The Ring (franchise)

Ring (リング Ringu), also known as The Ring, is a Japanese horror franchise, which consists of seven films, one crossover, two TV adaptations, five manga adaptations and five remakes. It is based on the novel series of the same name, written by Koji Suzuki.

The films revolve around a cursed videotape that kills anyone who watches it seven days later. It was created by psychic Sadako Yamamura, who was murdered by her adoptive father and thrown into a well. After her supposed death, she returned as a ghostly serial killer, killing anyone who fails to copy and the send the videotape to someone else under a 7 day deadline.

Films

Four adaptions have been made of Suzuki's 1991 book Ring. The first was the Japanese TV film Ring: Kanzenban, released in 1995. This remained very close to the book but didn't have the success and recognition of the later films.

In 1998, Hideo Nakata made a new Japanese adaptation of the book in his film Ring, initiating the franchise. The original sequel to this was Rasen, an adaptation of Spiral (Suzuki's sequel to his first Ring book). However, due to poor reception, a new sequel, Ring 2, was released in 1999 which continued the storyline of Ring but was not based on Suzuki's books. This was followed by a 2000 prequel, Ring 0: Birthday, which was based on the short story "Lemonheart" from Suzuki's 1999 book, Birthday. These films delved into a uniquely different mythos surrounding Sadako and the cursed videotape. These changes led the franchise to attain a cult status, both domestically and internationally, popularizing the Japanese horror genre as a whole and the stringy black-haired yūrei trope.

In 2012, Sadako 3D was released, adapted from Suzuki's book S, and in and 2013 Sadako 3D 2 was released.

In 2016, Sadako vs. Kayako, directed by Kōji Shiraishi, was released. It is a crossover of the Ju-on and Ring series of horror films. It features Sadakaya, a ghost that resulted from the fusion of Sadako and the Ju-on antagonist Kayako Saeki.

Remake

Five remakes were made from the original Japanese films, with one being made in South Korea and four being made in the United States of America.

The Ring Virus was the first remake to be made, in 1999, where the killer is renamed as Park Eun-suh, who is a hermaphrodite, unlike the biologically female Sadako in the films. Though the film copied multiple scenes from Ring, it is, like Ring: Kanzenban, very faithful to the original novel series.

In 2002, an American remake was made, titled The Ring, where the killer is renamed as Samara Morgan, who is a preteen instead of an adolescent woman. The Ring was one of the highest-grossing horror remakes, its box office gross surpassing that of Ring. Two sequels were made, including a short film, following its release, creating a distinct mythos that pertains exclusively to the American remake.

Short film

Cast

Key

• A ^Y indicates the actor portrayed the role of a younger version of the character.
• A ^V indicates the actor or actress lent only his or her voice for his or her film character.
• An ^A indicates an appearance through archival footage.
• A ^C indicates a cameo appearance.

• A dark gray cell indicates the character was not in the film.

Crew

Reception

References