Rasen | |
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Directed by | George Iida |
Produced by |
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Screenplay by | George Iida |
Based on |
Spiral by Koji Suzuki |
Starring | |
Music by | La Finca |
Cinematography | Makoto Watanabe |
Edited by | Hirohide Abe |
Production
company |
Ringu/Rasen Production Committee Production
|
Distributed by | Toho |
Release date
|
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Running time
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98 minutes |
Country | Japan |
Language | Japanese |
Rasen (らせん?, lit. Spiral) is a sequel to the movie Ring. It is directed by Jōji Iida and is based on the novel Spiral by Kōji Suzuki.
Ring and its sequel Rasen were released in Japan at the same time. The studio hoped this would increase revenues, because the Ring story was already a successful novel and television film. The two films shared a few cast members and had the same production team, but different directors and screenwriters; Rasen was written and directed by Jōji Iida whereas Ring was written by Hiroshi Takahashi and directed by Hideo Nakata. After their release, Ring became an enormous success while Rasen floundered, quickly becoming the "forgotten sequel".
Takahashi and Nakata were later recruited to produce another sequel, Ring 2, which replaced Rasen as the sequel to Ring, not based on Suzuki's works, and thus ultimately ignores the story of Rasen.
Sadako 3D and Sadako 3D 2 are sequels to Rasen, based on Kōji Suzuki's 2012 follow-up novel S.
Following the events of Ring, the body of Ryūji Takayama, former husband of Reiko Asakawa and father of Yōichi Asakawa, is examined by his friend and rival, pathologist Mitsuo Andō. After he finds a cryptic note in Takayama's stomach, Reiko and Yōichi also turn up dead. Andō soon learns of a mysterious cursed videotape, haunted by the spirit of a murdered young woman. Rumor has it that anyone who watches the video will die exactly one week later. Despondent over the death of his own child, and believing that he is being guided by his rival's ghost, Andō decides to see the video for himself. After watching the tape, strange things begin to happen around him, and he soon discovers that the tape's restless spirit has different plans in store for him.