31 Scary Movies: ‘Ringu’

“Ringu” (1998) – “The Ring” (2002) starring Naomi Watts terrified audiences, but it was a remake of the Japanese original.  Whether or not one has seen the American version, director Hideo Nakata’s picture is a must-see. As the film begins, teenage girls Tomoko (Yuko Takeuchi) and Masami (Hitomi Sato) joke around and gossip about boys while Tomoko’s parents are out watching a baseball game.  It’s late at night, so, of course, trading ghost stories seems completely appropriate, but the two get deadly serious when they realize the premise of a particular…