© Alex Apple, 2003.

Ryuji takes a picture of a scared Reiko in Ringu (left); Noah does the same to a nervous Rachel in The Ring (right).

The photos of our stalwart heroine, just as she realises that the curse is no urban myth. Nice to note that all versions have the blurry face. Photoshop's great, isn't it...

Both Ryuji and Noah have assistants who they're also dating: in the Ringu sequels, Mai Takano played a key role. It remains to be seen if the planned sequel The Ring 2 will feature Noah's assistant in such measure.

A wasted opportunity. Masami in Ring 2 (left) is hidden behind a screen specifically so that she cannot see a TV, which traumatised her so much in Tomoko's house. Becca similarly hides (though it's not well explained) as she is taken to see an investigating Rachel. The scene was developed gut-churningly further in Ring 2, and just dumped in The Ring.

Perhaps slightly tenuous this one, but worth pointing out all the same: the horse kicking its box on the ferry to Moesko Island in The Ring was so reminiscent of Mitsuko trying to bash her way out of the tank in Dark Water that we couldn't help but notice.

(top left) Yoichi watches Sadako's video; (top right) Boram watches Eun-Suh's video; (bottom) Aidan watches Samara's video. Reassuringly, all 3 were under psychic influence at the time, and all three were rescued by their mothers. It's this that gives the Reiko/Sun-joo/Rachel character the impetus to get to the bottom of exactly what's going on.

For Alex Apple, a couple of the scariest points in the original movies; when Reiko (left) and Mai (right) find Shizuko's mirror in the guesthouse. Not quite as convincing was the remake version, where Rachel seemed to barely raise an eyebrow when she finds it in the Morgan house.

The grab that causes the mark on the arm. Interesting to note that while Ringu and The Ring Virus are very similar, The Ring has far more influence from Nakata's Dark Water than anything from the original movies.

On the left, the marks left by the vision of the young Sadako on Reiko Asakawa's arm; it's very clearly a bruise. However, the mark on Rachel Watt's arm (right) is clearly a burn.

The key proof that Verbinski has seen The Ring Virus. Samara creates in the mental institution photographic images via thought. This isn't present in any of the Japanese movies (except for a vague hint in Ring 2) but the scene in which Noah searches the Morgan's medical records is a straight lift from the Korean remake, complete with finding these nensha thermographs in a filing cabinet, and holding them up to the light...

In both the US and Japanese strands, the Samara / Sadako character was held in an attic to protect the outside world from her influence. In The Ring, Richard Morgan kept her in a room at the top of a barn; in Ring 0, there's evidence that Professor Ikuma held the younger, evil Sadako twin in a small room only accessible through a tiny door. Both rooms have a TV, the girl's only real company...

There's no comparison to Richard Morgan's self-electrocution (right) in any of the earlier movies. The only possible parallel comes in the final scenes of Ring 2, when the doctor throws himself into the pool holding electrical equipment, driven mad by Sadako's influence.

All three movies show Sadako / Eun-Suh / Samara as a child, though only The Ring keeps her as a child throughout the entire movie. By the time Ikuma kills Sadako and puts her down the well, she's roughly in her late teens; so is Eun-Suh. However, the visualisation of the young demon is very similar in all three versions.

Anna Morgan as dual Shizuko / Professor Ikuma figure? Possibly. This is Ikuma offing Sadako in Ring 0; and Anna Morgan asphyxiating and bashing her daughter Samara. It's never made clear in the Japanese movies exactly what Sadako's parentage is; though heavy hints are made that, despite statements to the contrary, it's not Ikuma and Shizuko.

Our two main protagonists stare down the well; a standard shot in all three movies. Why don't they use torches in The Ring Virus? In all that darkness it's remarkable they can even see more than about three feet.

Ouch. The mere thought of fingernails peeling off makes some of the Snowblood Apple team just wince in sympathetic agony. Anyway, it's a theme present in all three movies; Ringu (left), The Ring Virus (right) and The Ring (centre).

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