What's it about? Two teenage schoolgirls sit around discussing a cursed video tape, said to kill anyone who watches it within seven days. When one reveals to the other that she saw it herself a week ago, the telephone rings and she dies a horrible death before her friend's eyes. An investigative journalist soon finds herself embroiled in the mystery, and after seeing it for herself finds herself racing against the clock to avoid the same deadly fate.What makes it groundbreaking? Hideo Nakata's classic Japanese horror movie, heavily inspired by Japanese folklore and revitalising the ghost movie in his country, can be seen as the first in the new wave of J-horror which emerged from the late 90s. Countless imitators - and American remakes - have come since, but few of them have succeeded in matching Ring's exceptional pacing and brooding, oppressive atmosphere. The final revelation is one of the most chilling in recent history.
