I have seen all the Japanese ‘Ring’ movies, and I have to say, they were a lot better than this new American one.
As Sol Grundy said, American films are not less subtle by default. But, I think a case can be made for that where the ‘Ring’ movies are concerned. In the Japanese versions, the little girl (Sadako) is never specifically portrayed as being evil. And the question of “why is she killing people, then?” is answered in a different way. Her soul split in two- the ‘good’ half of her soul left her body at death and went on. The ‘bad’ half of her soul went out into the world to take revenge for the terrible treatment she received while living.
In the Japanese prequel to 'Ring', we actually learn that her soul split before her death, creating two Sadakos- the good one who grew up lovely and tried to make a normal life for herself, and the bad one who was kept imprisoned by the doctor so she could not cause trouble for her other half or the rest of the world. It is the spirit of the bad one who takes over the body of the good Sadako after she is murdered the first time and continues killing. Th good soul has already left- it is the Sadako possessed by the evil half of her soul that the doctor brains with a hammer and tosses in the well.
Obviously, this needed to be condensed for American audiences generally unfamiliar with such concepts as the transmigration of souls.
Also, the question of Sadako’s parentage in the Japanese version is often alluded to, but never directly explained. We think we know she’s not completely human, but we’re never sure. We’re told a similar story about a strange birth- namely, Sadako’s mother gets pregnant, and goes off to a cave by the sea to have the baby. She returns without it. Three days later, she shows up with the baby again. No explanation from her is forthcoming, although we are meant to assume she had intended to abandon the baby after birth and allow the incoming tide to drown it. Her suddenly appearing with the baby leads us to assume her infanticidal plans were foiled. By whom or what, we are never told. Maybe Mom knew something the villagers only darkly suspected? Or maybe we’re simple supposed to believe she was going to abandon the baby because she was unmarried and poor, very unpopular in the village, and obviously unable to support a child.
In the new American version, I sense a strong “The Omen”/“Rosemary’s Baby” undercurrent. Similar to the Japanese version, but more fully explained. Americans, when confronted with evil in cinematic form, by past experience automatically ascribe it to the Judaeo-Christian devil. A Japanese audience would be more likely to ascribe such things to some nameless, undefined, and more unknown ‘evil force’. Or not- I’ve spoken to Japanese friends about the ‘Ring’ movies, and their take on Sadako was that even if she wasn’t completely human, her evil and her wish for revenge had more to do with her completely human mother: unwanted children are angry, and must be appeased. A baby left to die who does not die is obviously dangerous- it could only be anger, and a wish for revenge that is keeping them alive. Her semi-human status just gave her a better ability to carry out that revenge.
I felt that a lot of the curse video in the American version was simply designed to shock, especially the intestines bit, and the horses dying. They seemed to be just cinematic clues saying “she’s weird and bad!”, while the Japanese curse video actually conveyed a message, namely why this woman is angry, and what must be done to appease her.
Maybe the fundamental difference in the two versions is the reason (or lack thereof) for Sadako/Samara’s evil. Samara is evil just 'cause- she was born bad, possibly satanic, and that’s all that needs to be said. Sadako, on the other hand, is made evil through poor treatment and the violation of social mores- a baby abandoned, a girl shunned, a mother’s betrayal and suicide. It might be a fundamental difference in the way evil is viewed in the two cultures, at least cinematicaly: in America, evil is an ever-present random force, unknowable and totally without explanation. In Japan, evil is generally the end result of human action or inaction.