Movies - The Cursed Videotape

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	Movies - The Cursed Videotape

The Cursed Videotape is an item in the Ring cycle series of books and films. Seemingly a normal home-recorded videotape, the tape carries a curse that will kill anyone who watches it within seven days. In the earlier Japanese films, it is explained as a traditional curse, though given a far greater explanation in later films and in the novels. The American and Korean versions largely follow that of the earlier Japanese explanations.

The "cursed video tape" plot device was initially used by Christopher Fowler in his 1990 novel Rune, and may have had its origins in an urban legend that sprang up during public concern over "video nasties" during the late 1980s.

In the original Japanese series, the tape is initially created by Sadako Yamamura. In the later Korean and American remakes, the tapes are created by Park Eun-Suh and Samara Morgan, respectively.

The videos

The videos are a series of jumbled images, often grotesque. The Sadako, Eun-Suh, and Samara versions all differ in the particular images, but have the same final image of a well and the disturbing effect. In the American movies, soon after the video is watched, the nearest telephone will ring and, when the watcher answers, a voice will declare, "Seven days," before hanging up. This only happened if you were in Izu in the Japanese movie.

Video files of the Sadako and Samara videos can be watched on the official and websites, as well as the DVD releases. It is not known if the Eun-Suh version is online.

The curse

Sadako's curse can actually be divided into a few abilities. First, the relatively simple ability to record her memories and imagination to film (earlier in her life she used a similar ability on an undeveloped photo, and also manipulated the image on a television). The second and more disturbing skill is the feat of giving the tape its own psychic abilities to kill whomever watches it, as well as the ability to replicate its curse. Lastly, there is the ability of writing her own DNA and the DNA of smallpox (the "Ring Virus") onto the videos themselves.

Early explanation

In the films Sadako's method of killing with the video curse is not explained, but when someone is killed by it she is seen climbing out of the nearest TV and approaching them. The corpses are discovered with looks of unearthly anguish on their faces, so it could be concluded that they "die of fright", i.e. a heart attack. With minor differences, Ring and The Ring, Rings
and The Ring Two
use this explanation.

Later clarification

In later installments of the book series, the curse is explained in detail, and is discovered to in fact be a virus. When someone watches the cursed tape (or something else carrying the curse) some of their cells' DNA is psychokinetically infected by the Ring Virus. The virus travels through their body and (in most cases) causes a sarcoma to form on one of the arteries of their heart. If the conditions to cure the virus have not been met by the seventh day, the supernatural portion of the curse calls forth a Sadako clone from the nearest video screen (regardless of whether the tape has been played on it); at the same time, the sarcoma detaches from the artery and clogs it, causing heart failure. It is not known if the clone triggers the detaching of the sarcoma or if this is a separate action. It is also unknown what happens to the clone afterwards.

The curse does not occur if the curse manages to reproduce itself. Originally, the only way for this to happen was to copy the cursed videotape. When the videotape is copied, the Ring Virus is replicated onto the copy. Whether the new copy of the virus comes simply from copying the video tape or from the already infected individual is unknown. However, there are other ways for the virus to reproduce, as mentioned below.

A later way for the virus to reproduce is by infecting a woman who is ovulating. In this case the Ring Virus finds the woman's ovum and inseminates it, acting as a phallic device for Sadako. In the case of Mai Takano her mind was replaced by Sadako's while she was pregnant; however, this may not always be the case, as Mai may have lacked the willpower to resist Sadako, and a stronger individual might have remained in control. When the new Sadako is born it seems the mother dies, as was in the case of Mai. This ability allows Sadako to clone or resurrect herself, albeit in a parasitic fashion.

It also should be noted that the virus itself takes on a life of its own, expanding beyond the initial tapes to anything made about it. During the course of the Japanese series, it infects the following (items followed by an asterisk aren't mentioned, but are implied):

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