Now we have Ring 0, which resembles Star Wars Episode One in explaining what happened before the first Ring movie, in which a mysterious video tape killed anyone who watched it, and the second, in which the vengeful female spirit who inhabited the tape, one Sadako, wrecked even more havoc. This, I was assured by the film's publicist, is "the last of a trilogy." Based on a Koji Suzuki novel of the same title, Ring 0 tells of the birth of a monster - The Bride of Frankenstein in modern guise. This monster, though, has the face of an angel and is a victim as well as a killer. Is Sadako really as horrible as everyone, save one hunky defender, seems to think she is, or is she just horribly misunderstood? The script by Hiroshi Takahashi, who also adapted Suzuki's two previous Ring novels for the screen, and the direction by horror specialist Norio Tsuruta, keep us guessing about Sadako to her pre-ordained end. Many horror movies are just one danged scare after another - Ring 0 aspires to something like tragedy. No, it doesn't reach the heights of James Whale's cracked classic, but it does rise above the run of the Japanese "horror boom" films. The main reason is the performance by newcomer Yukie Nakama as Sadako. Through her eyes, we can experience Sadako's desperate struggle with her dark side -- and her clutching terror that she is losing.
Mark Schilling