Though a teaser trailer for The Ring vs. The Grudge (aka Sadako vs. Kayako) was already released, today we’re getting to a more complete glimpse into the meeting of the two scariest late 90s/early 00s Japanese cinematic spirits with exceedingly distinctive gaits.
Kadokawa and NBCUniversal released a nearly two-minute trailer today (which is, unfortunately, not subtitled — but it’s not hard to get the gist). The mashup film originated last year as an April Fool’s joke that then, as is apparent in the just-released trailer, became an actual film. Which should be telling of the film climate we’re in: this doesn’t seem at all far removed from most of the movies we’re seeing that aren’t April Fool’s jokes.
The movie, directed by Kōji Shiraishi, very much follows the plot of The Ring in that hairy evil is unleashed after a certain videotape is watched. (Glad they didn’t update it to an evil Tidal download.) Sadako Yamamura, the character from The Ring (who became Samara in the American version) doesn’t, it seems so much fight The Grudge‘s Kayako Saeki in the trailer as the two look to collaborate on a reign of terror: two teenagers are haunted by both spirits, with Sadako doing her typical television-transcending schtick and the Kayako doing her trademark throat-crackles as she creepily crawls across domestic spaces. That is, until Kayako, it looks like, crushes Sadako’s videotape — at which point, we can presume, the two will turn against each other.
Watch the first full trailer for the film — set for release in Japan on June 18 — below:
[Via Indiewire]