The seminal and terrifying Hideo Nakata-directed Japanese horror film “Ring,” aka “Ringu,” aka “The Ring,” centers around a reporter, Reiko (Nanako Matsushima), who sets out to investigate a cursed video tape that supposedly causes anyone who watches it to die seven days later. After watching the eerie video herself, she receives an ominous phone call that contains an ominous warning: “Seven days.”
In addition to its scary, urban legend-esque hook and generally creepy vibes, the film is also notable for its iconic long-haired, vengeful ghost, Sadako, who appears in the mysterious video and has a penchant for crawling out of both old wells and TV sets.
Thanks to its worldwide popularity and box-office success, “Ring” helped launch not only a franchise, but a wave of other Japanese and Asian horror films, including “Ju-On” (aka “The Grudge”), and “Dark Water,” whose American remakes also helped popularize the subgenre in the States and led to the coining of the phrase, “J-Horror.” The American remake of “Ringu,” directed by Gore Verbinski, also found critical and financial success, helping to cement the franchise’s lasting horror legacy.