Ringu

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Ringu

1998,

1h 36m,

Horror/

Mystery & Thriller

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Watchlist

Watchlist

98%

46 Reviews

Tomatometer

81%

25,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

98%

Tomatometer

46 Reviews

81%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

When her niece is found dead along with three friends after viewing a supposedly cursed videotape, reporter Reiko Asakawa (Nanako Matsushima) sets out to investigate. Along with her ex-husband, Ryuji (Hiroyuki Sanada), Reiko finds the tape, watches it -- and promptly receives a phone call informing her that she'll die in a week. Determined to get to the bottom of the curse, Reiko and Ryuji discover the video's origin and attempt to solve an old murder that could break the spell.

Critics Consensus

Ringu combines supernatural elements with anxieties about modern technology in a truly frightening and unnerving way.

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Paul Byrnes

Sydney Morning Herald

Sep 16, 2022

Its strength is in its simplicity and its cultural purity.

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Alan Stanbrook

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Sep 16, 2022

Almost nothing terrible is shown: the real horror lies in the viewer's anticipation.

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Andrew Pulver

Guardian

Sep 16, 2022

A most artfully creepy piece of work.

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Kat Halstead

Common Sense Media

Sep 25, 2026

4/5

A frontrunner of the J-Horror era—which took the world by storm during the late 1990s/early 2000s—this is a genuinely creepy movie full of imagery that will haunt you long after the credits roll.

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David Parkinson

Radio Times

Oct 29, 2025

4/5

Artfully mixing footage formats to achieve a visual texture commensurate with both the tone of the story and Kinji Kawai's eerie score, Nakata inexorably builds the suspense right up to the chilling climax.

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Grant Watson

Fiction Machine

Aug 25, 2024

10/10

Decades on, it remains one of the great works of horror cinema.

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Harry R

Mar 6, 2019

This is how you make a spooky horror movie.

Hermione W

Jan 2, 2019

Great and very creepy horror.

Draco W

Nov 4, 2018

I thought the movie was pretty good, but don't understand the very very high ranking it gets in Top horror lists. It wasn't particularly scary except for 1 scene near the end. The best description for this movie is mystery and suspense... not horror. The acting is fine, the direction isn't anything special and the cinematography is just good. May be I'm being harsh for a movie nearly 20 years old. But I'll stick to my opinion: the American remake from 2002 is better.

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Theodore S

Jun 24, 2018

The Ring is a pretty damn creepy, suspenseful, and effective horror film. Instead of constant shoving jumpscares, The Ring uses its score, atmosphere, and uncertainty to scare the viewer, which is FAR better than any dumb jumpscare tactic. A good horror film.

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Hagrid S

Jun 28, 2017

The US version has its share of (many) problems, but at least it looked like it had a budget. Everyone raves about how much better this original is, and while I do enjoy many foreign movies, this was not one of them. Nothing scary about it. It doesn't follow the book/books at all. Sadako looks like a normal Japanese lady in a low effort costume. Really I just don't get the love for this, in my opinion it is not a B, but D-level movie.

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Hermione R

Jun 14, 2017

By the time I've written this it is by far my favourite horror movie

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Hideo Nakata

Director

Nanako Matsushima

Reiko Asakawa

Hiroyuki Sanada

Ryuji Takayama

Miki Nakatani

Mai Takano

Yuko Takeuchi

Tomoko Oishi

Hitomi Sato

Masami Kurahashi

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Synopsis

When her niece is found dead along with three friends after viewing a supposedly cursed videotape, reporter Reiko Asakawa (Nanako Matsushima) sets out to investigate. Along with her ex-husband, Ryuji (Hiroyuki Sanada), Reiko finds the tape, watches it -- and promptly receives a phone call informing her that she'll die in a week. Determined to get to the bottom of the curse, Reiko and Ryuji discover the video's origin and attempt to solve an old murder that could break the spell.

Director: Hideo Nakata
Producer: Takashige Ichise, Shinya Kawai, Takenori Sento
Screenwriter: Kôji Suzuki, Hiroshi Takahashi
Distributor: Golden Scene [hk], Potential Films, Califórnia, Primer Plano Film Group S.A., Anolis Entertainment, Toho Company Ltd., Kadokawa Shoten Pblshg, Haut et Court
Production Co: Omega Project, Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co.
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 31, 1998, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 21, 2019
Runtime: 1h 36m
Sound Mix: Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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