The Cursed Videotape

The Cursed Videotape is an item in the Ring cycle series. Seemingly a normal home-recorded videotape, the tape is the carrier for 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 novels. The American and Korean versions largely follow that of the earlier Japanese explanations.

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 Eun-Suh and Samara Morgan, respectively.

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 to mention 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 films, 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 if the tape has been played on it or not); 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 seperate 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 into 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 a medical report, a paperback about the report, a television show based on the paperback, and finally a film version of said television show. Although not explained in the film, it is theoretical that the virus could expand to DVDs or electronic files (such as AVIs) of the tape, or even websites about the any of the above mentioned subjects.

The Tape in marketing
During the early stages of promoting The Ring in the U.S., 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 leapt straight into the "Samara" version of the curse, displaying a single line of text before cutting into static: www.anopenletter.com.

Though the above website no longer exists, video files of the Sadako and Samara videos can be watched on the official Japanese and Americanwebsites, as well as the DVD releases.

External references

 * the ringworld - a fansite covering all aspects of the Ring series and movies.