The Age of Commercialism

Overrated and overhyped

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

RASEN is a weird and forgotten follow-up to RING, filmed at the same time but going in a very different direction to the official sequel, RING 2. RASEN expands on the philosophical plot-points raised by the first film and the novel on which it was based and as such is much more of a metaphysical journey with science fiction aspects. All of that doesn't really amount to much, though, in a film which is too low budget and fumbled for its own good.There are none of the traditional ghost story thrills here, or if they do appear then they're not very effective. The cast members go through the motions but there's little of the sense of drive or power that RING possessed. It all feels very dated in a late 1990s way. I think people forget the sheer intensity of the RING trilogy and in comparison to those films, RASEN is merely an oddball thriller and not a very engaging one either, unfortunately.

Rasen is the original sequel to Ringu (1998). It begins where Ringu leaves off although it is in itself a self contained story with new characters who unfortunately encounter the will of Sadako Yamamura. The interesting thing about this movie is it was made at exactly the same time as Ringu. Both movies were put into production with different directors and creative teams in the hope that when audiences saw Ringu, they could then immediately go back to the cinema to see the sequel Rasen. Unfortunately this did not work as the source material upon which they are based have completely different tones, and the movies reflect this. Audiences were expecting more of the same creepy horror which Rasen does not have and ultimately Rasen was a failure at the box office and was subsequently shelved. It is however a fantastic movie, as the Koji Suzuki novel on which it was based was a fantastic novel ( Rasen, 1995)Admittedly it is not as scary or tense as Ringu, but it isn't supposed to be. While Ringu focuses on the supernatural elements of the cursed video tape, Rasen takes a more scientific view. Imagine Ringu crossed with CSI. It deals not with ghosts and curses but with viruses and forensics. It is more a character study and is slow and deep, but in no way is this detrimental to the continuing Ringu story. It's simply a different perspective and a welcome one.I'm not sure that this movie should be categorised as it so often has, as a poor attempt at Japanese horror. It is however a clever, engaging example of Japanese cinema. The performances are excellent, the pacing is perfect and the ending is satisfyingly creepy and thought provoking. In fact it sets up the possibility of a movie adaptation of the third novel in the Ring series, Loop which takes the story even further from the supernatural into the realms of virtual reality.Rasen deserves more credit than it has been given, it is vastly superior to the "official" sequel Ringu 2, which was merely a rehash of the original movie. Definitely worth watching!

You ought to know that in Japan, this movie was released simultaneously to Ring. The idea was that you saw the original, and then saw the sequel, a great idea for money. Unfortunately, it wasn't a great idea for two separate crews to work on these movies, because this one is complete trash, when compared to Nakata's "Ring".Though you might like it. A few people do. The characters are boring, the dialog is uninspired, and it's too complicated. However, people see through that and find the goodness this movie offers.You should watch Rasen with no anticipation for it to live up to "Ring" because both movies head in different directions. Nakata uses the setting to darken the mood, while Iida concentrates on using familiarity and stagnant settings to give feeling. Lastly, this movie approaches science to explain the curse. This is why people banish this film from its existence - it abandons Nakata's horror and feels like it was slapped together.But enough about comparison. Lets concentrate on the acting in this film. Sato Koichi (who takes on the role of Ando Mitsuo) acts well, overall. But his acting seems to get better, and then worse, and that is just no fun for anybody. Such as the sub-plot of his suicidal issues. Sometimes, you'll just feel edgy for how cheesy the situation, others, you'll feel compassionate about his issues. His character also feels undeveloped, but this is because this movie takes on different roles than the proper storyline in the novel. The main character, in essence, feels broken.Tsurumi Shingo plays Miyashita, who is just great. He really does feel like his counterpart, and it just makes me want to cry. Seeing him and Koichi on screen is just excellent. Those scenes are the ones to look forward to. Later on in the movie, he gets to show off his acting skills as his character becomes a major counterpart in the story.Saeki Hinako plays Sadako Yamamura, who delivers one of the best performances any Sadako/Samara has. Yes, there is things to like in this movie.Nakatami Miki plays Takano Mai, who is a mixed bag. When she is by herself, she is all over. You'll be impressed. When she's on screen with somebody else, she just looks like her mind is focused on other things, like as if she's staring at some crew equipment. But she does improve, at the end of the movie. (I did mention spoilers, and that will be the last three paragraphs. Don't worry, I'll warn you) This movie does have something to tell, but fails to execute it. I've questioned if the crew responsible for the movie even read the book properly, because it is so unfaithful to the source material (explained in spoilers) that it makes me sick. But after all, this is a movie adaptation, and it does not fail at that.So, what is this even about? Ando Mitsuo is a pathologist who has to perform an autopsy on Ryuji Takayama early in the movie (his fate is explained in proper fashion in "Ring", unless you haven't already guessed). They were classmates in medical school, and Mitsuo feels burdened with the task of cutting his body open. While investigating, he finds an unusual tumor in his neck as well as a slip of paper laying in his stomach, revealing a code. Mitsuo, with his partner Miyashita, explore and find out about four teenagers who died under suspicious circumstances. They also bear the same unknown virus as Takayama. Then Yoshino steps into the picture, claiming information about Sadako Yamamura and a copy of the cursed video with a ridiculous premise. Mitsuo watches the tape, and then is forced with a decision dealing with humanity's extinction with Sadako pulling the ropes in the background.**/***** SPOILERS! Below is spoilers to the movie. These last paragraphs reveal even more concerns with this movie, but are unnecessary to read. If you have not seen this movie, everything read until now should be satisfactory enoughYou should know the real story behind the cursed video. In short, 30% of it is Sadako's DNA, since she was the one who made the video. The other 70% is smallpox. The smallpox comes from the man who raped Sadako prior to her death. Therefore, the viewer can successfully become pregnant to Sadako if she is a woman and is ovulating while watching the tape.In fact, in the novel, it is clearly learned that Mai Takano was the first person to impregnate Sadako. One thing that irritates me is that when we see Sadako re-born on screen, she looks EXACTLY LIKE MAI TAKANO. What were they thinking? I was so confused when I watched it! I've never liked this decision, because it is so unthoughtful of the crew to have left something like this in the movie. It just doesn't make sense. Since the host, Mai, acts like the incubator for Sadako, and since Sadako's DNA is not modified in any way with Mai's... it is just too confusing. And this isn't the only movie guilty of this "crime"... the Rasen TV series has also built upon this idea.If you have read Rasen, you will probably enjoy it because it's an intelligent medical thriller, explaining the supernatural ways of Sadako with science. However, this movie makes the explanation feel like excuses. This is because Iida has destroyed the explanations and modified them... and god knows why. It would've just made more sense if he hadn't tampered with the formula.

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.