10 Horror Movies That Use Your Imagination Against You
2. Ringu (1998)
One of the landmark horrors that all but singlehandedly introduced J-horror to western audiences, Hideo Nakata’s chillingly atmospheric Ringu still remains as effective today as it was in 1998.
More of a ghostly murder mystery than supernatural shocker, the film follows journalist Reiko (Nanako Matsushima) who joins forces with her ex-husband (Hiroyuki Sanada) to find the source of a cursed videotape said to kill those who watch it after seven days.
Throughout their week-long sleuthing, the couple piece together the history behind the tape: that it was forged from the hatred of a young telepathic girl named Sadako, who’ll promptly crawl from your television to fulfil her promise when your time is up.
As chilling as this premise is, however, what makes it even more spine-tingling is that we never actually find out what Sadako does to her victims. While the novel the film is based on attributes her methods to transmitting a virus to those who watch her video, Nakata’s film is purposely kept vaguer.
The only clue we have is the distorted faces of the victims, frozen in a moment of agonising pain. Let’s hope we never find out what happened to them.