Hideo Nakata
is a 1998 Japanese horror film directed by Hideo Nakata, based on the 1991 novel by Koji Suzuki. The film stars Nanako Matsushima, Miki Nakatani and Hiroyuki Sanada, and follows a reporter who is racing to investigate the mystery behind a cursed videotape that kills the viewer seven days after watching it. It is titled The Ring (stylized as the Ring) in English in Japan and released as Ringu in North America.