Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		2.5

Ringu 0 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 25, 2019

Note: This film is available as part of Ringu Collection.

J-Horror.

What do you think of when someone mentions this “national” genre? If you’re like any number of fans, and as both commentator David Kalat and even the back cover verbiage of Ringu mention, the Ring* series will no doubt be at the top of the list. Interestingly, the back cover states that the original Ring film “launched the J-horror boom in the West”, though Kalat takes at least some issue with that assertion in his appealing analysis of the film. Kind of interestingly (and maybe just a bit peculiarly) given this series' outsized reputation, none of the Ring films has evidently been released on Blu-ray for the domestic American market before this, but Arrow, long the curator of niche items for some devoted collectors, has once again come to the rescue with both a standalone release of Ring, as well as a boxed set including four films.

*Kalat makes a cogent case that the coinage Ringu is due to the transliteration of Japanese orthography, and that the film's director himself told Kalat the name of the original film was Ring, so references to that film in particular and the series in general will use that version of the title. That said, the discs in this set sport the Ringu versions of the titles, and so links to films and/or reviews will show that version. Similarly, Spiral is listed with that title on its disc (as opposed to Rasen), so that title will also be used. Confused yet?

Wait. . .weren't you supposed to be playing Christine?

Was Ring 0 really necessary? That may be a salient question in more ways than one, since on one hand all of the prior Ring films doled out at least a little information about Sadako, but on the other hand, one of the more intriguing aspects about those films is that some elements of Sadako’s life and, well, afterlife weren’t completely explained, leaving a nice air of mystery surrounding certain events. Ring 0 attempts to give Sadako’s “origin story”, and as such it fills in some details about this ultimately pretty troubled character, but it may not completely satisfy some fans as either a character study or, perhaps more importantly, as a horror film.

There are some kind of curious analogs to another horror film about a troubled young woman, namely Carrie, with regard to the story of Sadako (Yukie Nakama), though this film arguably could have used a little more pig blood to spice up its proceedings (yes, that’s a joke). The film documents the trials and tribulations of Sadako’s life where, already experiencing psychological issues, she is encouraged to act in order to achieve some therapeutic results.

Parts of Ring 0 play almost comedically at times, at least for those who have taken part in any kind of theatrics, with outsized emotions between the troupe members leading to predictable disaster. What’s kind of odd about this tale is how it conflicts at least in part with Sadako’s backstory as revealed (admittedly in dribs and drabs) in some of the other Ring films. As I mentioned with regard to the “competing” sequels, Spiral and Ringu 2, it almost ceases to matter anymore what any given film may offer, since some other film is going to present something completely different. One way or the other, Ring 0 never builds up much suspense and delivers only a few fitful scares, most in the film's admittedly effectively spooky final act.

Ringu 0 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ring 0 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.86:1. While Ringu was granted a complete restoration replete with a new 4K scan of its original 35mm negative, it appears from the verbiage inside the pamphlet sized booklet included in this set that none of the other three films in this release were accorded the same treatment. In fact, all three are lumped together with the following brief explanatory verbiage:

Spiral, Ringu 2 and Ringu 0 are presented in their original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with 5.1 and 2.0 stereo sound. The High Definition masters were provided by Kadokawa Corporation.

Ring 0 has better saturation than either Spiral or Ring 2, though this presentation, too, has moments of noticeable softness and at times the same kind of grayish/blackish undertone that is noticeable in those two other films. That said, fine detail is often quite good even in less than brightly lit environments (see screenshot 13 for one example). As with some of the other films in this set, grain resolves naturally without any major issues, but can occasionally look somewhat splotchy, with a slightly yellowish tone (see screenshot 19 for one example). Some of the darkest interior scenes suffer from slight deficits in shadow detail.

Ringu 0 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ring 0 features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, but this film tends to shy away from some of the more overt horror aspects of the sound design of some of the other Ring films, and so some audiophiles may find the mix here to be a little on the tamped down side. The theatrical scenes can offer decent surround activity with groups of people talking over each other, and a couple of showier scenes toward the end of the film, when Sadako has started "manifesting" (in more ways than one), do offer some well placed discrete channelization of effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free track.

Ringu 0 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas


• Spooks, Sighs and Videotape (1080p 37:29) is a really interesting piece by noted expert Jasper Sharp which explores the J-Horror phenomenon.


• Behind the Scenes Featurette (720p; 21:32) has some fun candid footage. In Japanese with English subtitles.


• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 7:06)


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:25)


• Ring 0 / Isola Double Bill Trailer (1080p; 1:17)

Ringu 0 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

One of the more unsettling things about the original Ring film, and even arguably about Spiral and Ring 2, is that you were never quite sure who Sadako was or what she was attempting to do. Sometimes not knowing everything can add to the unease that horror fans seem to like to experience, and Ring 0's attempts to fill in "the rest of the story" may have been a flawed strategy from the get go. That said, technical merits here are generally solid, and both the commentary and Jasper Sharp's overview of J-Horror are extremely interesting and worthwhile, for those considering a purchase.