Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageRing 0 - Birthday (2000)
Director: Norio Tsuruta
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Hideo Nakata wisely declined to make this prequel, no doubt because the producers were intent on slavish fidelity to ideas from Koji Suzuki's original novel - rather than developing the sci-fi/body-horror implications of Ring 2. This plod through the virginal Sadako's adolescence as a member of a theatre group in the 1950s is an anthology of theatre-mystery clichés: the imploding flashbulbs, corpse discovered in mid-performance, stage machinery that animates itself, dark rumours, nagging nightmares. All of the more intriguing questions about Sadako's true parentage are sidestepped in favour of the 'relevation' that this innocent girl has an evil twin who causes all the trouble. Dull and extremely disappointing, this was none the less a hit in Japan. Straight to DVD everywhere else, of course.Author: TR
Cast & crew
Director: Norio Tsuruta
Producer: Masato Hara, Shinji Ogawa, Masao Nagai, Takashige Ichise
Cast: Yukie Nakama, Seiichi Tanabe, Kumiko Aso, Yoshiko Tanaka, Takashi Wakamatsu full cast
Duration: 98 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
London Children's Film Festival
Read our exclusive reviews of films playing at the 2009 London Children’s Film Festival
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now