The Cursed Videotape

The Cursed Videotape is a fictional 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. Also it may have been influenced by David Cronenberg's 1983 movie Videodrome which featured a secret videotape that once watched would cause a hallucination-inducing tumor in the brain.

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 (and the latter's "Tabitha" parody) versions all differ in the particular images, but have the same final image of a well and the disturbing effect (the Tabitha version slightly alters this to add humor to the effect). The Samara version is strikingly similar to the videos produced by the Spanish surrealist film-maker Luis Buñuel, Un chien andalou in particular. 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.

Video files of the Sadako and Samara videos can be watched on the official Japanese and American websites, as well as the DVD releases.

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, an ability known as projected thermography (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, The Ring Virus, 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 sarcoma detaches from the artery and clogs it, causing heart failure. It is also discovered later in the book that every victim killed by the virus was looking at their own reflection at the time of death, or in the case of two who died together, were looking at each other.

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 and viral 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):


 * medical report
 * A paperback book about the report
 * A TV special based on the paperback
 * A theatrical movie based on the TV special
 * Publicity advertising for the above film's theatrical release and video and DVDs*
 * The actual DVDs and videos*
 * The film's official website*

The tape images
As mentioned above, the images on the cursed tape differ in each version, even in the novel.

The novel, Ringu

 * 1) Written introduction: "Watch this tape until the very end. [If you will not,] you will be consumed by the dead." (Japanese: "終いまで見よ　[さもないと]　モウジャに食われるぞ. ", transliterated: "Shimai made miyo. [Samonai to] mouja ni kuwareru zo.")
 * 2) Outpouring of red (Symbolizes: Lava flowing, since Shizuko threw herself into a volcano)
 * 3) Mount Mihara (Symbolizes: The mountain into which Shizuko jumped)
 * 4) Mount Mihara erupting (Symbolizes: The mountain of which Sadako predicted the eruption at age 11)
 * 5) The Japanese character for mountain. (Symbolizes: This is the same image of the character that Sadako produced at the age of 10 and sent (along with an image of the "chastity" character) to Miura Tetsuzu, who was studying ESP powers. The character is the first character of Sadako's last name, Yamamura.)
 * 6) Dice (Symbolizes: Shizuko knew the outcome of rolling dice)
 * 7) Sadako's grandmother talking. She says: "So, how have you been feeling since last time? If you just keep playing in the water, the monster is going to come for you. Be careful of the strangers. Next year, you're going to give birth to a child. So girl, listen to what your grandma is saying. There's nothing to worry about the people from here, is there?" (Symbolizes: The predicted birth of Sadako's ring virus. Sadako could not give birth because she had Testicular Feminization Syndrome, a rare birth defect where on the outside someone looks like a woman, but genetically, they're a man.)
 * 8) A baby boy (Symbolizes: Sadako's baby brother that died four months after birth)
 * 9) Countless faces (Symbolizes: The crowd that gathered to see Shizuko's use of her powers, then turned into a mob after one of the onlookers declared the woman a fraud)
 * 10) Old TV set (Symbolizes: A member of the Hisho Acting Troupe noticed Sadako using her powers to turn on an unplugged TV)
 * 11) Man's face (Symbolizes: the man who Raped Sadako, Nagao Joutarou)
 * 12) Final scene: "You who have watched these images: Your destiny is to die in one week on this same time. If you do not wish to die, do as you'll be told to do from this point on. That is--"  (Japanese: "この映像を見た者は、一週間後のこの時間に死ぬ運命にある. 死にたくなければ、今から言うことを実行せよ. すなわち・・・", transliterated: "Kono eizou o mita mono wa, isshuukan-go no kono jikan ni shinu unmei ni aru. Shinitakunakereba, ima kara iu koto o jikkou seyo. Sunawachi...")(TV commercial is recorded over the rest of final scene)

The TV special, Ring: Kanzenban (1995) (in-movie version)

 * 1) Floating red dot expanding, until it fills the screen (Symbolizes: How Sadako will dominate the world)
 * 2) Mount Mihara erupting (Symbolizes: The mountain of which Sadako predicted the eruption at age 11)
 * 3) People at Shizuko's demonstration (Symbolizes: Shizuko being branded a charlatan and a fraud on her ESP demonstration)
 * 4) Dice (Symbolizes: Shizuko knew, by telekinesis, the outcome of rolling dice)
 * 5) The Japanese character for mountain. (Symbolizes: This is the same image of the character that Sadako produced at the age of 10 and sent (along with an image of the "chastity" character) to Miura Tetsuzu, who was studying ESP powers. The character is the first character of Sadako's last name, Yamamura.)
 * 6) Sadako's grandmother talking. She says: "So, how have you been feeling since last time? If you just keep playing in the water, the monster is going to come for you. If you just keep playing in the water, the monster is going to come for you." (Symbolizes: The predicted birth of Eun-Suh's ring virus. Eun-Suh could not give birth because she had Testicular Feminization Syndrome, a rare birth defect where on the outside someone looks like a woman, but genetically, they're a man.)
 * 7) Demonic face, which shoots forward (Symbolizes: Possibly death)
 * 8) Countless faces (Symbolizes: The crowd that gathered to see Shizuko's use of her powers, then turned into a mob after one of the onlookers declared the woman a fraud)
 * 9) A baby boy (Symbolizes: Sadako's baby brother that died four months after birth, although it could be Sadako's child in this version)
 * 10) Old TV set (Symbolizes: A member of the Hisho Acting Troupe noticed Sadako using her powers to turn on an unplugged TV)
 * 11) The old woman again (Symbolizes: Sadako's grandmother)
 * 12) Angry reporters at Shizuko's demonstration (Symbolizes: Shizuko being branded a charlatan and a fraud on her ESP demonstration)
 * 13) Shigemori keeling over dead (Symbolizes: Shigemori being one of Sadako's first victims)
 * 14) Man's face (Symbolizes: the man who raped Sadako, Nagao Joutarou)
 * 15) Droplets of blood falling towards the screen (Symbolizes: Sadako having been tossed into the well after having been raped)
 * 16) Forest at day/moon at night (Symbolizes: The same as the moon-like view from the well in the end of the novel's cursed video)
 * 17) Final scene: "You who have watched this: The time that you have been allotted is seven days. In seven days, at this time, you will be dead. If you do not wish to die, the way is--" (Japanese: "これを見た、おまえに残されたじかん（は）あと七日. 七日後、この時刻に、おまえは死 . 死にたくなければ、その方法は・・・", transliterated: "Kore o mita, omae ni nokosareta jikan (wa) ato nanoka. Nanokago, kono jikoku ni, omae wa shi. Shinitakunakereba, sono houhou wa...") (TV commercial is recorded over the rest of final scene)

The TV special, Ring: Kanzenban (1995) (version after the credits of the Uncut (VHS) version)

 * 1) Floating red dot expanding, until it fills the screen (Symbolizes: Nothing really)
 * 2) Mount Mihara erupting (Symbolizes: The mountain of which Sadako predicted the eruption at age 11)
 * 3) People at Shizuzko's demonstration (Symbolizes: Shizuko being branded a charlatan and a fraud on her ESP demonstration)
 * 4) Dice (Symbolizes: Shizuko knew, by telekinesis, the outcome of rolling dice)
 * 5) Sadako's grandmother, with black and white shots of a baby occasionally appearing, talking. She says: "So, how have you been feeling since last time? If you just keep playing in the water, the monster is going to come for you. If you just keep playing in the water, the monster is going to come for you. Be careful of the strangers. Next year, you're going to give birth to a child. So girl, listen to what your grandma is saying." (Symbolizes: The predicted birth of Sadako's ring virus. Sadako could not give birth because she had Testicular Feminization Syndrome, a rare birth defect where on the outside someone looks like a woman, but genetically, they're a man.)
 * 6) Demonic face, which shoots forward (Symbolizes: Possibly death)
 * 7) Countless faces (Symbolizes: The crowd that gathered to see Shizuko's use of her powers, then turned into a mob after one of the onlookers declared the woman a fraud)
 * 8) The Japanese character for mountain. (Symbolizes: This is the same image of the character that Sadako produced at the age of 10 and sent (along with an image of the "chastity" character) to Miura Tetsuzu, who was studying ESP powers. The character is the first character of Sadako's last name, Yamamura.)
 * 9) Old TV set (Symbolizes: A member of the Hisho Acting Troupe noticed Sadako using her powers to turn on an unplugged TV)
 * 10) The old woman again (Symbolizes: Sadako's grandmother)
 * 11) Angry reporters at Shizuko's demonstration (Symbolizes: Shizuko being branded a charlatan and a fraud on her ESP demonstration)
 * 12) A baby boy (Symbolizes: Sadako's baby brother that died four months after birth, although it could be Sadako's child in this version)
 * 13) Red interruption (Symbolizes: Nothing really)
 * 14) Man's face (Symbolizes: the man who raped Sadako, Nagao Joutarou)
 * 15) Droplets of blood falling towards the screen (Symbolizes: Sadako having been tossed into the well after having been raped)
 * 16) Forest at day/moon at night (Symbolizes: The same as the moon-like view from the well in the end of the novel's cursed video)
 * 17) Final scene: "You who have watched this: The time that you have been allotted is seven days. In seven days, you will be dead. If you do not wish to die, the way is--" (Japanese: "これを見た、おまえに残されたじかんはあと七日. 七日後に、おまえは死 . 死にたくなければ、その方法は・・・", transliterated: "Kore o mita, omae ni nokosareta jikan wa ato nanoka. Nanokago ni, omae wa shi. Shinitakunakereba, sono houhou wa...") (TV commercial is recorded over the rest of final scene)

Ringu (1998)
An animated version of this cursed video appears in the anime Great Teacher Onizuka, with the scene of the messed-up newspaper article missing.


 * 1) Moon-like view from the well (Symbolizes: The same as the end of the novel's cursed video, only this time, due to the differences in the story about Sadako's end between the novel and the theatrical adaptation, it's her father, Prof. Ikuma Heihachiro looking down the well instead of Nagao Joutarou)
 * 2) Shizuko combing her hair inside a mirror. The mirror moves to the right, where we see a little Sadako reflected in it - then it goes back to its original position, with Shizuko now looking towards the right and smiling; accompanied by some metallic squeaking. (This is an actual event, shown more clearly in Ring 2.)
 * 3) An undulating, impenetrable sea of kanji, used in the Japanese language for writing. This is a jumbled newspaper article - the reorganized article is shown later in the movie, and it says "Mount Mihara erupts" (Japanese: "三原山が噴火", transliterated: "Miharayama ga funka"). (Symbolizes: Shizuko's prediction of the Mt. Mihara eruption)
 * 4) People shambling and crawling, some also in reverse. They're accompanied by a moaning sound. (Symbolizes: Sadako's interpretation of either the mad reporters at Shizuko's ESP demonstration, or the victims of the Mt. Mihara eruption, which Shizuko predicted)
 * 5) A man with his face covered by a white towel, pointing to something unseen at the left of the screen. Accompanied by the same metallic squeaking as scene 2, only this time, the squeaking is louder. Has a subliminal message: Shoumon bakkari shiteru to, boukon ga kuru zo., seen before in both the novel and in the 1995 TV special Ring: Kanzenban (where it's said, and clearly, by Sadako's grandmother). The phrase itself in the American subtitles of the Japanese film meant, "Frolic in brine, Goblins be thine". This is based upon an old Japanese legend that if young children played by the sea, a goblin would rise up and eat them. However, the correct translation of this phrase is "If you just keep playing in the water, the monster is going to come for you," and it's approximately how it was translated in the novel as well. (Symbolizes: death (white towel) and clues (accusingly pointing finger))
 * 6) An other-worldly eye, with the chastity character, reversed, inside it. It blinks three times, the first two being very fast. (Symbolizes: Sadako's nensha power, as well as the first two characters in Sadako's name)
 * 7) The well (which Sadako was thrown into in order to kill her after thirty years (as revealed in Ring 2))

The seuqel, Rasen (1998), theorizes, that the video possibly originally started with the written messages at both the beginning, and the end, but that they were eventually erased, by recording the static over them, thus causing the Ring Virus to mutate.

The Ring Virus (1999)

 * 1) Written introduction: "Watch until the very end, or you will be consumed by the dead." (Korean: "끝나자 본것는, 아니면 죽을아 몇살 것이다.", transliterated: "Ggeutnaja bongeosneun, animyeon jugeura myeochsar geosida.")
 * 2) Tsunami crashing down. (Symbolizes: Eun-Suh's prediction of a tsunami when she was a child.)
 * 3) Blinking eye with the name "Eun-Suh" in it. (Symbolizes: Both Eun-Suh's name, and a look into the future. Choe Yol, the Takayama Ryuji character, finds an exact representation on an x-ray file.)
 * 4) Moon-like view from the well. (Symbolizes: What Eun-Suh saw when thrown down the well by her half-brother Kyung-Pil.)
 * 5) Woman standing in front of an ocean cliff. (Symbolizes: Eun-Suh's mother, Jung-Suk, committing suicide.)
 * 6) Blinking eye. (Symbolizes: The same eye from scene three.)
 * 7) Rolling dice. (Symbolizes: The ESP demonstration that drove Eun-Suh's mother to suicide after being called a "fraud".)
 * 8) Countless faces. (Symbolizes: An abstract memory of the angry reporters at Park Jung-Suk's ESP demonstration.)
 * 9) Eun-Suh's grandmother speaking. She says: "How has your health been since last time? Playing in the water summons the monsters. You're going to give birth next year." (Symbolizes: The predicted birth of Eun-Suh's ring virus. Eun-Suh could not give birth because she had Testicular Feminization Syndrome, a rare birth defect where on the outside someone looks like a woman, but genetically, they're a man.)
 * 10) The ring virus. (Symbolizes: What the grandmother was speaking of in the previous scene.)
 * 11) Kyung-Pil raping Eun-Suh. (Eun-Suh's half brother Kyung-Pil raping her after finding out she has TFS.)
 * 12) An old television turning on to static. (Symbolizes: When Eun-Suh was practicing her psychography/nensha on the, later to be discovered, unplugged television set.)
 * 13) An electric storm. (Eun-Suh and her mother, Jung-Suk, used to forecast weather. This scene must be an abstract memory of one of the storms one of them must have predicted.)
 * 14) The well. (Symbolizes: What Eun-Suh was thrown down when she was raped and strangled by her half-brother.)
 * 15) The finale: "Having watched this, you will die in one week from now at this time. If you want to live--" (Korean: "이것을 본것는, 일 주일후 이니번에 죽는다. 살고 싶으신--", transliterated: "Igeoseur bongeosneun, ir juirhu inibeone jugneunda. Sargo sipeusin--"), then the TV commercial, which the four dead teenagers recorded over it. The missing part of the message is: "- has to copy the tape and show it to someone else within one week." (Korean: "- 이것을 복사해야 본것는 주그안에.", transliterated: "Igeoseur bogsahaeya bongeosneun jugeuane.")

The TV special, Ring: Saishuushou (1999)
In Ring: Saishuushou, the cursed video is not a videotape in itself. In fact, it's just a normal music video of the song Shiroi yo by the Japanese idol singer Matsuzaki Nao which was mixed with Sadako's nensha (thoughtography/psychography) signal.


 * 1) A newborn baby. (Symbolizes: In this version, the baby is Takayama Ryuji, who is Sadako's son which she had with her boyfriend Moriyama.)
 * 2) Nagao Jôtarô raping Sadako (Symbolizes: Nagao threw Sadako in the well as a post-rape murder. As Nagao was the last person in Japan to be treated for smallpox, he transferred the virus to her, which (30 years later) would transform into the ring virus.)
 * 3) Mount Mihara erupting (Symbolizes: Before Sadako was born, her mother, Yamamura Shizuko, predicted the eruption of Mt. Mihara, and the prediction was later proven as true. Because of this, the people of Sashikiji started to fear her. Shizuko's cousin, Yamamura Kei, hid her into a hut where she remained closed for years. Kei also spread the false news that Shizuko died 50 years ago. After Asakawa Kazuyuki and Yoshino find Shizuko, Yamamura Kei kills her, and they throw her body into Mt. Mihara.)
 * 4) Yamamura Shizuko looking in the mirror.
 * 5) View of the Mihara mountain range on Izu-Oshima Island. (Symbolizes: Izu-Oshima is the home island of Shizuko and Sadako. Shizuko predicted the eruption of Mt. Mihara, and her body was thrown into it when she was murdered.)
 * 6) Message in the dialect of Sashikiji. The message is, "You're going to give birth next year." (Symbolizes: Sadako gives birth to the ring virus. This message previously appeared in both the Ring novel and Ring: Kanzenban as a part of the lines of Sadako's grandmother in the cursed video.)
 * 7) The finale: "A curse has been cast on you. Thirteen days later at this moment in time - you will die - there is only one way to be saved - and that is-", then the video ends. The missing part of the message is: "- make two copies of the tape and show them to two people, each of them one one, within thirteen days."

The Ring (2002) (standard version)
In the film, Aidan's teacher says to Rachael (Naomi Watts) that children can express themselves in different ways. The events of the tape reveal the horrifying ending of the life of the little girl (Samara) who is trying to tell the world of her story.


 * 1) A glowing white ring (Symbolizes: Sunlight peeking through the crack in the lid of the well Samara was thrown into; the last thing Samara would have seen before dying.)
 * 2) Static (Symbolizes: The other side, hell, purgatory, "her world".)
 * 3) Blood in the water (Symbolizes: Samara was injured and shed blood when she was thrown into the well (seen in a flashback). This later is seen as a clue when the horse jumps off the ferry and under the propellers.) Also: Red Tide. In the "Don't Watch This" feature, a flickering newspaper clipping features a headline about an unusual red tide algae bloom off the waters of Moesko Island.
 * 4) A chair (Symbolizes: The chair Samara was sitting on while watching TV in the barn; solitude.)
 * 5) Comb through hair (Symbolizes: Samara's face was concealed by her hair.)
 * 6) Anna/Samara mirror switch (Symbolizes: Samara scaring her mother Anna.)
 * 7) A nail (Symbolizes: The piercing of Samara's fingers.)
 * 8) Richard looking down through the window: (Symbolizes: Possibly Richard's hatred of Samara; his distance from her.)
 * 9) A cliff with a fly near it (Symbolizes: Where Anna killed herself; fly symbolizes corpses.)
 * 10) A mouth vomiting out probes, intestines or food (Symbolizes: Samara's time in a hospital. Rachel later vomits these out herself covered in hair.)
 * 11) Face struggling against black plastic (Symbolizes: The plastic bag Anna wrapped around Samara's face before throwing her down the well.)
 * 12) Flaming tree (Symbolizes: The sun setting behind the red-leafed tree near the well. Later revealed drawn on a wall in the loft where Samara lived that was subsequently covered in wallpaper.)
 * 13) Crescent-shaped "moon" (Symbolizes: The lid of the well being left open; Samara's "only way out".)
 * 14) Finger pushing down on nail (Symbolizes: Samara losing her fingernails while trying to escape.)
 * 15) Maggots turning into people (Symbolizes: Death and her opinion of people.)
 * 16) People swimming under cloth/velvet (Symbolizes: Samara being trapped in the well (swimming under an object with no escape).)
 * 17) A centipede, chair, and table (Symbolizes: UNKNOWN But both Rachel and Noah later see a centipede while looking through Samara's files, and centipedes are traditionally connected with the world of the dead in Japanese mythology.)
 * 18) Lamb with only three legs going inside the barn (Symbolizes: Innocence or deformity)
 * 19) Horse's eye (Symbolizes: The horses kept Samara awake at night. This same image of the horse's eye is seen by Rachel on the ferry, before the horse commits suicide, like the Morgans' horses were driven to by Samara.)
 * 20) Severed fingers in box (Symbolizes: The wriggling fingers probably symbolize pain. There are seven fingers in a box; one for each day Samara spent in the well before dying.)
 * 21) Anna sees viewer
 * 22) Window without Richard (Symbolizes: Possibly symbolizes how Samara's father was never there for her, as he appeared in the previous similar image.)
 * 23) Spinning chair (Symbolizes: The paranormal, something wrong.)
 * 24) Ladder (Symbolizes: The ladder leading up to Samara's room in the barn.)
 * 25) Dead horses (Symbolizes: The Morgans' horses, that were driven to suicide by Samara.)
 * 26) Anna jumps (Symbolizes: Anna's suicide.)
 * 27) Ladder collapsing (Symbolizes: Samara's way of indicating losing hope, becoming weak, and Richard's infertility.)
 * 28) Ring with one side thicker than the other (Symbolizes: The well about to be closed.)
 * 29) Ladder collapsed (Symbolizes: See previous ladder entries.)
 * 30) The well (Symbolizes: What Samara was thrown into in order to kill her.)

These events all relate to Samara's life in the movie and ways of expressing herself to her viewers on the events that lead to her murder. [Note: The final image changes occasionally. When Aidan views the tape, Samara's hair can be seen starting to come out.]

The Ring (2002) (DVD easter egg version)

 * 1) A glowing white ring (Symbolizes: Sunlight peeking through the crack in the lid of the well Samara was thrown into; the last thing Samara would have seen before dying.)
 * 2) Static (Symbolizes: The other side, hell, purgatory, "her world".)
 * 3) Blood in the water (Symbolizes: Samara was injured and she had bled when she was thrown into the well (we see this in a flashback). This later is seen as a clue when the horse jumps off the ferry and under the propellers.) Also: Red Tide. In the "Don't Watch This" feature, a flickering newspaper clipping features a headline about an unusual red tide algae bloom off the waters of Moesko Island.
 * 4) Short interruption sequence (Symbolizes: A hint of what will appear next.)
 * 5) A chair (Symbolizes: The chair Samara was sitting on while watching TV in the barn; solitude.)
 * 6) Comb through hair (Symbolizes: Samara's face was concealed by her hair.)
 * 7) Anna/Samara mirror switch (Symbolizes: Samara scaring her mother Anna.)
 * 8) A nail (Symbolizes: Samara attempting to claw her way up the well's wall.)
 * 9) Richard looking down through the window: (Symbolizes: Possibly Richard's hatred of Samara; his distance from her.)
 * 10) A cliff with a fly near it (Symbolizes: Where Anna killed herself; fly symbolizes corpses.)
 * 11) A mouth vomiting out probes, intestines or food (Symbolizes: Samara's time in a hospital. Rachel later vomits these out herself covered in hair.)
 * 12) Close-up on severed fingers in box (Symbolizes: The wriggling fingers probably symbolize pain. There are seven fingers in a box; one for each day Samara spent in the well before dying.)
 * 13) Finger on nail (Symbolizes: Samara losing her fingernails while trying to escape.)
 * 14) Knife cutting through skin (Symbolizes: Miscellaneous suffering that Samara had to undertake.)
 * 15) Black liquid pouring from a black dot (Symbolizes: A black and white representation of an injury and blood?)
 * 16)  Black dot becoming a red dot, then getting dissolved (Symbolizes: A black and white representation of an injury and blood, which then falls into a transparent liquid, most probably water.)
 * 17) Finger pushing down on nail [Continuation of "Finger on nail"] (Symbolizes: Samara losing her fingernails while trying to escape.)
 * 18) Severed fingers in box [Continuation of "Close-up on severed fingers in box"] (Symbolizes: The wriggling fingers probably symbolize pain. There are seven fingers in a box; one for each day Samara spent in the well before dying.)
 * 19) Bleeding wound [Continuation of "Knife cutting through skin"] (Symbolizes: Miscellaneous suffering that Samara had to undertake.)
 * 20) Maggots turning into people (Symbolizes: Death and her opinion of people.)
 * 21) People swimming under cloth/velvet (Symbolizes: Samara being trapped in the well (swimming under an object with no escape).)
 * 22) A centipede, chair, and table (Symbolizes: Both Rachel and Noah later see a centipede while looking through Samara's files.)
 * 23) Lamb with only three legs going inside the barn (Symbolizes: Innocence or deformity)
 * 24) Horse's eye (Symbolizes: The horses kept Samara awake at night. This same image of the horse's eye is seen by Rachel on the ferry, before the horse commits suicide, like the Morgans' horses were driven to by Samara.)
 * 25) Crescent-shaped "moon" (Symbolizes: The lid of the well being left open; Samara's "only way out".)
 * 26) Flaming tree (Symbolizes: The sun setting behind the red-leafed tree near the well. Later revealed drawn on a wall in the loft where Samara lived that was subsequently covered in wallpaper.)
 * 27) Black plastic being shaken around (Symbolizes: The plastic bag Anna wrapped around Samara's face before throwing her down the well.)
 * 28) Anna sees viewer
 * 29) Window without Richard (Symbolizes: Possibly symbolizes how Samara's father was never there for her, as he appeared in the previous similar image.)
 * 30) Exploding globule (Symbolizes: Miscellaneous suffering that Samara had to undertake.)
 * 31) Sphincter (Symbolizes: Miscellaneous suffering that Samara had to undertake.)
 * 32) Spinning chair (Symbolizes: The paranormal, something wrong.)
 * 33) Ladder (Symbolizes: The ladder leading up to Samara's room in the barn.)
 * 34) Growing crack (Symbolizes: The increasing distance between Samara and the rest of the world.)
 * 35) Bleeding wound #2 (Symbolizes: Miscellaneous suffering that Samara had to undertake.)
 * 36) Dead horses (Symbolizes: The Morgans' horses, that were driven to suicide by Samara.)
 * 37) Anna jumps (Symbolizes: Anna's suicide.)
 * 38) Ladder collapsing (Symbolizes: Samara's way of indicating losing hope, becoming weak, and Richard's infertility.)
 * 39) Ring with one side thicker than the other (Symbolizes: The well about to be closed.)
 * 40) Ladder collapsed (Symbolizes: See previous ladder entries.)
 * 41) The well (Symbolizes: What Samara was thrown into in order to kill her.)

Scary Movie 3
The version of the cursed videotape used in Scary Movie 3 is essentially a parody of the version used in the American Ring movie.


 * 1) A glowing white ring. Does not actually refer to the well as shown later.
 * 2) Tabitha's mother combing her head and unusually long armpit hair in the mirror.
 * 3) The well. Tabitha is standing by the edge and is approached by a figure, most likely her mother.
 * 4) The glowing white ring again, which turns out to be the light let in to the inside of a toilet bowl. The person sitting on the bowl gets up, and we see him pull his pants up before putting the lid down, leaving only the ring.
 * 5) Tabitha's mother jumping off the cliff. We hear her hit something.
 * 6) Cut to Tabitha's mother dangling off a conveniently placed tree branch jutting out of the cliff. She says "Shit..." before her body slips off the branch.
 * 7) A chair.
 * 8) View of the cellar where the well is.
 * 9) The chair spinning upside-down in mid-air. An unknown fat man dressed in a wife-beater and boxers approaches the chair from stage right.
 * 10) The fat man laughing as enjoys riding the upside-down chair.
 * 11) The fat man, right-side up and back on solid ground, hunched over a bucket that he is vomiting in.
 * 12) Alternate cuts between Tabitha's eye and Tabitha approaching the camera in the forest before blocking it out with her hand.
 * 13) Cut back to the toilet shot, and another man sitting down on the seat, his butt-crack clearly visible.
 * 14) Static.

The tape in marketing
During the early stages of promoting The Ring in North America, several unmarked videotapes were left in public locations, sometimes with a sign that read "Watch these or I'll die in seven days" (or something to that effect). Without explanation, the videos leap straight into the "Samara" version of the curse, displaying a single website URL "www.an-open-letter.com" before cutting to static.

The Ring was also released in a VHS format with a partially transparent sleeve, which made the cassette resemble the Cursed Videotape (though a standard descriptive/copyright sticker was placed on the tape instead of the small "COPY" sticker seen in the film.)

External references

 * the ringworld - a comprehensive fansite covering all aspects of the Ring series and movies.
 * the Ring AREA - Contains the cursed videos of the Ring cycle and their scene-by-scene analyses, as well as other useful information.
 * she-is-here.com - Originally a popular DreamWorks viral marketing website for The Ring Two movie, users share their unexplainable experiences with the Cursed Videotape.