshadowed by another sequel "Ringu 2", which was released a year later, that eliminated "Rasen" from the series continuity. (Basically, "Rasen" is to "Ringu" what "Highlander 2" is to "Highlander"- a forgotten, non-canon sequel that people ignore)

However, as the film was still made, and is easily obtainable (even in the US, where it is included with all three of the other "Ringu" films in a boxed set), I feel I should give my take, as a fan of the original film.

"Rasen" is actually not a "bad" movie, but I will say, as a sequel, it is quite misguided. I hear it follows the original novels more closely, which had more of a Sci-Fi flair to them. But as "Ringu" was changed into more-or-less a standard ghost story, this sequel's focus on the science of it was too awkward for many.

It begins soon after "Ringu"- a pathologist named Ando is called into work to perform an autopsy on Ryugi, whom as you will recall was killed in the first movie. However, during the autopsy, strange things begin to happen, and Ando is haunted by various phenomena. Eventually, he hears about the cursed video tape, and decides to watch it and solve the mystery of the vengeful being Sadako himself, with the help of Ryugi's former assistant Mai.

The film delves deep into science-fiction territory, with constant talk of viruses, cloning, etc. And without spoiling anything, the final act is very much a cautionary tale about science gone out of control. Which is why it conflicts with the ghost-story established in the first film. This is not a horror movie, this is a Sci-Fi film in the vein of "The Matrix" or "Dark City", though the battles are fought with words and not fists.

But I will say to its credit that this is still a fairly interesting film. The acting is halfway decent, the direction is alright, and even though it drags, if you can get into the Sci-Fi tone, it will keep you watching until the end.

I'd say if you're a fan of the series, check it out. It's not really a strong film, but it's worth seeing. I give it an average 6 out of 10. Not as good as "Ringu" or even "Ringu 2", but not awful, either.

Set almost immediately after the events of Ringu (1998), Rasen/Spiral tells us the story of Mitsuo Ando (Koichi Sato), a forensics doctor who gets wrapped up with the "Ring curse" when his the body of an old friend, Ryuji Takayama (Hiroyuki Sanada, reprising his character from Ringu), makes its way onto his autopsy table. Will the curse continue?

Series Note: There are many different films, television series, books, comic books, etc. based on the "Ring Universe", and it's very complicated trying to sort them out. Rasen/Spiral was the original "Ringu 2". As such, it should be watched after Ringu (1998) (which you can choose to watch after Ringu 0: Basudei (2000), which is a prequel) and before or after the now official Ringu 2, made in 1999, which was made when audience reaction to Rasen/Spiral was less than favorable.

Like the other Japanese Ring films, Rasen/Spiral is a mixed bag. For much of its length it is a relatively slow moving drama, with only subtle horror elements. Yet, much of it is very atmospheric and when the horror material arrives, it is as effective as anything else in the series. In fact, if the film had continued with the tone of the first ten minutes, this would easily be my favorite Japanese Ring film--a far cry from the travesty that many claim. As it turned out, writer/director Joji Iida doesn't sustain that level of excellence, but he periodically returns to it. Rasen/The Spiral is also notable for the bizarre sci-fi turns it takes, which gradually become more absurdist (a good quality in my book) until the climax. If you're a fan of that kind of material, and you do not mind sequels with vastly different tones and foci, you should like this film a lot. For some others, the attempted scientific explanations of the "Ring curse" are a turn-off that saps some of the supernatural creepiness out of the rest of the series.

At the end of Ringu, scripter Hiroshi Takahashi and director Hideo Nakata suggested that the Ring curse operated something like a paranormal, deadly chain letter. In one of the better moves of Rasen/Spiral, Iida quickly trashes that idea. He pulls the rug out from our expectations and dispatches characters who were the focus in the previous film. On Iida's account, and possibly in the Koji Suzuki novel (also called Spiral) upon which Rasen/Spiral's script is based, The Ring curse is much less benign than such an easy solution would have it. Of course, audiences often feel alienated when their former heroes are so wantonly disposed in a sequel (and I'm guessing that's part of the reason for making an alternate reality Ringu 2 where the characters Reiko (Nanako Matsushima) and Yoichi Asakawa (Rikiya Otaka) return), but it's a move I love. I'm definitely a fan of nihilism in films, especially in light of its relative rarity. An American film that alienated audiences in a similar way, and which I also loved, is Alien 3 (1992).

Suzuki and Iida make Rasen/Spiral nicely parallel symbolically to the overall metaphors of the series. "Ring" is called ring for many reasons. The ring of the phone, the circle of the well, the moon, the shape of the mirror, the chain letter aspect, Sadako's eye, the circuitous route the curse takes via its video instantiations, and even the temporal period between encountering the video and the curse coming to its resolution, if one takes a cyclical view of time (as is more the case in many Asian cultures). Spiral is an extension of a Ring, figuratively and literally. The sci-fi aspect of the story this time around has the curse as more of a virus, which under the microscope looks ring-shaped with a "bruised" side, corresponding to the crack in the well. The path of the curse is more complex and spiraling this time around. And of course, a strand of DNA is a spiral.

DNA is important in this film. Ryuji first gives Ando an indirect clue to DNA via a piece of paper that Ando finds in Ryuji's stomach, and which he translates as "dada" (or "father", or "parent/parentage"), then "DNA". This thread of the plot eventually supplies the outrageously strange climax, which is just as much in the genre of "rubber reality" films as sci-fi, and keeps with the admirable nihilism evidenced earlier on.

Except for one small episode, and a few flashbacks or expository "fill-ins" to get new viewers up to speed, Sadako (Ringu's villain) is barely present in this film in her "normal" instantiation (she also happens to be portrayed by a different actress--Hinako Saeki, rather than Ringu's Rie Inou or Ringu 0's Yukie Nakama). The nature of the curse has changed. The subtext of the film makes Rasen/Spiral easily interpretable as an allegorical doom-harbinger for eugenics. Past evils have produced a quick, contagious and deadly mutated virus, only conquerable by genetic manipulation, which could just result in a new species supplanting Homo sapiens. The scientists--all doctors in this case--are both the saviors and the villains. Appropriately, Iida has physician supporting characters mysteriously vacillating from helpers/heroes to the infected/untrustworthy.

Unfortunately, some of this heady nightmare and ghost-fueled reality twisting is dampened by extended forays into "serious drama-land", and even a touch of an obligatory romance, ala Ringu 0. But it's never too long before the next supernatural occurrence, and to keep you entertained on the way, Rasen/Spiral has some of the better cinematography of the series.

I'm not someone who finds any films scary (even as a kid I never did) so I can't compare Rasen/Spiral to the rest of the series in that respect, but as a quality artwork touching on serious, important themes, this film deserves to not be missed, especially if you're at all a fan of the Ring series.

Although Spiral contradicts many things in the original film ringu it is actually based on the sequel book written by the original author of Ringu. He also worked closely with the director when making Spiral. He actually wrote three books in total but the third hasn't been made into a film probably due to the lack of popularity of spiral. If anything this version/universe of Ringu is more to what the author intended and is not an awful film I thought it had quite a good plot twist at the end, however it isn't wholly satisfying as it does contradict the original to much and takes away most of the horror aspect of Sadako. I think it should be appreciated as it is a well made film and is based on the authors original intentions as a sequel to the Ringu he created in his original novel and not despised as an attempt at a sequel just made up by this director as that isn't the case.