The Ringu Problem

One of my favorite horror experiences (and favorite me-being-cool before you experiences) was seeing Ringu in the theater and knowing nothing at all about. It’s scary, and really should not be. But it really is.

It does one of the things you absolutely not do: set up something to be awesome. We don’t see how the people die horribly seven days after viewing the tape until the end, and when we see it: shit. The US version does it okay, but the Japanese version seems real, and you as an audience member very much wish that it wasn’t.

The Ringu Problem is one faced by many a film. If you telling the audience something awesome is coming, it better be seven times as awesome as you’re telling them. It is a problem, because very, very, very few films pull this off.