The Spiral

As with the other Ringu films, the basic problem here is an evil, cursed video tapu.

But Rasen (The Spiral) is the misfit of the Ring franchise, more of an alternative elaboration of the premise than a sequel. It's a while since I saw the other films so I wasn't as disturbed by this strange mutation as many hardcore Ringu fans almost certainly would have been. (Imagine that after Dr No someone had made an alternative sequel in which bond turned out to be a gay KGB double agent?)

Audiences so hated this sequel to the first Ring movie that the studio had to re-hire the cast and crew to make an alternative sequel - Ringu 2. The Spiral is a different strain indeed - the medical basis for death by VHS is explained here as a virus, yet it's one you can catch from reading a notebook now as well as watching Sadako's original video nasty.

Rasen belongs more to the Sci-Fi genre than the Horror or Thriller genres. There are no real crescendos of tension, just a buzz of urban unease, which signals a warning to us about the ways that creeping solitude can lead to moral sell-out. Rasen reminded me a bit of Abre los Ojos (remade as Vanilla Sky) in as much that a good plot set-up is allowed to get over-ripe, if not exactly smelly and rotten, in the lead up to the final act. (Vanilla Sky was stinky from the start.)

With Reiko killed off Miki Nakatani is now the main eye-sushi, reprising her role as the slightly kooky Mai Takano from the original. Twisted well-dweller Sadako too has found herself a much better hair stylist that she had in Ringu.