MovieChat Forums > Ringu (1998) Discussion > Good movie but the US version scared me ...

Good movie but the US version scared me a lot more!


I think this version kind of flows better, but the US version scared me a lot more for the following reasons

1. The videotape in the US version was much creepier, the video is longer, has more content including the fly on the screen and has a very eerie creepy tune to it. Also, the pulling the string out of the mouth and close up of the horse face was much more disturbing than the short film the Jap version gave us.

2. One of the creepy elements in the US version is the Samara hospital video, when the Psych guy interviews her. This video does not exist in the Japanese version

3. In the US version, a big part for me was after Aidan's mother rescues Samara from the Well....Aidan tells her "Why did you do that! Told you, she never sleeps! This was also not part of the Japanese version

4. The US version contains more stories from elders regarding the childhood of Samara

5. The expressions on the faces of Samara's dead victims is incredibly creepy in the US version, where as in the Japanese version, they just have their mouth open.

In saying that......the US version of the Ring 2 is far far inferior to both Ringu 2 and Rasen......after seeing Ringu 2 and Rasen I question why they decided to create a whole new story for Ring 2 which was not scary, in fact it was very cheesy, I mean, Samara goes from this spooky supernatural badass murderer to a little girl who "just wants a mommy" I mean seriously??? That killed the US franchise and probably any chance of them ever doing Ringu 0

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I used to think the original was creepier but upon rewatching it (and having rewatched the remake a few months ago) I'd maybe lean towards the remake being scarier.

The remake is more consistently scary but I think the final scare of Sadako coming out of the TV is better in the original, it's the best scare in either film.

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