Even More Horror Reviews

Starring: Nicholas Cage, Brendan Meyer, Elliot Knight, Joely Richardson, Madeleine Arthur.    

Directed and co-written by Richard Stanley (Based on the Story The Colour Out of Space, by H.P. Lovecraft).      

StudioCanal

April 2020

Nathan Gardner (Nicholas Cage) moves his wife Teresa (Joely Richardson), adolescent son Benny (Brendan Meyer) and daughter Lavinia (Madeleine Arthur), and young son Jack (Julian Hilliard) to a remote farmstead in Massachusetts, not far from Arkham. It is a chance for a new, healthier, self-sustaining life, and the hope that a more relaxed existence will aid his wife's fight against a dehabilitating illness.

When a meteorite hits their land close to the house, the local authorities are called from Arkham to check it out - only to lose interest when it appears to disintegrate overnight. However, the meteor from space has left something behind: a mysterious organism which immediately begins to affect the ecosystem. The animals are the first to sense trouble, being almost permanently spooked, and their pet dog snarls confrontationally, seemingly at nothing in particular. There is a weird glow emanating from the well and young Jack apparently converses with something unseen. Ward Phillips is a young man concerned with the water table. He takes a liking to Lavinia and advises them all not to drink the water. Is it too late though? The entire area is infused with a thick, cloying hue of purple and deep magenta. The fruits grow large and in abundance, but are putrescent to the taste. Furthermore, the dominant new cosmic organism has begun to affect and change the family.

Let me first address the elephant in the room. This film is based on an H.P. Lovecraft story first published in Amazing Stories in 1927. It is one of his most well-known and appreciated written tales of cosmic horror. Americans spell Colour without a 'u' but, although Lovecraft was American he preffered the Old English spelling of the word. So, in this context, it is spelled incorrectly here, because it is not the precise spelling of Lovecraft's story.

Nevertheless, this is the closest representation of Lovecraft's seminal story I have seen committed to film (Die, Monster, Die! from 1965 is more loosely themed, but it does have a well and a plant creature growing in the geenhouse - like you do!). Thick layers of oppression are dropped on the atmosphere here throughout the running time. It does work but, because the characters are affected very early on, we don't get to experience enough of their normal personalities to be able to plainly notice the changes in the way they think and act as the plot progresses. It is very well made, though, with nice CGI effects and physical body horror. I don't think any straight adaptation of Lovecraft's work ever reaches the heights of his atmospheric prose, which is why original Lovecraftian influences tend to work much better on film (Event Horizon and John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness are two examples).

Many people seem to have a take-him-or-leave-him, fly attitude towards Nicholas Cage. I have a lot of respect for the man: having lost an extravagant fortune via an investment financial crash, rather than file for bankruptcy he meticulously began to pay back his losses and embarked on an extremely heavy workload. Not being a so-called 'A' List actor enables him not to price himself out of the market and to take more interesting roles. Okay, he's not the most charismatic actor but he is compelling and can turn his hands to most genres.

Richard Stanley directs this one with finesse and a fair amount of atmosphere. It's a film which you can appreciate without wishing to actively return to too many times. He also directed Mandy, and you can immediately spot the similarities of style... and hue! I hope to review that one soon, too (is it a sci-fi, a horror, a revenge thriller? - yes, all of those). If you enjoy the horror classics and haven't tried H.P. Lovecraft, I urge you to give him a go (expect lots of atmosphere and a clever steady build-up of tension).

Extras: NONE. Can you believe that in this day and age? One point has been dropped from my rating for this omission.

Verdict: 7 out of 10

Original review by Ty Power 2026

Starring:  Matsushima Nanako, Daisuke Ban, Yukie Nakama, Risa Goto.    

Directed by Hideo Nakata

(Based on the Novel by Koji Suzuki).      

Arrow Video

June 2019

In Memory of Koji Suzuki - who sadly passed away in May 2026 - the Japanese Horror Icon who wrote The Ring (Ringu) and many other groundbreaking horror novels.

After a schoolgirl dies in a rictus of terror a female journalist called Asakawa investigates the modern legend of a video which kills the viewer after a week. She discovers that four friends stayed at a cabin, watched a video and died a week later. When she traces the cabin, she finds the video and watches a series of strange images surrounding a well, a woman in a mirror and an eruption. Immediately it is finished the phone rings and she knows she only has a week to live.

The woman in the mirror is discovered to be Shizuko. More than 30 years earlier a Dr Ikuma had arranged a demonstration of her E.S.P. for the press. The results were amazing, but one reporter started a near riot by calling the test a hoax. The reporter dropped dead, but Shizuko was as surprised as anyone and realised it was her daughter Sadako, who had been in hiding. People called Sadako a monster as people often died around her. When Shizuko died Dr Ikuma adopted her as his illegitimate child. Now, Asakawa is searching for answers in a race against time which is made more desperate when she learns her little boy has watched the video. She guesses that Sadako was killed and sealed in the well, and thinks that if she finds the body her life will be saved. But what if that doesn't end the curse and her time runs out?

Ring made quite an impact when it first emerged in 1998. Hideo Nakata gave us something almost totally different to what we had become accustomed to. It's essentially a ghost story, but gives us both new and old legends as well as an investigation against the clock. The American remake, although pretty good, failed to recapture the pace and storytelling skills of this Japanese original. Nakata's groundbreaking horror is creepy whilst remaining tasteful. Unlike many Hollywood directors he also knows how to command the scenario of time running out. One or two people about to die somehow carries more tension than an entire facility, or indeed the entire world, going up in flames. The suspense of being trapped on an island during a storm with little more than a day remaining is very well handled, as is the draining of the well as the sun sets outside.

Asakawa, the journalist from the first, film is missing and her ex-husband, thought saved, is dead. The body of Sadako has been recovered from the well. The pathologist explains that Sadako has only been dead for a year or two, which means she was alive for 30 years sealed inside. The father of Asakawa is found dead at his house. It is rumoured that the only way to survive the curse if you have seen the video is to make a copy and show it to somebody else within a week. It is thought that she sacrificed her father to save her son. After a number of curious sightings the boy is found. It turns out that, like all those affected by the curse, he has developed some terrifying powers from Sadako. A research scientist explains that the video is the embodiment of Sadako's fury, and that Yoichi, the boy has some of that same fury. But an experiment to drain it off goes disastrously wrong...

This film continues the story pretty much from where the last one left off. Asakawa and Yoichi, her son, have to be found, and when they are Yoichi becomes the main focus of the story, although his powers are linked inextricably to Sadako. Ring 2 from 1999, also by Hideo Nakata, follows a similar format of investigation interspersed with off-kilter links into the nightmare world of Sadaka. The scene at the pool when the water is used in an attempt to soak up Yoichi's fury is quite spooky. A journalist colleague of Asakawa climbs the inside of the well, with Yoichi clinging on, whilst Sadaka pursues her at an alarming rate. When she reaches the top it is to emerge from beneath the water of the pool.

In this prequel to the first film, Dr Ikuma and Sadako have disappeared after the events of the E.S.P. demonstration. Another reporter called Miyaji is trying to trace them. After complaining about seeing strange things, Sadako later tells her therapist that a drama troupe she has joined has helped her condition. However, although Sadako finds love for the first time, most people keep away from her because she is unusual and aloof. Two of the actors have a dream with a well in it, and see someone approaching Sadako from behind. One of them dies in the drama hall with a hideous expression on her face. The production continues with Sadako being given the lead part, but when Miyaji and one of the troupe try to kill her there are unforeseen consequences...

Whilst Ring 0 - Birthday from 2000 (by Norio Tsurunta) doesn't have as many set piece edge-of-the-seat moments, it does achieve much in explaining some of the unanswered questions created by the first two films. We see Sadaka in the days leading up to her death; all the troublesome moments appear to come from a third party and she herself pleads innocence without explaining why. The end sequence is quite inventive and I wonder if Nakata himself sanctioned this twist to the whole saga.

Spiral is sometimes referred to as the lost sequel to the first film. It emerged in the same year - and is somewhat closer to Suzuki's novel - but failed to make a similar impact. Although planned as the original sequel to Ring, and screened regularly as a double-bill, negative audience feedback meant that it disappeared virtually overnight to be replaced by the 'official' sequel Ring 2. Spiral certainly has its moments, being well-worth a watch; however, it is guilty of attempting to delve too much into Sadaka's back story, which is one of the reasons it is a little messy. An exact adaptation of a novel doesn't always work - especially when much of the pertinent story has been told. I see this as a bonus addition to the trilogy; it is of interest historically, but is not to the standard of the others.

I reviewed the Tartan DVD release of the trilogy back in 2004 for reviewgraveyard. That one had the hidden and unannounced bonus of a exellent year 2000 film by Hideo Nakata called Sleeping Bride, which was almost worth the entrance fee (as they say) by itself. These four films, however, are all in glorious HD, with a number of entertaining extra features. The first film Ring is also available on a 2025 4K release - with a Limited Edition Region Free 4K Collector's Set having been released two years earlier. Do yourself a favour and add this to your collection, if you can. And be careful not to pick up the sub-standard American remakes by mistake.

Extras Include: Brand new 4K restoration of Ring from the original camera negative, approved by director of photography Junichiro Hayashi, High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations, Lossless Japanese DTS-HD master audio 5.1 and PCM 2.0 soundtracks, Optional English subtitles; Bonus feature: Spiral, George Iida's 1998 sequel to Ring; New audio commentary on Ring by film historian David Kalat; New audio commentary on Ring 0 by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas; The Ring Legacy, a series of new interviews from critics and filmmakers on their memories of the Ring series and ints enduring legacy; A Vicious Circle, anew video interview with author and critic Kat Ellinger on the career of Hideo Nakata; Circumnavigating Ring, a new video essay by critic Jasper Sharp on the J-horror phenomenon; The Psychology of Fear, a newly edited archival interview with author Koji Suzuki; Archival behind-the-scenes featurette on Ring 0; Ring 0 deleted scenes; Sadako's video; Multiple theatrical trailers for the Ring series.

Verdict: 10 out of 10

Original review by Ty Power 2026