Sadako 3D

"The Ring" ("Ringu") was groundbreaking and innovative back in its time, and the following movies - read parts 2 and 0, as well as the Korean version, but not the American version (which was just beyond awful) - were great. And in the spirit of the previous Japanese movies, I was thrilled when I happened to fall across "Sadako 3D" by sheer luck. Preparing for a good old fashioned Japanese scarefest, I settled in on the couch to watch "Sadako 3D".

And now that the end credits have finished, I sit here with a very, very empty feeling and a rather bad taste in my mouth. This movie was quite far from the original trilogy, both in plot and in scares. Not to mention the 3D effects were not particularly impressive.

For a Japanese horror movie then "Sadako 3D" was frightfully lacking spooks and scary moments. And a poorly animated CGI version of Sadako didn't really help the movie along in any great way. Nor did it help when she came out of the well and had strangely mutated legs. Or when there were several of those creatures crawling around. It was just horrible to witness.

The acting throughout the movie was adequate, despite the actor and actresses had very little to work with. And Satomi Ishihara (playing Akane) did carry the movie all by herself actually. Without her in the movie, it would have been even more gut-wrenching to sit through.

At 96 minutes, you get very little worth for your money. The movie is lacking that tradition dark sense of foreboding doom and horror that usually permeates the Japanese horror movies. "Sadako 3D" was too much of a re-shined attempt to cash in on an otherwise great series and try to brighten it up with 3D effects.

Having seen "Sadako 3D", I am somewhat hesitant about sitting down to watch "Sadako 2 3D". Why? Well, aside from the lack of creativity in the title, then from the fear that it will turn out just as dull, lifeless and boring as the first "Sadako" movie was.

"Sadako 3D" is more of a slap in the face of fans of the original "Ring" movies than it is a well-worthy addition to the legacy.

In Japan, there is an urban legend that there is a cursed video clip of a suicide released by a man called Kashiwada (Yûsuke Yamamoto) in Internet that drives the viewer also to commit suicide. When the high- school student Noriko Morisaki seeks the video in classroom, her teacher Akane (Satomi Ishihara) takes her cellular to return it after class. But soon Noriko watches the footage at home and dies and the police inspector Koiso goes to the school to interview Akane and her students. Koiso's assistant Nakamura believes that the video is real, but Koiso does not pay much attention on him.

When Akane's boyfriend Takanori (Kôji Seto) is captured by a woman in the video and Koiso witnesses Nakamura committing suicide, they investigate Kashiwada and discover that his intention is to bring Sadako (Ai Hashimoto) back to a new body and Akane is the chosen one. Now Akane has to fight against Sadako to bring Takanori back and save her life.

"Sadako 3D" is a very bad Japanese horror movie with a senseless story. The plot is silly, with Kashiwada releasing the video to find a strong body to revive Sadako and they actually want Akane's body. Akane uses her super-scream to get rid of the supernatural creatures as if it were a comedy. So why do they need to make a video to kill people? They are very powerful and wouldn't be easier if they simply find Akane and use her body to revive Sadako? The conclusion is awful and in the end only the gorgeous lead actress Satomi Ishihara is worth to be watched in this terrible movie. My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): "A Invocação 3D" ("The Invocation 3D")

Back when the world was first introduced to the creepy long-haired girl in white that came after a viewing of a cursed videotape, the goggle box in the living room was probably the only device one needed to fear. Today, the invasion of the electronic screen into every nook and cranny of our lives is so pervasive that we'd probably be staring at fear itself no matter where we turn- and it is precisely this reality that 'Sadako 3D', the fifth official entry in the 'Ring' series, exploits.

In one of the more effective sequences of the movie, our protagonist Akane (Ishihara Satomi) flees the all-girls school she is teaching at to get away from the multitude of computer screens within, only to be confronted on the street by electronic billboards above and around her. It is a clever reflection of the world we live in today, dominated by second, third and fourth screens of different sizes and dimensions. Speaking of dimension, an additional dimension of fear has also been added in the form of depth, another phenomenon that 'Sadako 3D' gladly takes advantage of.

Yet despite these virtues, director Hanabusa Tsutomo's adaptation of original creator Koji Suzuki's newest addition to the series is a hugely disappointing entry that sullies the reputation of the franchise. Instead of the grippingly eerie atmosphere of Hideo Nakata's first film, we get cheap 'boo' scares that dissipate as quickly as they appear. Instead of a genuinely spine-tingling central character in Sadako, we get a young teenage girl with superimposed red eyes and inexplicably numerous spider-like 'Sadakos' that end up unintentionally amusing. And instead of some intriguing village folklore surrounding Sadako, we get some lame excuse in the form of a limp revenge plot concocted by a vengeful artist.

Yes, Tsumoto's 'Sadako 3D' is such a deeply flawed movie that one can't help but lament at the caricature the central character has become at the hands of a clearly inept director. Tsumoto was also behind the screenplay and he and co-writer Fujioka Yoshinobu are just as incompetent in sustaining any dramatic momentum in the storytelling. Despite hewing closely to the template of the original movie in having a female protagonist on the hunt for Sadako, the duo fail to replicate the former's riveting buildup of fear or dread, chiefly because Akane isn't given much of a mystery to decipher in the first place. Couple that with a haphazard manner by which various supporting characters chance upon the said cursed footage and meet their death, and you have a narrative that basically makes little sense.

But none of that compares to the appalling CGI employed for Sadako. It says a lot when the Sadako of fourteen years ago looks more realistic than the Sadako here- and that is apparent right from the opening shot with a woman falling down a well. Even if we are willing to overlook the perspective issues of this oft-repeated shot, the use of CGI in Sadako's appearance from a computer screen or smartphone is simply awful, driven solely from the perspective of the third dimension with little thought of other spatial considerations.

Most dreadful- and worthy of reiterating- is the laugh-inducing climax where tens of Sadako-wannabes go after Akane in pure arachnid fashion. For no other reason other than the fact that it must have been hard crawling out of smaller modern-day screens, our supposedly fear-inducing character has suddenly been reduced to a long-legged creature monster that moves with extraordinary speed. Not only that, Akane also makes the transformation from scared schoolteacher to spider-buster, vanquishing her pursuers with a simple wield of a metal rod. Humour was probably not Tsumoto's intention for this drawn-out ending, but there's little else it offers.

Regrettably then, this seemingly prescient entry into the 'Ring' mythology is a complete letdown. Instead of offering a new dimension in horror, it careens into unintentional humour and just about erases any lasting memory of why Sadako was so terrifying in the first place. Like most franchise entries with '3D' prominently displayed within its title, it is no more than a cash-grab attempt at exploiting the extra dimension with a lame rehash of a previously successful horror that did just fine in 2D. With such a feeble return, this Sadako might as well have stayed in the well- which is where you want to kick it under after you've seen it.

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Being a big fan of the Japanese originals as well as the American remakes, I'm always in for more of this franchise it seems. That being said, I'll be the first to admit that this movie is extremely far removed from its source material. Both the books and the movies. It is just completely bonkers, in a way that only a Japanese movie can be, being such a bizarre mix of a seriously attempted plot and obviously ridiculous things, that you constantly keep wondering what you're actually looking at. If you're in the right mood, that can be very entertaining.

This movie is many things. Silly, bizarre, creative, over the top, but never boring. It takes the basic concept of Sadako and that's about it. Yes, there is a cursed video, but gone is the 7 days requirement and all the suspense it brings. Gone is her backstory as well. This Sadako doesn't follow many rules, and has as many faces and forms as all the other movies in the franchise combined. Some of them were so crazy I just had to respect the creativity of it. I mean, wow. It's a lot. Most of it wasn't actually scary, but certainly memorable.

This movie really makes me see Sadako (2019) in a different light. I think the original director returned just to remind people that Sadako 3D is not what the franchise is about. 2019 had some silly aspects, but Sadako 3D makes it look almost gritty and realistic with its utter ridiculousness, almost like an attempt at 'return to form'. It shows just how far a franchise can derail if it runs long enough.

If you want a serious suspenseful horror film like the original Ringu, nothing to see here. Me personally, I'm used to seeing long running franchises go completely off the rails (Alien and Godzilla come to mind), so seeing an interation of Sadako this crazy isn't all that surprising. Go in with an open mind, and you might have fun with it.

This piece of rat-infested dog poop is simply not worth watching. Almost everything about this film is just wrong. The onryo ghost, which I personally find to be a very chilling entity, is included in a variety of laughably stupid sequences. The way the horror scenes were constructed is grade D filmmaking at its worst. We're talking head-slapping stupidity. For example, Sadako is "controlled" by a young dude with an oh-so-lame Japanese rockstar fashion sense who is played by an actor who should not be working. Right from the opening scene, this guy is an absolute embarrassment with his terribly acted "evil laugh." Imagine if Michael Cera tried to be scary, and this is what you'd get. Sadako just friggin' pops out everywhere, like some mentally challenged CGI jack-in-the-box. There's no emphasis on creepiness or atmosphere at all. The storyline is also haphazard and totally boring. There's literally no talent behind or in front of the camera here. Everyone involved in this travesty should be thrown down a well.

If you're looking for good recent Japanese horror, check out "Tormented" (2011), "X Game" (2010), "Tomie Unlimited" (2011), "Kaidan Horror Classics 1-4" (2010), and "Gomenasai" (2011).