Stars: Yukie Nakama, Daisuke Ban

Director: Norio Tsuruta

Summary: More psychic goings on in this prequel to 'Ring', Sadako takes a job in a Tokyo theatre company and soon people start dying...

A prequel to the horror films RING and RING 2, RING 0 follows the life of Sadako (Yukie Nakama) before she became a tormented, malevolent spirit. As a college student in the 1950s, Sadako attempts to become an actress, leading to bitter conflicts in her drama club. Soon strange and horrible events occur, leading to an intriguing investigation and a chilling conclusion.

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Ring 0is the prequel to the successful Japanese ghost/horror movie Ringwhich has already spun off a conventional follow-up (Ring 2) and inspired a host of Far Eastern imitations, with a US remake in development. Opening with some tiny scene-setting to remind you of the urban legend of the cursed videotape, the film skips back to "30 years ago" and dramatises the hitherto-only-hinted-at tale of how the witchlike Sadako ended up in a well from which her melancholy, malign spirit spread her curse.

Strange young woman Sadako (Yukie Nakama) leaves her island home to become an apprentice in a theatre company, where her ambiguous psychic powers, several deaths and an outbreak of madness complicate the production. Nakama is fine as the spooky, Carrie-like heroine, as much a victim of her psychic abilities as those who drop dead around her, and there are several creepy sequences: a first night plagued by apparitions, a mob struck down one by one as they chase Sadako through a wood, and the inevitable, foreshadowed waking-up-in-a-well climax.

The original filmmakers have departed and the new team don't quite have the material to work with, which means Ring 0plays better to initiate newcomers but can't hope to duplicate the stand-alone chills ofRing. Series fans will enjoy the filled-in back-story, but others should be warned that the film takes a bewildering amount of plot information for granted. --Kim Newman

Main Language:	Japanese
Region:	Region 0
Special Features:	Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical - RING, 2. Original Theatrical - RING 2, 3. Original Theatrical - RING 0, 4. Asia Extreme Trailer Reel, Filmographies - 1. Cast & Crew, Photo Gallery, Production Notes
Subtitles:	English
Year:	2000
Release Date:	February 25, 2002
Runtime:	99 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	T V D 3354
Keywords:	Birthday, Subtitled, General, Ring, Japanese, Horror, Occult, Sci, Fi, Baasudei, Ringu
Genre:	Horror/Occult