Sadako 3D

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

I've written before about my love of J-Horror, especially The Ring. That film did strange things to me. The sequels, both Japanese and American had varying degrees of success. Here though, we get what is pretty much a reboot, that keeps the mythology of the original but takes it into the digital age. And into 3D, although I didn't have the opportunity to watch it as such.

This is one of those sequels that seems to completely miss the point of what made the original work. It almost feels like a joke. They've diminished Sadako to a hand that reaches out of a computer monitor, or an iPhone for jump scares that, whilst they obviously are intended for 3D, aren't scary in any way.

Worse still, they brilliant idea they came up with for the protagonist is a girl that shatters glass when she screams. Of course, that's the natural enemy to a ghost whose now sole gimmick is to push people over from the other side of their laptop screen.

The original incarnation is something I am very passionate about and to see it reduced to this is saddening and frustrating. And as bias as I am, even through the language barrier I can see that this is a pretty terribly scripted and acted film.

Don't even get me started on the grasshopper legged ghosts from the finale.

Unfortunately, the incompetent dudes who put this travesty together are already finishing up a sequel. I don't hold much hope for the future of the franchise. Stick with the original.