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Spiral (1998 film)
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox film
| name = Spiral
| image = Rasen horror movie.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| native_name =
| director = George Iida
|producers =
| screenplay = George Iida
| based_on =
| starring =
| music = La Finca
| cinematography = Makoto Watanabe
| editing = Hirohide Abe
| studio = 'Ring'/'Spiral' Production Committee Production
| distributor = Toho
| released =
| runtime = 98 minutes
| country = Japan
| language = Japanese
| budget =
| gross =
}}
is a 1998 Japanese film. It is a sequel to the 1998 film 'Ring'. It is directed by Jji Iida and is based on the novel of the same title by Koji Suzuki. It is titled 'The Spiral' (stylized as 'the Spiral') in English on the Japanese poster and video packaging, and it was previously released in North America as 'Rasen' (a transliteration of the Japanese title) and in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Philippines as 'The Spiral'.
'Ring' and its sequel 'Spiral' 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; 'Spiral' was written and directed by Jji Iida whereas 'Ring' was written by Hiroshi Takahashi and directed by Hideo Nakata. After their release, 'Ring' became an enormous success while 'Spiral' floundered, quickly becoming the "forgotten sequel".
Takahashi and Nakata were later recruited to produce another sequel, 'Ring 2', which replaced 'Spiral' as the sequel to 'Ring', not based on Suzuki's works, and thus ultimately ignores the story of 'Spiral'.
Plot
Following the events of 'Ring', the body of Ryji Takayama, former husband of Reiko Asakawa and father of Yichi Asakawa, is examined by his friend and rival, pathologist Mitsuo And. After he finds a cryptic note in Takayama's stomach, Reiko and Yichi also turn up dead. And 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, And 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.
With the help of Takayama's student, Mai Takano, And finds out more about Ryji's past as well as the mysterious young woman, Sadako Yamamura. Searching for the truth about why Ryji and Yichi died from the virus while Reiko did not leads him to her boss Yoshino. Yoshino lets And in on a secret: he has the wife's diary. She and Ryji had been researching the cursed videotape. While Reiko had broken the curse, Ryji died a week after watching the tape. Reiko believed that creating a copy would break the curse, but Yichi died a week after watching the tape, just as his father had. Yoshino shows And both the tape and the diary.
When And tells Mai Takano what he has done, she is shocked and cannot understand why, since she felt from the start that it was the video that killed Takayama and his family. As they are talking, Yoshino calls And. He admits that he wishes that he had never been involved in Reiko's business. And believes that Yoshino had watched the video, but he denies it, saying that he was too scared to. However, Yoshino still dies.
And decides to destroy the videotapes and make sure that he will be the video's last victim. He then confides in Mai about his son's death, and they end up sleeping together. And asks Mai if she will be there with him when he dies, but Mai tells him that she is too scared. He understands and decides to try to find out more about the virus that killed Takayama and his son. He discovers that the virus that killed Yoshino was different from the one that killed the father and son. And asks for tests to be run on him.
Meanwhile, Mai Takano goes missing and And apparently survives the curse. He starts to feel that the story was just a myth and he is relieved when Mai turns up, but is shocked to find out that she has been found dead, having given birth with no sign of a baby. And goes back to work and sees "Mai" there and finds out that she is none other than Sadako Yamamura, reborn and claiming to be "perfectly dual-gendered". He then learns that Takayama was not helping And 'stop' Sadako instead, he was 'helping' Sadako. Yoshino, And's friend Miyashita and many others were not killed by a virus or the video, but rather Reiko's diary. Sadako promises to help resurrect And's son in exchange for his help.
In the end, And brings Takayama and his son back to life with help from Sadako. Just as Ryji leaves, he tells And: "Many years will pass before our world will be at peace".
Cast
*Kichi Sat as Mitsuo Ando
*Miki Nakatani as Mai Takano
*Hinako Saeki as Sadako Yamamura
*Shingo Tsurumi as Miyashita
*Shigemitsu Ogi as Maekawa Keibuho
*Yutaka Matsushige as Yoshino
*Daisuke Ban as Heihachiro Ikuma
*Naoaki Manabe as Kobayashi
*Hiroyuki Sanada as Ryji Takayama
Release
'Spiral' was released theatrically in Japan on January 31, 1998 where it was distributed by Toho. In the Philippines, the film was given a limited release as 'The Spiral' on February 25, 2004.
The film was released directly to DVD by DreamWorks in the United States on August 23, 2005, under the transliterated title 'Rasen'.
It was released in high definition on Blu-ray Disc and video on demand in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland by Arrow Films under their Arrow Video imprint, under the title 'Spiral'.
See also
*List of Japanese films of 1998
*List of horror films of 1998
References
Bibliography
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