The Spiral (1998)

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Best movie ever!

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

If you loved Ringu(1998), I suggest do not go for this movie. It will spoil all the entertainment you had on Ringu. Rather than terror and horror, this movie contain scientific views. Trying to explain everything with a proof. And which I believe has not succeeded. Also sex came into scene, in this movie which spoiled the horror effect.This movie was from the author of book of "Ringu". But failed to interpret the novel completely. Watch Ringu, Ringu2 and Ringu 0. After that if you still want to watch a Ring movie, watch Rasen. Before watch erase all theories you learned from other Ringu movies

I'll try to handle this with only minor spoilers. "Rasen" is an alternate version of "Ringu 2" in some ways. Both begin shortly after "Ringu" (one day for "Rasen," one week for "Ringu 2"). Both have most of the main cast of "Ringu" and much of the supporting cast, and use or recreate many locations and sets, believably portraying the immediate aftermath of the prior film's conclusion. Lastly, both place a large emphasis on Takano Mai, Takayama Ryuuji's student who is implied to have an intimate relationship with him in "Ringu" (in "Rasen" it's established that they were lovers, in "Ringu 2" she had a crush on him which he didn't reciprocate), who has E.S.P. (which wasn't even hinted at in "Ringu"). But "Rasen" and "Ringu 2" are mutually exclusive. Neither is consistent with the other, nor is "Ringu 2" (made only a year later) a remake of "Rasen"). Basically things diverge into two different fictional universes at the end of "Ringu" (both are consistent with "Ringu 0," or at least the parts of "Ringu 0" that I understood). I haven't read any of the books or short stories, so I don't know which of the sequels, if either, has a is based on one. The Wikipedia is of no help, since one page says "Rasen" is based on the written sequel to "Ringu" and "Ringu 2" has no literary basis, while another page says the opposite.Our protagonist is Mitsuo Andou, a somewhat unhinged colleague and friend to Takayama Ryuuji. He's not in "Ringu," but his insertion into continuity isn't awkward. The rest of the cast is mostly from "Ringu." Ryuuji has lots of screen time, despite being dead.In a totally random digression, Takayama Ryuuji's full name is said numerous times in the first three minutes of the movie, and it's unintentionally funny. It reminds me of a similar thing in "The Godfather, Part III" with Joey Zasa.The first half hour of "Ringu 2" is little more than a recap of "Ringu." Two different people synopsize it, and there are lots of flashbacks. Actually, there are lots of flashbacks in the remaining hour, too. To "Ringu," to other backstory, and to earlier parts of this film. Some are shown twice, one is shown three times. Most are unnecessary, and even the helpful ones are usually worked in awkwardly. But back to what I was saying: Over a third of the movie is over before anything really happens, and much of the next third is superfluous. At about the one hour mark, Mai's E.S.P. is revealed, her and Andou begin having an amorous relationship completely out of the blue, and the real story kicks in. This is also where it all starts to fall apart because, once the movie gets past all the creepy set-pieces and recaps of "Ringu," all that's left is the plot. And the plot is pretty bad.I won't spoil things by going into too much detail, but it's about what Sadako's ghost does once it's released from the well. Basically getting its revenge on the world in ways that weren't remotely suggested in "Ringu." The videotape ceases to be important. I don't think anything explicitly contradicts anything in "Ringu," but it doesn't feel true to its spirit. And the speed at which this plot unfolds is still remarkably slow, because there are more flashbacks, more unnecessary exposition and restatement, and scenes that play out much longer than necessary. Of course, even if you remove the padding, it's still a silly little runaround with people doing things for the sake of the plot rather than any realistic motivation. By the end, I really didn't care anymore, and was mainly just watching in case I would have to know some of this to understand "Ringu 2" (at that point I didn't realize "Ringu 2" wasn't any kind of sequel to "Rasen").The high point of this movie, without a doubt, is Andou's vision of the dissected Ryuuji coming to life during his autopsy. It's an incredibly realistic effect, and truly chilling. Not for the faint of heart, yet still the only good reason to watch "Rasen." Watch the other three as a trilogy and forget this one. Four out of ten might be a little generous, but on the other hand it seemed to be a good movie for well over half its length.

Forget everything you might have seen in Ring 2 and Ring 0: Rasen (AKA The Spiral) takes a different approach to the other sequels of Hideo Nakata's influential J-horror Ringu.In this version of the events that follow the first film, Koichi Sato plays Mitsuo Ando, a grief stricken pathologist who contemplates suicide after the tragic death of his young son, but who finds himself unable to go through with the act.When he is called upon to perform an autopsy on his old friend Ryuji Takayama (Hiroyuki Sanada), Ando discovers the existence of the cursed VHS tape that caused so much trouble in Ringu. After cracking a code left to him by his deceased pal, Ando comes to believe that the deadly tape was intended as a macabre present which would provide the solution to his suffering.The truth, however, is far more sinister: Takayama's gift to Ando is actually the return of his son, but for this feat to be possible, Ando must first betray the whole of humanity by allowing Sadako's curse to spiral out of control.Although a slow moving and often rather confusing movie, Rasen is not an entirely worthless experience: the film introduces some interesting ideas about the true nature of the curse and reveals its objective—to alter the course of the entire human race. Casual horror fans might be disappointed by the distinct lack of scares, and once again gore is almost non-existent, but Rasen should be enjoyable enough for those who love creepy Asian flicks and don't mind doing a bit of research to fill in the blanks (apparently, reading the books helps a lot with understanding the story).

I think that many movies are misjudged here on the IMDb, particularly those within the "horror" genre. For some people, horror should be funny, while for others, humor in horror ruins a film. Some people are gore fans, and others favor suspense. When horror has so many different faces, the viewer ratings here on IMDb reflect opinions from those going into a film that will inevitably be disappointed, because their definition of "horror" is not what this particular horror movie happens to be...hence middling scores on a great many horror movies here on IMDb, as well as very mixed comments from viewers. I try to judge a film based on its own merits, rather than my expectations going into a film...and sometimes when my first impression is to be disappointed, I find other value in the film when I realign my expectations to view a film for what it is.I have to say, that this film is not really a "horror" movie. And that is OK. It is a drama that departs from the original horror film. And that is fine too. What is not fine, is that this is not a particularly interesting drama. While it is filmed and framed extremely well, pretty pictures don't substitute for an involving story and characters that you care about. For the most part, this plays like a TV drama. While the final scene is good, that doesn't make the film worth-while. I'm a viewer who can find good in most films, and I can find good in this film as well. All the same, I have to say that the good isn't worth it, and this is a film that is completely worth skipping.For a more worthy title worth your viewing, check out "Another Heaven" by the same director. While not a perfect film by any means, it is entertaining, and your time will be better spent.