RINGU (1998) + THE RING (2002)

**The *Classic:***

"Here it is, the original and best: a genuinely scary movie, and so thoroughly inappropriate for the larky mood of Halloween. Hideo Nakata's 1998 horror film Ring, though influenced by Tobe Hooper's 1982 something-in-the-TV-set nightmare Poltergeist, was an instant and original classic. It spawned a raft of remakes, similar films and spoofs, and heralded an influential Japanese horror mythology that always seemed to involve young girls from watery places with lank hanks of black hair creeping up behind you with a weird creaky-groaning sound." **Peter Bradshaw (The Guardian)**

"While the movie has its basis in Japanese ghost mythology, it also boasts more contemporary threads of thought, one with a distinctly more feminist vibe. Predominantly, it’s an extended commentary on women surviving – or not – in a patriarchal society. Sadako’s backstory is one of tragic misfortune at the hands of men, [spoiler redacted]. And there are definite parallels to be drawn between S