The Ring/YMMV

• Adaptation Displacement: It started with a novel.
• Broken Base: There are many arguments between those who prefer the Japanese films over the American films and vice versa (although there are some who like both). Then there are those who believe the films to be inferior to the novels, etc.
• Downer Ending: Ring 0: Birthday. Yes, we all knew it was coming, what with it being a prequel and all, but it doesn't make it any less heartbreaking.
• Fan Nickname: "Pointy-kun", "Towel-Head" and "Towel Man" for the white-cloth covered figure gesturing on the tape, who eventually appears as Ryuji and/or Toyama.
• Fanon Discontinuity: The Ring Two
• Genius Bonus (American movie version) - Who has even heard the expression "An appointment in Samarra", meaning inevitable death?
• Hell Is That Noise: That horrible high-pitched screeching noise from Sadako's tape (this sound also plays during that phone call).
  • In addition, the high-pitched squeaks that rise in pitch when Sadako appears on Ryuji's TV screen.
  • From Ring 0: Birthday: the bone-crunching noises when Sadako's limbs twist and jerk during the climax.
  • The mysterious voice on Sadako's tape. It an only be heard clearly when the tape is played in slow motion, which makes it sound even creepier.
• It Was His Sled - At one point in the distant past, the "twist" of the narrative (about how the curse actually works, and why giving Sadako/Samara a proper burial was pointless) and the "coming out of the TV" scene were shocking and surprising elements. Today, anyone who has heard of The Ring knows about the TV scene, which has become so iconic even this wiki illustrates its entry with it.
  • Not to mention how the cover of the Region 2 boxset of the original trilogy features Sadako crawling out of a TV set.
• Memetic Mutation: Apparently, when Moe collides with Sadako, Hilarity Ensues in many ways, from Pedobear hunting her to manifesting in disadvantageous situations (cell phone displays, for example).
• Moral Event Horizon: The members of the theatre troupe in Ring 0 are extremely mean to Sadako right from the get-go, but pretty much all of the members cross the line when they corner a terrified Sadako and proceed to brutally murder her. When Sadako later comes back to life, thanks to being reunited with her evil half, she proceeds to kill them all in vengeance.
• Narm:
  • "I'm not your fucking mother!"
  • In The Ring Two, Rachel and Aiden are attacked in their car by...deer who seem to sense Samara's presence in Aidan. What could have been a freaky scene is ruined due to lackluster effects.
  • In Ring, Sadako's killer smacks her on the head and pushes her down the well. What makes this funny is the loud and unrealistic WHACK sound effect that accompanies the hit. How did they miss that one?
• Nightmare Retardant - The look of the teenage girl's messed up face in the first American movie became instantly hilarious with the simple use of photoshopping phrases like "I like pancakes" on the wall.
• Sequelitis - The Ring Two wasn't as well-received as the first remake.
  • Rasen/Spiral, which was quickly swept under the rug and forgotten about.
• Special Effects Failure - The ghostly Samara that is made out of water near the climax of The Ring Two looks like a very cheap Photoshop effect.
  • See the deer in Narm above.
  • The sight of Sadako's horribly rotted face at the climax of Ring 2 is arguably this when her lips start moving, but it still manages to be pretty creepy. Also somewhat justified, due to the film's low budget.
• Squick - (Novels only) Watching the tape is bad enough normally. A woman watching it whilst ovulating gets a far worse fate, she is impregnated with a clone of Sadako who grows to full adulthood within a fortnight.
• Tear Jerker: The end of Ring 0: Birthday. Sob. Even though the viewer knows what's coming, it is still completely and utterly heartbreaking.
  • The death of Reiko in Ring 2.
  • Finding Samara's corpse in The Ring. Until Aiden gives his mom the mother of all What the Hell, Hero?'s. The discovery of Sadako's corpse in the original also counts (even though the sight of her skeleton - with her rotting skin slowly falling away from her skull - is very unsettling).
  • The aftermath of Sadako's Roaring Rampage of Revenge in Ring 0. Her adoptive father, Dr. Ikuma, finds her, having temporarily gone back to her old self, lying on the floor, guilt-ridden and frightened, sobbing uncontrollably.
  • Another example from Ring 0, just before the already heartbreaking final scene - after attacking Sadako and throwing her down the well, Dr. Ikuma breaks down sobbing, begging Sadako to forgive him.
• Uncanny Valley - The "Sadako Shuffle" --the halting, unnatural way she climbs out of the well and walks towards the screen-- was accomplished by filming it backwards (likewise Samara's US version.) Then there are the chase scenes in both Ring 2 and The Ring Two, where Sadako and Samara are seen climbing up from the bottom with nightmarish speed and movement.
• The Woobie: Sadako. She doesn't seem like a Woobie to you? Just watch Ring 0. Which, of course, makes her...
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds

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