East Meets West: 10 Asian Movies Remade by Hollywood

Remade as: The Ring

This is the 1998 film that kicked off a wave of atmospheric horror films about haunted children and vengeful spirits, the mini-movement that became known over here as J-horror. Like the American remake, it’s about a cursed videotape whose viewers receive a phone call as soon as they finish watching, telling them they will die in exactly seven days. Reporter Reiko, a viewer herself, has seven days to break the curse and to save herself and her son, which she tries to do by tracking down the source of the tape, a ghostly little girl.

The Hollywood remake, 2002’s The Ring, made a star of Naomi Watts. Ringu director Hideo Nakata even came to America to direct the sequel, The Ring 2. At home, Ringu spawned two sequels and a prequel. The wave of J-horror movies that followed Ringu include Pulse, The Grudge, One Missed Call, and Dark Water — all of which were remade in America as well.