Quick Rating:  **

 
Well, I didn't really care for the Ring, but part of me wanted to catch the original and see if it was any better.  Well, I should have known better.  This japanese horror movie isn't bad, but the same issues I had with the Americanized version exist in this one as well.
 
Anyway, for those of you who don't know (crawl out from under that rock, won't you?), the story centers around a videotape with creepy images that mysteriously kills those who watch it.  Actually, it kills them seven days after they watch it.  A local reporter is hunting down this story after 4 teenagers all die suddenly, one week after spending a night together and watching the video. She eventually finds the tape, and, you guessed it, she watches it!  Nowhere near as creepy as the American version of the tape, but still eerie, nonetheless.  So, she enlists the help of her ex-husband, who has psychic powers.  This little bit of information, while not entirely believeable, gives more understanding to certain scenes and plot movements that the American version lacked. 
 
So, they eventually track down the "creator" of the tape and think they break the curse, but no, and la-di-da...  wacko ending, just like the remake.  I didn't care for the method of death, the method of saving yourself, or the missing answers (see my review for the Ring for some of the questions!).  But at least this version didn't drag out the ending the way the remake did! 
 

 
 

Quality: 4.0  Visuals: 5.5  Intensity: 4.0 
OVERALL RATING: 4.5