You like sleep? If yes, then do not see this movie!

Rating: Null/10 (29 November 2002)

When I saw the original Ringu, I was watching it in the dark, by myself. I got absolutely no sleep that night, and I am not someone who scares easily. I am a big fan of horror, but have trouble being scared by most modern Hollywood horror movies. This is because most of them have shallow plots and rely on cheap jumps for their scares. To get someone to truly be afraid, you have to draw them into the movie. It's easy to just think, "Oh, this is just a movie, that giant bug isn't real, I'd never get attacked by that." The truly scary horror movie is the one that grabs you, and just won't let go; you can't forget that it's just a movie. That's just what this movie does.
I have to compare the original to the American version, because in doing so you see why both are effective. First off, they both have that "grab you" quality. They do this by empathy, both by the familiarity of a story that sounds like an urban legend (the tape that kills you) and by the fact that you actually watch the tape when they do. How better to have someone interested in how the characters are going to save themselves then by convincing the irrational part of the brain that horror caters to that it could happen to them?
As far as the actual horror of the movie, I prefer Ringu, as it was more suspenseful, with more Hitchcock like pacing, building of tension and shots. The Ring has quite a few cheap jumps that annoyed me. This can work once, but it's overused and unneccesary, especially because the original is so suspenseful, the American version shouldn't need them. I can see why they would add this, as American audiences tend to have much shorter attention spans, so if you don't shock them once in awhile, you lose them. It still has the suspense of the original, so no great harm is done. The main thing that bothered me with the new version was that it had to change so many things for American audiences. The reason that this bothered me is that the Japanese version made much more sense. The American version, by comparison seemed a little bit slapped together, but it's still very good. Also, the very end of the original was a good bit more chilling than the new one.
All that aside, I'm not saying that the new version is without its merits. For one thing, the effects are much better, and there are some that kinda make you go, "Oh my god, that's not supposed to happen," outloud in the theater that aren't in the original. There's also little subtle tricks that work quite well that are unique to the American version.
Overall, both are excellent movies. Even though the American version isn't quite as good as the original, it still runs rings (no pun intended) around most of the competition out there. Definitely watch the American version, and it'd be worth your while to track down the original. That is, if you don't mind missing a night's sleep! :^)