It takes something truly special to launch a slew of impersonators and wannabes, but Hideo Nakata’s Ring most certainly did that back in 1998. Now, the ever-great guys and gals at Arrow Video have given the original Ring a swanky new 4K remaster and put it together with its sequels for what’s dubbed The Ring Collection.
You likely know all about Ring and its follow-ups, for that ’98 effort is largely credited with propelling J-Horror to the status of global phenomenon. All you needed was a pale, straggly girl with bad hair and twitchy movements to garner instant success, right? Not quite, for so many post-Ring movies used that formula and instead served up utter dross. But not Ring. No, Ring was and is a masterpiece.
To loosely brush over the plot, Nakata’s 1998 film saw a mysterious video tape (ask your parents, kids) that would kill whomever viewed it. Well, the tape didn’t technically kill people; it was the eerie figure of Sadako emerging from the TV screen when said tape was played that would be responsible for the body count. Of course, there was a little more to it than simply a creepy figure stepping into your living room, with an equally chilling origin to all of this.
As mentioned, that original Ring movie is rightly viewed as a horror classic, and – despite the concept of VHS itself maybe being slightly dated to newer audiences now watching the movie for the fist time – the picture still stands up as a truly masterful terror tale. The sequels? Well, first up was the disappointing Spiral; then the “actually, this is the real sequel” Ring 2 again impressed; and the original franchise then came to a so-so conclusion and delved fully into the origins of things with Ring 0.
In the briefest sense, that’s the films themselves brushed over, then. What you’re likely here for, though, is what else The Ring Collection offers up. First up, the new 4K transfer works wonderfully in bringing a freshness to proceedings, with the delicate downtime of the narrative feeling just as vital and important as the terrors that lurk just around the corner. Despite adding a new crispness to the action, the 4K sheen doesn’t make things too glossy or take away the gritty, natural feel that we all so dearly love.
Elsewhere, there really is a ridiculous amount of special features and bonus material included in this new release. Arguably the pick of the bunch, we have the hugely impressive The Ring Legacy featurette in which the franchise is explored in an engaging, entertaining manner with a mixture of talking heads and footage from the franchise nicely meshed together. Similarly, the look at Hideo Nakata’s career gives a fascinating insight into the mindset of a horror master. Then there’s Jasper Sharp’s all-new video essay that, while massively detailed and informative, does become maybe a tad draining when you find yourself sitting through 37 minutes of one person dryly narrating a history of Asian ghost tales and the eerie origins of J-Horror.
Taking all of this into account, The Ring Collection is a fantastic set for horror hounds; one excellent movie, one dire sequel, one great sequel, one mixed bag of a finale, and enough bonus material to keep you busy throughout those times when the thought of Sadako’s eerie presence keeps you awake at night.
Special Features: New audio commentaries on Ring and Ring 0 / The Ring Legacy featurette / A Vicious Circle interview on the career of Hideo Nakata / Spooks, Sights and Videotape video essay / The Psychology of Fear interview with Koji Suzuki / Behind-the-scenes featurette on Ring 0 / Ring 0 deleted scenes / Sadako’s Video / Trailers / Limited edition 60-page booklet
THE RING COLLECTION / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: HIDEO NAKATA, JOJI IIDA, NORIO TSURUTA / SCREENPLAY: HIROSHI TAKAHASHI, JOJI IIDA / STARRING: NANAKO MATSUSHIMA, HIROYUKI SANADA, MIKI NAKATANI, RIKIYA OTAKA, YUKIE NAKAMA / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 18TH
