This prequel to RING tells the story of the unfortunate Sadako and her eventual demise, events that led up to the mysterious videotape curse that we know so well from the Japanese films and their American counterparts (the importance of the videotape is never explained, though, which is slightly disappointing). It tells a story that's entirely different from the formula we know so well from RING and RING 2, which is great because I think the format was starting to get a little stale during the second movie.
RING 0: BIRTHDAY is a slow build drama with plenty of suspense and foreboding to retain the viewer's interest. Sadako, as played by Yukie Nakama, is a sympathetic character often at the mercy of her fellow students. There's an element of CARRIE in the narrative, with Sadako depicted as 'other', forever at the mercy of the in-crowd and classed as an outsider by pretty much everybody else. Nakama does a really good job of getting the viewers on-side.
Strange, inexplicable events start occurring as the story goes on, until a dramatic set-piece that really pays off the tension that's come before. Then there's a final, all-out-horror half an hour which takes place in a woods and is more of a full-blooded body-count type affair. Although Hideo Nakata didn't return as director, he isn't missed with Norio Tsuruta ably handed the reins. If anything this is even more subtle and sedate than the previous two films in the series, but that seemingly laidback style hides an eerie, unsettling atmosphere. The scare sequences are well-handled and effective, and overall I felt this was a fine way to tie up the original trilogy.
RING 0: BIRTHDAY is a slow build drama with plenty of suspense and foreboding to retain the viewer's interest. Sadako, as played by Yukie Nakama, is a sympathetic character often at the mercy of her fellow students. There's an element of CARRIE in the narrative, with Sadako depicted as 'other', forever at the mercy of the in-crowd and classed as an outsider by pretty much everybody else. Nakama does a really good job of getting the viewers on-side.
Strange, inexplicable events start occurring as the story goes on, until a dramatic set-piece that really pays off the tension that's come before. Then there's a final, all-out-horror half an hour which takes place in a woods and is more of a full-blooded body-count type affair. Although Hideo Nakata didn't return as director, he isn't missed with Norio Tsuruta ably handed the reins. If anything this is even more subtle and sedate than the previous two films in the series, but that seemingly laidback style hides an eerie, unsettling atmosphere. The scare sequences are well-handled and effective, and overall I felt this was a fine way to tie up the original trilogy.