Tweekums Set thirty years before the original films this instalment of the franchise looks into Sadako's life in the run-up to her death. It opens with reporter Akiko Miyaji investigating the death of journalists, including her fiancé at an ESP demonstration by Shizuko Yamamura; Sadako's mother. This leads her to Sadako who is now working as an understudy at a small theatre. Two of her fellow actresses have had strange dreams about a well… shortly afterwards one of them dies. She was the leading actress and her role is offered to Sadako. Soon people are blaming her for the death and that only increases as strange things start to happen; more people have the same strange dream and an audio tape recording has a strange sound on it. On the day of the play one of these people plays the recording of the ESP demonstration and Sadako has visions of her late mother. Things then turn more unpleasant.While this isn't quite as creepy as the original film it does provide an interesting backstory for Sadako. It was nice to see that she wasn't always the evil creature we see in the early films. The idea that there are in fact two of her; the one that is seen and another who is glimpsed or seen in pictures is intriguing. The way much of the action takes place on stage adds to the strangeness as sometimes we are watching a play and sometimes real events and it isn't always immediately obvious which. This also provides an excuse to have characters dressed more like people in Edwardian Europe than sixties Japan. As the story nears its conclusion the tension increases and even though we know that Sadako must ultimately end up in the well the final scenes are still disturbing and explain why she became a vengeful spirit. Overall I'd say that this was an effective chiller which was both interesting and somewhat disturbing at times.

Curtis Lyons When I watched this on LoveFilm and read the reviews (a bunch of people whining about Subtitles, etc), I knew I had to contribute my opinion of this film. To start simply, Ring 0 is good. Despite many mixed reviews, I found it good. However, be warned - Ring 0 is very different from most Ring films, including the Remake (Of which I did not enjoy as much). I shall describe the plot here: We focus this time on Sakado, placing her as the Protagonist instead of Antagonist. We see a more caring, shy and natural Sakado as she joins an Acting Troupe in an attempt to become an Actress. When one of the Troupe dies Sakado takes their place in the performance. However, after Sadako falls in love with one of the Troupe, Hiroshi Toyama. As she is plagued by Nightmares and the Hatred of the other Troupe members, it is revealed to us that Sakado has two personalities - her innocent side, supposedly taking after her Mother, and a darker side that takes after her Father. After being attacked by one of the Troupe members, Sadako is suddenly helped by Toyama, who kills the Troupe member in defence. When the Troupe discover his body, they go on a hunt for Sakako, brutally beating her until death, despite Toyama's protests. They go to Sadako's original House, where Dr. Ikuma, Sadako's adoptive father, lives. As Sadako revives and escapes with Toyama, she is suddenly overcome with her secondary self, who then kills everybody in the Acting Troupe. Dr. Ikuma finally takes Sadako back to her old house, drugging her and chasing her to the Family well. After her pleas for mercy, Sadako has an Axe driven into her head twice, and is pushed down the well, as Dr. Ikuma mourns his actions. What is good about the film is that the treatment towards Sadako is shocking. We can start to feel much more Pity for the antagonist behind the Killer Videotape than we felt in the first film. The scenes where Sadako is possessed by her other self are shocking, bringing back some Horror. The film focuses much more on Sadako than ever seen, and it's an amazing Prequel. I recommend the film to anybody looking for a Ring film with a different sort of feel to it. However, whether the film is good or not is up to you. Watch it for yourself!

Boba_Fett1138 This is a quite good and interesting prequel to the Japanese Ringu series. It perhaps its not necessarily good as a part of the Ringu series but as a stand alone movie it simply is a really great one.This movie focuses on how Sadako becomes the murdering spirit. It sounds like a bad idea to give the 'monster' a face and a backdrop story and yes, this is perhaps also why "Ringu 0: Bâsudei" is perhaps not that great as a part of the Ringu series. This movie is also less horror like and orientated as any other movie out of the series and it focuses more on the dramatic aspects of the Sadako character. It's not her fault that she is the way she is and she actually is a cute and shy person. This sort of ruins the image of the evil Sadako spirit we know from the other Ringu movies. In that regard this movie suffers from the same problem as "Hannibal Rising". It gives the monster a face and because of that we loose some of our respect for the character and it ruins his original image. For instance I never saw Sadako as a young adult but more as a 12 year old child or so. In this movie she is presented as a young woman.But like I said, it can't be denied that as a standalone movie this is simply a great one to watch. It's nicely directed with a good overall visual style and it has a good compelling story, that mixes drama with some more supernatural elements. You can see this movie as "Ringu" meets "Carrie", since this movie story- and character-wise definitely show some similarities to the Brian De Palma horror classic "Carrie", from 1976.The movie doesn't always have a too fast pace and there is not always a lot happening within the movie. The first hour of the movie or so even feels quite redundant afterward. It isn't until very well halve way through that the movie starts to take off. It's also then that the movie its horror elements really start to kick in and the Sadako character starts to become the evil spirit we all know from the other Ringu movies. Not that the movie ever becomes truly scary but it has a nice eerie atmosphere that Japanese horror movies are so well known and liked for. So all in all, as a part of the Ringu series this movie perhaps isn't that great but as a stand alone movie it simply is a very good one. 8/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

lost-in-limbo We see the shy teenage Sadako as a student of a drama club in Tokyo and being outcast by her peers because of the strange air she generates when around them. After the unusual death of the lead actress in the play, the director chooses Sadako to play the part. This gets on a lot of the students' nerves, except for the sound man Toyama. Who both have a sweet spot for each other. Meanwhile, 30 years ago Sadako's mother was involved in an ESP experiment for journalists that turned terribly wrong. Those who were present have all now mysteriously died and reporter Miyaji believes that Sadako was somehow involved and goes about tracking her down for personal gains. Could this interference bring out her disturbing past and help discover the meaning of her horrible nightmares? A story has always got to have a beginning. Or does it? I guess a prequel was inevitable, but in the long run it outstays its welcome and only convoluted the whole "Ring" legacy by going on to over explain things. An oddly confusing rash of ideas get an extensive workout (but some things are still left in limbo; like the cursed videotape) and Sadako's origins comes across as some sort of wishy-washy soap opera that damages that ominous presence she once held. The passive story seems more like a character item (of a tragic soul and a splash of "Carrie (1976)") and totally different in style, compared to its horror-bound predecessors (Ring & Ring 2). It's all about Sadako now, even though there's no change to the systematic formula of detective work… done by no other than a media reporter. The stage is set. Not bad, but definitely lesser to the previous two. Definitely in the chills and creepy imagery department. The production is just as polished, but maybe even more so and the film's plodding movement makes way for a startlingly atmospheric (if silly) closing. Honestly I didn't care for too much of what was happening, up until the film's final intense 30 minutes and that's when the horror elements kicked in. Something that might have made it a bumpy ride with fewer thrills could've been that the original director of the first two, Hideo Nakata didn't return and it was handed over to Norio Tsuruta. Instead of the hair-raising dark mood of Nakata's ventures. He brought a much more sedated and eerie touch to the screenplay written by Koji Suzuki (the author of "Ring"). Smeared into the dour scenes is a tinglingly spooky music score that knows when to plays its cards effectively to its advantage. Performances are decent enough. The void-like Yukie Nakama is genuinely haunting in her moping appearance as the cursed Sadako.Was clearing up parts (or adding more onto) the mystery of Sadako a good thing? I don't know, but it's a moderate sequel that only enthusiasts of the "Ring" films should bother with. I think its best to watch this one last.