The Horror, the Horror: The Repetition and Compulsion of a Genre

Abstract

With Ringu (1998), we see an example of the successful integration of Hollywood iconographies of horror, with the concomitant rejection of some indigenous elements found in the first movie adaptation, Ringu (1995), and the source novel (1991). As the uncanny remake of Ringu (1998), The Ring essentially reconfigures for an American audience a story that has already undergone extensive Americanization; thus something familiar but altered, with its true origins repressed, returns to haunt global audiences in seemingly fresh new ways. The study of The Ring and other contemporary horror remakes shows how this genre fits into the machination and influence of global genres, Hollywood, and capitalism.