Available March 19th from Scream Factory.
In the age of analog horror and ARG’s, Hideo Nakata was so far ahead of his time, that it’s horrifying. His 1998 horror film “Ring” is a concept that, if realized today, would have probably been a hit series on Youtube. A cursed VHS tape featuring a dreaded short film with supernatural powers, a powerful demon sleeping within it, calling up those that view it, and giving them seven days to live. On the seventh day when the user fails to cut the curse or pass it on to someone else, they’re visited by an unfathomable terror. It’s the formula for a great horror film that sparked the huge J Horror boom of the early aughts that spawned a slew of Japanese Horror Films to either be imported to America, or remade in to hits in their own right.
“The Ring Collection” features the trilogy that was inspired by Hideo Nakata’s influential classic and will surely be a gem for fans.
Among them, there was “The Ring” which in 2002 was remade by talented filmmaker Gore Verbinski. 2002’s “The Ring” is a re-imagining of “Ring” starring Naomi Watts as Rachel, a work addicted mother who investigates the mysterious death of a young girl. After Rachel’s son views what is said to be a cursed VHS tape the imbues a curse on the viewer promising their death in seven days, she races to uncover the mystery of the dreaded tape. “The Ring” is an excellent remake, a bang up suspenseful and creepy retelling with ace direction and a marvelous finale.
2005’s “The Ring Two” is a lesser sequel directed by “Ring” master Hideo Nakata who delivers a less than stellar follow up. This time the demon from the tape has seemingly sought out Rachel’s son with sinister motives that promises to destroy them both. It’s not great, and features some silly moments intended as scares, but some like it. Years later, F. Javier Gutierrez tried a reboot with 2017’s “Rings” a pale effort that failed to muster a modicum of the terror present in the previous films. It’s a sadly limp effort that stretches credulity to keep the plot moving and feels pointless.
Bonus Features for this set will not disappoint, as fans will love what Scream Factory has to offer them, for their buck. There are a lot of archival extras carried from previous releases, but there are some brand new segments and whatnot that I loved. Among the new extras it the ninety minutes “Ghost Girl Gone Global” an exhaustive documentary that covers the Japanese origins of the films, and their American versions along with a slew of interviews with actors, critics and film historians alike. For “The Ring Two” there’s a new audio commentary with critics Emily Higgins and Billy Dunham, which is a fun and lively back and forth.
And there are the carry overs including the fifteen minutes “Don’t Watch This,” the great “Rings” short film which bridges parts one and two, the four minutes “The Origin of Terror,” eight minutes of cast and crew interviews, the original theatrical trailer. Eighteen minutes of deleted scenes for “The Ring Two,” the six minutes “Fear on Film: Special Effects,” the six minutes “Samara: From Eye to Icon,” the five minutes “The Power of Symbols, the thirteen minutes “The Making of The Ring Two,” and the theatrical trailer.
Finally for “Rings,” there are eighteen minutes of deleted and extended scenes, the twelve minutes “Terror Comes Full Circle,” the nine minutes “Resurrecting The Dead: Bringing Samara Back,” and finally the six minutes “Scary Scenes.”