Watch the full, unedited version of Samara's cursed video from The Ring. Ring is one of the key movies that kicked off the J-horror movie cycle of the late 1990s and early 2000s and is based on a novel by Koji Suzuki. The novel had actually been adapted previously as a TV movie in Japan, but it was 1998's Ring (AKA Ringu) movie that made it a worldwide success. The story involves a journalist investigating an urban legend about a mysterious VHS tape. People who watch the tape are said to die after seven days, and the reporter soon learns the curse is all too real.
The Ring is one of the eeriest horror movies of all time, with an ending that still has the power to shock. In 2002, an American remake arrived with Naomi Watts in the lead role. This version of The Ring added new elements and is considered one of the best American J-horror movies. The remake was also a major hit, and Watts later returned for 2005's The Ring 2, which received largely poor reviews. The American side of the series tried to revive itself with 2017's badly reviewed Rings, but while that entry was a reasonable success, the studio opted not to continue with the franchise.
While 2002's The Ring made some changes, with evil spirit Sadako becoming Samara Morgan instead. Samara's cursed video in The Ring is a key part of the movie and is a seemingly random collection of unsettling images that are really a mix of memories from before her murder and predictions of future events. The American version dialed up the creepiness of the tape too, including images of a fingernail nail being ripped off after being pushed on a nail. Watch the full tape below.
Samara's cursed video is featured in a slightly edited version in the final edit. While promoting The Ring, VHS' featuring Samara's tape were left on cars outside movie theaters with no labeling, which was still possible back in 2002 as videotapes were still a relatively popular medium. The images seen in the Japanese version of Ring are more subtle and haunting, but while the remake's director Gore Verbinski made his version more intense and over the top, it's still effective.
Samara's The Ring video might look like a montage of weird and scary images, but upon rewatch, many of the scenes shown relate to the movie or her life in some way. The nail coming off is symbolic of her actual fingernails coming off as she tried to climb out of the well, while the infamous "ring" refers to the circle of light she saw as the well cover lid blocked out the sun.