Sadako

A girl is spending her life locked into a closet by her mother. She only has two friends, a doll and a long-haired woman.

After an incident, the girl ends up in a hospital, under the care of doctor Mayu (Ikeda Elaiza). Meanwhile, Mayu's brother Kazuma (Shimizu Hiroya) works as a vlogger comedian. After a tip from his older colleague Yusuke (Tsukamoto Takashi), he starts investigating haunted places and publishing videos of them online. Of course, more incidents soon follow.

Even though the movie title does not contain a number, it is yet another sequel to the classical horror movie Ringu. As such, it will give you exactly what you expect. That said, absolutely watch Ringu first.

Compared to Ringu, it lacks the eerie atmosphere and symbolism. Instead it has a modern, well-polished feel. It has at least one memorable horror scene, and some that were too cliché.

A few pieces of background story are added to the lore. The curse also works differently, and a new, interesting theme is introduced.

Of the actors, Ikeda Elaiza was brilliant of course, expressing all levels of emotion from concern to horror. Shimizu Hiroya is ridiculous, but for a comedian it is not out of character. Also there was a female patient and some children in the hospital that were pretty funny. The girl played well for a child actor.

This movie is hardly of interest to anyone except for fans of the original movie. For those fans it might be a small but nice addition to the legend of Sadako.

Ugh, another cash-in on the a franchise that was great back in the days of 1998 and a few years onward. Yet, I opted to sit down and watch the 2019 "Sadako" movie from writer Noriaki Sugihara and director Hideo Nakata on the odd chance that this might actually be a worthwhile addition to "The Ring" legacy and franchise.

But no. Well, while "Sadako" was a watchable movie, it was by no means an outstanding horror movie. Nor was it a particularly scary one, not even by accounts of Japanese horror standards. "Sadako" felt like a watered down rendering of the origin story of Sadako, the girl that terrorized people in "The Ring".

The storyline told in this 2019 movie was a bit too boring and bland. There was nothing scary to be had here throughout the course of the entire movie. Well, unless you are Asian I suppose. But for a seasoned horror veteran such as myself, then "Sadako" was not a scary movie and offered only slight entertainment. It felt like writer Noriaki Sugihara wasn't really sure in which direction to take the story, so it felt like it was a bit all over the place and sort of lacking a red coherent thread.

I managed to sit through the entire movie, but this was not a movie that tickled me in all the right places. Sure, it was watchable for the less than mediocre thing it turned out to be. But this is hardly a Japanese horror movie that managed to make itself stand out in the genre. And it is not a movie that warrants more than a single viewing.

The acting in the movie was adequate, despite the fact that the actors and actresses were hard pressed with having not much of a solid and complete script and storyline to work with.

I am rating the 2019 "Sadako" movie a less than mediocre four out of ten stars. Sometimes it is better to let sleeping corpses lie...

You would think with eight films in the Japanese series already, including crossing over with The Grudge ghost Kayako, that The Ring series may be reaching a level of overexposure. With the original director of the first two films returning for Sadako, one might think that there is some hope for the latest addition to the series.

This was... a very average film. There wasn't anything special about it that made it stand out; it didn't add anything new to the series. It's just Sadako haunting another bunch of people with a new plot line. That being said; average for the ninth film in a franchise isn't so bad. At this point, looking at other franchise, it should be pulling a low average of one to three. A four out of ten is relatively decent for this point in the franchise's life span.

Sadako has very good tense moment that had me glancing away from my screen uneasily, feeling anxious and getting my heart racing. The suspense is still something that remains strong throughout the franchise and I feel that is partly due to Nakata Hideo returning to direct this. With a mix of an urban legend mixed with a curse-ghost haunting plot line, this is really the only thing that stands up against it. Hideo continues to prove he's a master of suspense and, honestly, it's the only reason I'd think about watching this again - for the few moments that Hideo provides us that makes the heart race. With a ending worthy of the cringe-worthy award, especially with the final two moments, Sadako doesn't really hold up to the legacy that the Ring franchise has held for so long. I kind of wish they'd let Sadako haunt her well in peace and let her be at this point.

With a slightly underwhelming ninth film, it's definitely time to exorcise Sadako, let her move on from her cursed state, and throw the towel in with this one. Sadako barely holds up - a tenth would be physically incapable of holding up anything else.

I like it so much I'm willing the crap ones like this a pass got to admit enjoyed Sadako vs Kayako

I've read an article about Hideo Nakata's "noble attempt to resurrect dying genre of J-horror". I've also read an announcement that this movie is said to be based on Koji Suzuki's "Tide", what gave me hope of "returning to the roots" and ending the discord between the author and the director... Nakata and Suzuki made some good horrors (Ringu, Dark Water), so I hoped for another fruit of their teamwork.

But I was deceived. None of those promises were true.

For the first, this movie has literally nothing in common with Suzuki's novel "Tide", neither with any of his books. For the second, this movie is everything which original "Ringu" wasn't.

1. Lack of the music. Ringu Saga (1, 2 & 0) were richly adorned by Kenji Kawai's disturbing soundtrack, what was a huge help with building fearsome atmosphere. And in this movie we have basically no music, what makes "scary" scenes looking like stupid mockumentary. Oh wait, there is some sound - literally ONE SINGLE PIANO ACCORD, recurring sometimes - neither scary, nor touching, rather annoying.

2. Painful graphic. Although Mr. Nakata avoided casting 3D and CGI effect here and there, he still couldn't help but show off 4K resolution. I mean the resolution allowing you see the very single blade of grass. You know that human eye may see clearly either near, or far, but never both simultaneously! It's about lens's shape, which turns flat for far sight, and round for near sight. Lens cannot be both flat and round at the same moment! And... this movie shows both near and far planes painfully sharp simultaneously, what confuses and tires our eyes. What's the purpose of this showing off? Turning our attention away from plot-holes?

3. Lack of the plot. Not Sadako is the main heroine, or anti-heroine, but she's overshadowed by a generic girl with dahrrrk past (ripoff from Akane and Fuko from respectively "3D" and "3D 2") and some bratty, gloomy girl (ripoff from Nagi from "3D 2").

4. Acting. As much the characters are painfully generic and bringing literally nothing to "Ringu" franchise, as the actors portraying them are also bland. Elaiza Ikeda (Mayu) can only gape blankly with bulging eyes and opened jaws, what gives her looks of not-so-smart person. But maybe it's only an impression because of her mismatched hairstyle, which was a ripoff from Mai Takano... Maybe little Himeka Himejima tries hard, but her character is still unoriginal.

All Ringu-maniacs remember motherly Nanako Matsushima (Asakawa), snarky Hiroyuki Sanada (Takayama), gloomy Miki Nakatani (Takano)... You loved them? Too bad, because we won't see them here, even in a retrospection. From the "old school" remained only Hitomi Sato, but her character (Masami) became terribly twisted and humiliated.

5. Masami Kurahashi herself. Yes, she was just secondary character, who appeared in "Ringu 1" as cheerful, mischievous, giggling schoolgirl, and in "Ringu 2" as deeply traumatized patient with some psychic skills. In both roles I found her rather cute. Yet, now she was turned into some old, fat, perverted auntie, stalking young girls.

For people who aren't familiar with Japanese mentality... 20 years ago there existed a term "stalled Christmas cookie", referring to 25-year-old woman who was still unmarried. But it was two decades ago! Now it's not so rare for Japanese women to get married at their 30's (instead of 20's). Many Japanese women nowadays want to get education and professional career, so marriage and maternity should be postponed. Thus, instead of "stalled Christmas cookies" (25-year-old "spinsters") now we have "bimajo" (beautiful witches) - women in their 30's, who are still looking young and alluring.

In 1998-1999 Masami was a teenage kid around 17. 20 years later, respectively, she should be "bimajo" around 37. Yet, due to baggy clothes and terrible makeup, she's characterized as middle-aged lady in her 50's! Mr. Nakata, where were you during the last rwo decades, while the Japanese society managed to change their conception of unmarried women in their 30's?

6. Sadako herself. In "Ringu 1-2" she was terrifying, powerful demon wanting revenge (Rie Inou). In "Ringu 0" she was sweet, innocent girl, who wanted to love and be loved (Yukie Nakama). Even in "Rasen" she was purpose-driven, sentient being. In Suzuki's books she simply wanted to be reborn, and the tape was the key. There were also rules, making Sadako kill some people while sparing some others.

And now... she's just a mindless "uuuh, braaaiiins!" zombie without sensible purpose... aside killing everyone indiscriminately, without any rules...

And she's now a ripoff of her own clones:

• Kayako (crawling, using her hair as ropes)
• Hikiko (using brute force to drag people)
• Mitsuko (producing dark water and drowning people - sadly, not the first Nakata's auto-plagiarism, vide "Ghost Actress" and "Ghost Theater")

...While originally she had no problem with standing and walking, and didn't even need lift her finger to kill people - she simply stopped one's heart from afar... But hey, at least she isn't a grasshopper, like in 3D atrocity.

7. Shizuko Yamamura - she's now pretty, but empty porcelain doll. Shizuko, portrayed by Masako, was able to show strong emotions (shock, rage, despair). This one's acting is very artificial, and her emotions look lukewarm at best.

8. Backstory of Sadako and Shizuko, alongside the events from the original saga, became shamefully flattened and shortened.

9. Cursed video itself. I know that some actors passed away during the two decades, what may cause some copyright problems, but Mr. Nakata could simply pay their heirs for reusing scenes with them (Masako, Yuko Takeuchi). And pay the other "old" actors to make good reminiscences with Asakawa, Takayama or Takano. Instead, we have some bland, chaotic scenes. Which are, like the whole movie, overly bright and colorful.

Sadako lived in times when most of the movies were black-and-white, and their quality and resolution was questionable. So her "nensha" movie should be black-and-white and pixelated as well. It's NOT a flaw! It's crucial for the horror's climax. The video's bad quality gives us an impression of something old, obscure, abandoned and long forgotten.

While the new video is sepia-colored ("warm and nostalgic" and not "cold and ominous") and in 1080p resolution...

Sorry for this long rant, but... When the author and the director don't get along, the grudge is born... And this grudge is not even close to real horror... Just Hideo-us.