Blu-ray Release: Ringu Collection

Blu-ray Release Date: Oct. 29, 2019
Price: Blu-ray $66.09
Studio: Arroow/MVD

The Ringu Trilogy returns in Arrow’s well-appointed new Blu-ray release Ringu Collection!

In 1998, director Hideo Nakata (Chatroom) unleashed a chilling tale of technological terror on unsuspecting audiences, which redefined the horror genre, launched the J-horror boom in the West and introduced a generation of moviegoers to a creepy, dark-haired girl called Sadako. The film’s success spawned a slew of remakes, reimaginations and imitators, but none could quite boast the power of Nakata’s original masterpiece, which melded traditional Japanese folklore with contemporary anxieties about the spread of technology.

A group of teenage friends are found dead, their bodies grotesquely contorted, their faces twisted in terror. Reiko (Nanako Matsushima, When Marnie Was There), a journalist and the aunt of one of the victims, sets out to investigate the shocking phenomenon, and in the process uncovers a creepy urban legend about a supposedly cursed videotape, the contents of which causes anyone who views it to die within a week – unless they can persuade someone else to watch it, and, in so doing, pass on the curse…

Arrow Video is proud to present the genre-defining trilogy – Ringu, the film that started it all, plus Hideo Nakata’s chilling sequel, Ringu 2, and the haunting origin story, Ringu 0 – as well as the ‘lost’ original sequel, George Iida’s Spiral, gathered together in glorious high definition and supplemented by a wealth of archival and newly created bonus materials.

Here’s the breakdown:

• Brand New 4K restoration of Ring from the original camera negative, approved by director of photography Junichiro Hayashi
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations
• Lossless Japanese DTS-HD master audio 5.1 and PCM 2.0 soundtracks
• Optional English subtitles
• Bonus feature: Spiral, George Iida’s 1998 sequel to Ringu
• New Audio commentary on Ringu by film historian David Kalat
• New Audio commentary on Ringu 0 by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
• The Ringu Legacy, a series of new interviews from critics and filmmakers on their memories of the Ringu series and its enduring legacy
• A Vicious Circle, a new video interview with author and critic Kat Ellinger on the career of Hideo Nakata
• Circumnavigating Ringu, a new video essay by author and critic Kat Ellinger on the evolution of the Ringu series
• Spooks, Sighs and Videotape, a new video essay by critic Jasper Sharp on the J-horror phenomenon
• The Psychology of Fear, a newly edited archival interview with author Koji Suzuki
• Archival behind-the-scenes featurette on Ringu 0
• Ringu 0 deleted scenes
• Sadako’s Video
• Multiple theatrical trailers for the Ringu series
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Limited edition 60-page booklet featuring new writing from Violet Lucca, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Jasper Sharp, Kieran Fisher and Kat Ellinger
• Limited edition packaging featuring original and newly commissioned artwork