Jessica Carvalho Sadako is a shy girl who becomes a student of a drama club. The director likes her and think she is very talented girl, but other actors and actresses are jealous of her and find her strange, Toyama being the only exception. The lead actress of the play of the drama club suddenly dies, and the director chooses Sadako to be in her place. Many mysterious deaths starts to occur, at the same time, we have a reporter who knows the truth about Sadako's secrets and who is going to makes her life even harder, specially when everybody starts to be suspicious that Sadako was the responsible for all the deaths.''Ringu 0: Bâsudei ''is the prequel to the horror film Ringu. Here, we can see all the reasons why Sadako became the bizarre spirit crazy for vengeance. The only problem is that the movie doesn't explain many things that will happen in the next movies( like the cursed videotape) or other things, like Sadako's twin sister (who doesn't see to have any logic at all in her existence).In my opinion it is very weak as a horror movie, and staying only with the first''Ring'' would be a better choice for the series.

lost-in-limbo We see the shy teenage Sadako as a student of a drama club in Tokyo and being outcast by her peers because of the strange air she generates when around them. After the unusual death of the lead actress in the play, the director chooses Sadako to play the part. This gets on a lot of the students' nerves, except for the sound man Toyama. Who both have a sweet spot for each other. Meanwhile, 30 years ago Sadako's mother was involved in an ESP experiment for journalists that turned terribly wrong. Those who were present have all now mysteriously died and reporter Miyaji believes that Sadako was somehow involved and goes about tracking her down for personal gains. Could this interference bring out her disturbing past and help discover the meaning of her horrible nightmares? A story has always got to have a beginning. Or does it? I guess a prequel was inevitable, but in the long run it outstays its welcome and only convoluted the whole "Ring" legacy by going on to over explain things. An oddly confusing rash of ideas get an extensive workout (but some things are still left in limbo; like the cursed videotape) and Sadako's origins comes across as some sort of wishy-washy soap opera that damages that ominous presence she once held. The passive story seems more like a character item (of a tragic soul and a splash of "Carrie (1976)") and totally different in style, compared to its horror-bound predecessors (Ring & Ring 2). It's all about Sadako now, even though there's no change to the systematic formula of detective work… done by no other than a media reporter. The stage is set. Not bad, but definitely lesser to the previous two. Definitely in the chills and creepy imagery department. The production is just as polished, but maybe even more so and the film's plodding movement makes way for a startlingly atmospheric (if silly) closing. Honestly I didn't care for too much of what was happening, up until the film's final intense 30 minutes and that's when the horror elements kicked in. Something that might have made it a bumpy ride with fewer thrills could've been that the original director of the first two, Hideo Nakata didn't return and it was handed over to Norio Tsuruta. Instead of the hair-raising dark mood of Nakata's ventures. He brought a much more sedated and eerie touch to the screenplay written by Koji Suzuki (the author of "Ring"). Smeared into the dour scenes is a tinglingly spooky music score that knows when to plays its cards effectively to its advantage. Performances are decent enough. The void-like Yukie Nakama is genuinely haunting in her moping appearance as the cursed Sadako.Was clearing up parts (or adding more onto) the mystery of Sadako a good thing? I don't know, but it's a moderate sequel that only enthusiasts of the "Ring" films should bother with. I think its best to watch this one last.

DVD_Connoisseur I held out on watching "Ring 0" for quite a while after being disappointed with the first sequel, "Ring 2". Not risking a disappointing DVD purchase, the second sequel was luckily shown on the Sci-Fi channel in the UK.Does the film manage to recapture the spooky atmosphere of the original "Ring" film? Thankfully, it does. "Ring 0: Birthday" is the prequel to the original movie and deals with the last days of Sadako. However, this is less like the last days of Laura Palmer and more like a Japanese "Carrie".There are some genuine "hair-on-the-back-of-your-neck-standing-up" moments in this film. The use of sound is very effective indeed, the audio cue for a spooky visitation fills the viewer with trepidation.Although Sadako's range of terrifying actions is pretty limited (once you've seen "Ring" you know the character's trademark movement, etc.) the film still manages to deliver the goods and expands on the viewer's experience of the first film.It's a faithful "sequel" in terms of its style and content. I must admit to finding the film a little confusing but this may have had more to do with my sleepy head than a case of bad story-telling.The acting in the movie is first rate and special mention must go to Yukie Nakama as a very believable tragic Sadako."Ring 0" is definitely a film I'm be watching again. And in these busy times, that's a compliment indeed....

MrVibrating This is a prequel which actually works and explains things rather than giving even more questions. You can argue weather the mystery of Sadako is better left untouched, but the fact still remains; this is a good movie.The lead (Yukie Nakama as a shy Sadako) is very good, even though it's obvious she's a Japanese version of Carrie White; misunderstood, creepy and with gifts she never wanted. That's the only real problem with this movie; the original ring movie was just that; original. This movie however, get's inspiration from other sources, such as Carrie, and that removes some of it's power.While it's not as moody as Ring, Ring 0 still has some very good horror scenes and some smart camera-work. Seeing a white shape just at the edge of the screen is much more effective than, for example, the killer's POV.As with Ring, this is a bit slow but builds up to a good finale. There are no special effects really, and it's very down-to-earth, one of the qualities of this and Ring.Finally, there's the fact that it's Japanese. There's something refreshing about seeing a movie in a different language, in different environments, in a different culture.I recommend this movie to those who liked Ring. It's definitely a worthy prequel. 7/10