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Went through a bunch of the Ringu movies over the weekend.
I think I underrated the original when I watched it originally alongside the more forceful American remake (one of the few cases I can think of where a remake uses its higher production values effectively), but Hideo Nakata has a better handle on genuinely creepy imagery than most directors and that goes a long way. I also enjoyed Ringu 2 quite a bit for the same reason, and I appreciated that it has a firmer emotional core as well. Will give these two a recommendation.
I also watched Spiral and Ringu 0. The former was supposed to be the actual sequel to the original film and was released alongside it, but ended up being so poorly received that they redid it. It has the genius idea to make the spirit hornier as well as a bunch of other story ideas that mesh horribly with the original, but there's something to be said for material this goofy in this series' gloomy aesthetic. If this was an Italian horror movie, I suspect it would be better liked.
Ringu 0 is a prequel that explains how the spirit came to be, despite there being much more elegant explanations provided in the preceding movies. It's really dumb and fan-service-y, but also relatively well directed and with enough actual good moments that I did enjoy it.
I also learn that there's a Ringu/Ju-On crossover movie where the spirits from both series duke it out. Who thought that was a good idea? *adds to watchlist*