The Ring Virus (Theatrical, Korea) - 1999. 102 minutes.
DIRECTOR: Kim Dong-bin. SCREENPLAY: Kim Dong-bin.
The first-ever joint production between Korea and Japan, with each side footing 50% of the production costs. Korean director Kim Dong-bin is said to have sought a more mysterious than horror-based tone for his version.
I really wanted to like this movie, and indeed some scenes were very well done. Eun-Suh, the Sadako character, is portrayed much closer to the way she appeared in the novel, and actress Bae Doo-na does a superb job. By far my favorite part of the movie was the montage of events leading up to Eun-Suh's death, set to a killer soundtrack.
This being said, however, there are just too many bones to pick with The Ring Virus. Most of it cuts from scene to scene without showing the how or why behind characters' actions, giving it the feel of a Cliffs Notes version. The cinematography also removes much of the tension, replacing the dark and shadow of the Japanese original with brightness and color. Equally frustrating is director Kim Dong-bin's decision to change the sex of any thinking person's role from male to female, and to make all male characters either villains, cowards or morons.
And as for the famous TV scene near the end of the movie... well, it just fizzles.
1 1/2 stars.
Cast - SUN-JU: Shin Eun-Kyung. CHOE YOL: Chong Chin-yong. EUN-SUH: Bae Doo-na
Story - Journalist Sun-ju has her suspicions aroused when her niece Sang Mee dies along with three friends on the same day. Sun-ju enlists the help of beer-loving neurosurgeon Choe Yol, who has performed autopsies on the bodies and declared their deaths to be supernatural. After Sun-ju discovers the cursed videotape in Sang Mee's hotel room, she and Choe Yol join forces to solve the mystery of the video's origins and break its deadly curse.
Spoilers!
Apparently there has been some debate as to the Ring vs. The Ring Virus, regarding which is closer to the novel, which was produced first and even whether The Ring Virus is a remake at all. To address this last point, The Ring Virus is most definitely a remake, with shots replicated from the Japanese film right down to the color of clothes worn by the characters.
Claims that The Ring Virus was produced first make little sense considering not only its later release date, but the fact that several of the above-mentioned scenes are original to the Japanese theatrical version (e.g. Sadako emerging from the television set, Ryuji smashing his way into the rental cabin's basement to get to the well, people who have seen the video appearing with their faces distorted when photographed) and did not appear in the novel. In fact, Ring director Nakata Hideo has personally expressed his surprise at seeing shots eerily similar to his own appearing in an altogotether different film.
The Ring Virus can best be described as a remake of the Japanese film with elements of the novel added. For example, our friend on the left here takes the role of Nagao Jotaro, who rapes Sadako/Eun-Suh and dumps her into the well. Ring Virus also expands Sun-ju and Choe Yol's investigation to include Sun-ju's senior reporter (Yoshino in the Japanese version) as in the novel, thankfully eschewing the disposable Okazaki.
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