Ringu

In this psychological horror story from Japan, a legend circulates among teenagers that if one watches a certain video at a certain time of the night, the telephone will ring right afterward, and one week later, you will die. When Masami (Hitomi Sato) tells her friend Imako this story, she scoffs -- ...more

This intensely creepy psychological thriller from Japan was no less than a cultural phenomenon in its native country when released in 1996. Though Ringu spawned a dizzying onslaught of product overkill comparable to the American Nightmare on Elm Street craze of the mid-'80s -- including sequels, a television series, and merchandise -- it owes its debt more stylistically and thematically to The X-Files, unnervingly bringing the urban legend into the digital age. Subtlety is the key to the ...more