Rip-Off of The Ring - Chakushin ari (2004) Discussion

[–] nessu_baa 18 years ago

The candy!
(Sorry, it's just about the only thing I remember from this movie.)

I didn't think it was a rip-off of the Ring. Any of them. Sure, it has the same elements, but so do almost all mainstream Asian horror movies (confusing, much?).

What made you think of this as a rip-off of the Ring?

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[–] Slack_Vity 18 years ago

The complete ripoff is the premise: let's do the comparaison.

Chakushin Ari : You answer a call and you get killed shortly after
The Ring: You watch a tape and you get killed shortly after

Chakushin Ari: The villain is a long haired little girl who wants people to help her
The Ring: The villain is a long haired little girl who wants people to help her.

I could go on like that for the rest of the film.

Sorry about my english, I'm Québécois (French-Canadian)

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] TheDelusionist 14 years ago

So every Asian movie is a rip off of The Ring since the villain has long hair in most Asian productions?

Do what you want with a man but do not *beep* with his Cadillac

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[–] ajnemajrje 11 years ago

Typically in asian horror the ghost is female with long hair.

But this stereotype did not start with the ring. You can see this many times as a theme in Japanese ghost stories and mythology

Kind of like how urban legends are the basis for many north american horror movies.

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[–] jzproductions 17 years ago

You know what?

Shut up!

It's Not a rip-off, I doubt you've even seen the movie.

Untel '-You've-' made an Orignal film, you have no room to talk.

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[–] clockworkcookie 17 years ago

Many japanese horror movies use the same elements just like there are 10 billion american horror movies about maniacs who like to cut people in pieces.

As a principle horror movies appeal to our deepest fears.

Modern society relies a lot on technology for confort and even to feel we have power over nature, and Japan is particularly "addicted" to it. It's only natural that the possibility of supernatural beings attacking us through technology is so scary and recurrent.

Likewise, there have been so many real stories of serial killers in the US, that it's natural the image of the serial killer appears so much in american horror movies.

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[–] DarkKrystal 16 years ago

You're a moron.

As if American films aren't the same *beep* over and over again?

Do you know why all the ghosts in Japanese horror movies have long black hair?

BECAUSE JAPANESE WOMEN HAVE LONG BLACK HAIR. Sure, some cuts theirs, others dye theirs. But most of the ghosts featured are young girls or women who have been dead years before hair dye was popular.

Tu es un idiot, mon petit tete-du-merde.

~.~.~
Anybody wanna peanut? ;)
~.~.~

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[–] JinPanda 16 years ago

they are both novels, a lot of japanese horror is similar in element, just like how a lot of american horror can be very similar. If you're going to say this is a rip-off, then you have to go through all the american slasher flicks and saw they all copy off of whatever the heck the first one was.

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[–] Burntout 16 years ago

Wow, a lot of vitriol from the supporters of this movie against the OP here, eh? First off, if anyone in this thread KNOWS Miike's directional style and storytelling techniques, then you'd KNOW that this is indeed nothing more than a movie that is a simple paycheck to help with the mortgage. Nothing wrong with that, mind you, because Miike never (in my opinion) has ever put out total and utter crap. Yes, this is a derivative J-horror movie that was meant to cash in on the earlier success of Ringu and Ju-On and others.

The one thing I found original though was the ending. That is one of the director's styles and I think it fit well for a movie that even he probably would admit was nothing more than a cash-in for some quick money.

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] Burntout 16 years ago

Haven't seen Silver...I actually realize that he probably has put out a total crap product out there simply b/c of the sheer amount of movies he has directed that the law of averages is bound to apply.

I think there are some definite elements and specific moments that are meant to be a spoof/satire on the J-horror genre...I mean, what else would explain the total derivateness of it all? (other than that whole paycheck...but he DOES have a sick sense of humor) but he also manages to make this a creepy movie (at times) nonetheless.

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[–] fireball_zero 16 years ago

I have no particular axe to grind with the OP, but he's missing a pretty big point here...

Culture!

Modern Japanese horror movies are based on cultural elements, just as US made ones are based on American cultural elements. If you check Japanese myths and legends you'll find a long tradition of vengeful spirits, often children, taking out their pain on the world of the living. As for phone calls & video tapes, that's covered too by spirits that use written messages and/or pictures as part of their ritual.

"Piss on you. I'm working for Mel Brooks!"

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[–] jacrainbow87 15 years ago

Fireball zero is right... just read stories like YUUKI ONNA or
the ROKUROKUBI.

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[–] eviltimes 16 years ago

Obviously, you have never seen Ringu.

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[–] movieperson113 16 years ago

One thing I think is the ghosts do not want people to "HELP" them. The spirits seem to want the pain they were given in life to be given to ALL the living humans.

In the RING movies the ghost wants all of humanity to suffer. In the Grudge movies even when a person finds out what happened to the ghost the curse continues and even escapes the confines of the HOUSE in the film.

These ghosts want everyone to suffer and don't care who feels sympathy for them.
American movies usually have a conclusion after you find out what happened to the ghost in life.

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[–] jasonedwardshelly 15 years ago

******spoilers******
this movie has many elements nothing like the ring.
yes the cellphone bit is very similar to the video tape in that afterwards you know when you are going to die. and also yes, there is a ghost that wants to be found. in the ring, the video tape is eerily creepy. the ringtone in OMC is equally creepy
differences:
the cellphone killer and the ghost that wants to be find are two different people. the killer is the daughter. the ghost that wants to be found is the mom.
there is also a ghost possesion. the daughter taking over yumi to attack yamashita.
the added touch of the candy. the daughter/killer wants to help her sister and care for her so she hurts her sister so that she can take of her and help back to health. after her mom lets her die a suffocating death she turns her revenge on anybody she can reach. actively seeking out people to kill.

i especially like the ending, which can be understood in different ways. i think that the daughter kills yamashita. yamashita then shows that he has compassion by giving the killer the respiratory spray( i don't know what they are called. then in the next scene she gives yamashita the candy, to help him back to health and smiles.

obviously, it is we do not know for sure if yamashita is dead or not, but that is how i took it.

so anyway, though this film has similarities to the ring, it definitely not a rip off. if movies were only made that had no connections to other movies then there really would not be very many movies that could be made. maybe you should try to see each movie for what it is trying to convey rather then simplifying each story until all of them are the same.

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[–] Vuduguy 15 years ago

Ringu is a lot more subtle. Chakushin Ari also expands a lot on the idea of technology playing a dangerous role in our lives, although that requires reading a lot into the subtext (just like Invasion of the Body Snatchers doesn't directly mention Communism).

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[–] 15 years ago

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