Deep In The Woods [DVD] [2000]

Beginning as a series of novels by Koji Suzuki (who also wrote the script for 'Ring 0'), and expanding into the film franchise, the Ring cycle seems to have captured the Japanese public's imagination. Besides breaking box office records, you can now buy Sadako dolls, and for the release of the latest film, several themed haunted house attractions were opened, with visitors encouraged to throw balls at employees dressed as Sadako as part of a Japanese tradition. For something so popular, the temptation may have been to deliver more of the same, but 'Ring 0' bravely, if not totally successfully, adds disturbing new layers to the myth and unveils an unexpected twist or two. The ending is already prescribed for us, and so we are forced to watch in a paralysed state as Sadako makes her inexorable descent into destiny at the bottom of the well. The main strength of the script is to make us empathise with this innocent young woman - she is as fearful of her mysterious powers as we are - and this is helped by a subtle performance in the lead role by Yukie Nakama that draws in the audience, making her inevitable fate even more chilling.

Like its predecessors, 'Ring 0' is painted with a stark pallet - it's shot in colour but the indelible memory is of it being black and white, and, whilst one of the strongest motifs of the series, the cursed videotape, isn't present, the imagery of Sadako herself remains eerily preserved. However, the change of director and scriptwriter is noticeable. The sheer unbridled tension that the original managed to stir up is noticeably absent from this film. It ups the body count but ends up short changing us on the psychological chills; it simply isn't as creepy as the original terrifying twosome. The often overly elaborate direction is partly responsible for this (the camera weaves and whirls excessively in too smooth a fashion) but the prime suspect is the fact that by explaining the past of Sadako, by making it understandable and even pitiable, the very power to scare is being diminished. The script knows this and tries to create more questions to re-inject the mystery (such as the issue of Sadako's true parentage) but these attempts tend to feel artificial.

With a dubious Hollywood remake of 'Ring' on its way, the story shifted to the USA and said to feature a girl whose psychic powers cause horses to commit suicide, we should be thankful that 'Ring 0' maintains the spirit if not the exhilarating quality of its precursors. Apart from delivering an interesting twist and a reasonable climax, it goes to prove the adage that often less is more. 'Ring 0' isn't bad by any means; it just feels a little superfluous.