Ring 2

[Easy 10]

Anyone see this last night ? They showed the Japanese version on Channel 4 (with subtitles). Have to say, I was a bit disappointed with it. There wasn't much in the way of story development from the original, the shocks wern't all that shocking, and the end was quite contrived and a real anti-climax. I was really waiting for Sadako to do her THING, but not a lot happens really. I suppose now we know what to expect, its never going to have the same impact as the first one, but still, I expected a bit more.

Hopefully they'll do a bit more with the US version.

When I went to bed though at about 2am, the wardrobe door was open, and in the gloom, the way some of the clothes were hanging, it looked like Sadako was standing behind my away shirt...I had to get up, close the door, and jump back into bed quick

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

I'm going to watch the American version tonight at the moooovies!! bit scared already

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

I think you and I are both of the same opinion, Easy. And that is that the American version of the Ring is far superior to the Japenese original.

The Ring 2 (Japenese version) was a big disappointment, and the prequel, Ring 0 Birthday, was even worse. From what I've seen of it, it appears that the American Ring 2 will go off on its own course in much the same way that the 'remake' of the original Ring did. Which is good news.

Tonight I'll be watching The Spiral, which is another Japanese follow-up to the Ring. That one follows the plot of the Japanese books, which are quite different to the films. The reviews I've read of The Spiral on Amazon have suggested that it's poor, but I suspect the reviewers hadn't actually read the books Ring and Spiral before they watched the film.

 

[Meade's Ball]

I'm definitely not getting involved in this argument AGAIN!

 

[Easy 10]

Nearly everyone says that the Japanese version of The Ring was far superior to the Hollywood remake, but you're right LB, I never went along with that. I thought the US version was much better, and I'm hoping Ring 2 will follow the same pattern (hopefully BAG will give us a little report tomorrow).

Incidentally LB, that film "Audition" in your avatar - I've heard its excellent, but I've not seen it anywhere. Whats it about ? Is it worth getting hold of via Amazon ?

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

Incidentally LB, that film "Audition" in your avatar - I've heard its excellent, but I've not seen it anywhere. Whats it about ? Is it worth getting hold of via Amazon ?

I would say that Audition is far and away the most disturbing film I've ever seen. It centres around a guy whose wife died at a fairly young age - the opening scene is him at her hospital bed as she dies.

Ten years or so later, on the prompting of his son and his best mate, he decides to look for another wife, but he doesn't know where to start. His mate is a TV director, and comes up with the idea of holding an audition for a part that doesn't really exist. The character the actresses audition for is really that of the guy's ideal woman.

Through the audition he meets a girl who he falls head over heels in love with, although his mate is dubious about her from the start as her references don't add up.

Naturally enough, she is certainly not what she seems, and having had an interesting plot line which is basically no more than a weird love story for its first hour or so, the film rapidly descends into an absolute nightmare. It gets very disturbing indeed, and you'll need a strong stomach for the final scenes.

I can't recommend it highly enough, though. I absolutely loved it, but it shocked me like no other film ever has done before. It is twisted, disturbing and quite sick, but if you do see it you'll never forget it, that's for sure.

Extreme content caution!

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

Here's a review of Audition from the HMV website:

OK, lets get one thing straight right form the word go, this is quite easily one of the most horrific and disturbing film you are ever likely to see. Now we can't stress enough just how intense this film is to watch, do not watch it if you are easily shocked or offended.

So, what sort of film could cause such a strongly worded warning? Widower Aoyama decides that he is getting lonely in life, now that his son is growing up, but he finds it hard to meet someone that he likes. With the help of his friend, a TV producer, they set up fake auditions looking for exactly the right type of woman for Aoyama to fall in love with. The final girl that they see is Asami, a very shy and quiet girl who studies ballet. At once smitten by her, Aoyama takes her to dinner and he starts to fall in love, slowly the two get closer and closer, falling in love. Then one day Asami disappears, as Aoyama starts to look for her he begins to find out about her past, a strange and shocking past that makes him realise there might be more to her than first meets the eye. As she re-appears in his life things start to get very strange as the film builds to its horrific and shockingly cruel climax.

The first half of the film plays very much like a gentle romantic comedy and you might be fooled into thinking that was how it s going to carry on. Then mood of the film starts to change just very slightly, slowly building up a strange sense of unease and menace until your trapped in a nightmare with poor unfortunate Aoyama, who only wanted to meet a nice woman to settle down with. About half way through watch out for one of the all time strangest most unexpected sudden shocks in cinema, one that will make you jump right out of your skin. An absolutely stunning film from Japanese director Takashi Miike.

 

[Meade's Ball]

Here's a review of Audition from the HMV website:

The enemy. I write for the virgin website. Please refer to their film reviews in future.

Many thanks

MB

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

The enemy. I write for the virgin website. Please refer to their film reviews in future.

Excellent! Will do. Are any of your Asian horror film reviews on the Virgin site?

 

[Easy 10]

Weird, disturbing women with murky pasts. Sounds right up my street.

Cheers LB

 

[Meade's Ball]

Excellent! Will do. Are any of your Asian horror film reviews on the Virgin site?

They have a new version of the site going live in about a week, i'm led to believe, so the reviews will actually eb seen by more than 7 people. At the moment, they're hidden in the darkest labyrinth of links and clicks.

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

Weird, disturbing women with murky pasts. Sounds right up my street.

If you're interested in Asian films, then give HMV a try (sorry MB). At the moment they've got a terrific sale on their World Cinema DVD's. Films like Audition are down to £9-99 from the normal price of £19-99, while various others can be picked up from as cheap as £7-99.

Two other films I would recommend if you're into this sort of stuff are The Eye and A Tale Of Two Sisters. The latter is a very strange affair, but it's excellent all the same. There is a brilliant review of it on the Virgin site which I believe our friend Meade's Ball was responsible for.

 

[Meade's Ball]

The latter is a very strange affair, but it's excellent all the same. There is a brilliant review of it on the Virgin site which I believe our friend Meade's Ball was responsible for.

Oh, you guys!

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

Here's said review of A Tale Of Two Sisters from the Virgin website. An excellent review of a great film:

From James Mason being robbed of his middle-class sanity in Bigger Than Life to Jack Nicholson lacerating doors with demonic venom in The Shining, cinema relishes a swift decline into hysterical madness like no other medium. The camera can linger with malicious glee on an unflinching face; an ocean of calm, as the most fearsome maelstrom rages blackly beneath.

In Kim Ji-Won’s A Tale of Two Sisters, we’re entirely unsure whose mania we’re mired in. The eponymous sisters return home from an unspecified mental break, driven by their unmistakably weary father. They play in the long grass and dip their feet into a foreboding lake that barely acknowledges their existence with a ripple.

Inside the house, the atmosphere is less idyllic. Their stepmother, a walking ice-sculpture, bereft of maternal care, can do no right. Meanwhile, their father sits bespectacled and guilty in his study, distancing himself from the family disturbances that threaten his peace.

Despite the thick, emotional mist that rolls in throughout the day, it’s the dark, as ever, that brings the terror. The nightmares creep slowly in from the edge of the frame to dominate each scene. Blood seeps from a loose floorboard and ghosts dot themselves around the walls and cabinets. In the most awful moment, Soo-Mi is frozen in bed as one such ghoul, all hair and broken body, staggers toward her.

The film builds to a huge crescendo. People become one another in Lynchian style, each as confused as the next and all screaming and bloody. By its climax, there’s the sense that you’ve been locked in a room of blackboards, all being scraped at once. The tension is agonising, but necessary. An unsettling, but essential 2 hours.

 

[Easy 10]

Jesus, I damn near soiled meslef just reading that review. I'll be sure not to watch THAT one alone.

 

[Albion Dan]

Audition saounds great, will def be checking that one out!!!

As for the US vs Jap Ring debate I also think the US Ring canes teh jap version, and I saw the Jap one first.

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

The weird 'shock' moment in the middle of Audition is incredible. The film lulls you into a false sense of security, and then suddenly throws you right off balance. I shouted out loud - don't think I've ever done that watching a film before or since.

And as for the final scene......

 

[Easy 10]

The only time I've ever shouted out loud at a film was when Erica Eleniak burst out of a giant cake, topless, in Steven Seagals "Under Siege".

I just couldn't contain myself.

 

[Scarface]

The only time I've ever shouted out loud at a film was when Erica Eleniak burst out of a giant cake, topless, in Steven Seagals "Under Siege".

I just couldn't contain myself.

But in an entirely different way! You'll be watching audition like this then!

 

[stoke]

The only time I've ever shouted out loud at a film was when Erica Eleniak burst out of a giant cake, topless, in Steven Seagals "Under Siege".

I just couldn't contain myself.

The 'hand from the grave' scene in Carrie certainly made me jump in the cinema. So much so I grabbed the top of my girlfriends leg in terror!