I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that Hideo Nakata’s 1998 film Ringu reinvented and revitalized the horror genre at a time when it was going to extremes here in the States. Wes Craven’s Scream had come out a couple years earlier with a wink and a nod to classic horror tropes, but the genre as a whole was veering toward “torture porn” and excessive violence and gore.

Which is totally not my thing.

Ringu was a mostly quiet, supernatural thriller that slowly enveloped you in a sense of dread and then used a few unsettling images to scare the crap out of you. It also launched the J horror phenomenon, several sequels, an American remake, and plenty of copycats (notably Ju-On: The Grudge, which featured a similar long-haired, face-obscured ghost… and is also fantastically frightening).

Just in time to celebrate the spooky season, Arrow Video has packaged together the first four Japanese films in the franchise into one stunning box set. Included are the original Ringu, the “lost” sequel Rasen (aka Spiral), Ringu 2 (the second attempt at a direct sequel), and Ringu 0: Birthday.

Going into this set, I really didn’t know much about the franchise beyond the original film. Turns out it actually has quite a complicated history.

The film was based on a phenomenally popular series of novels by Koji Suzuki. Ringu and Rasen were filmed at pretty much the same time and released in the same year. Though Rasen (Spiral) had a different director (George Iida) and protagonist, several actors from the original film reprise their roles. The film is also an adaptation of the Suzuki’s book of the same name.

In it, we learn more about Sadako (the evil long-haired ghost who crawled out of the TV in the first film), but the film tries too hard to give everything a logical explanation. In the end, Sadako’s curse is the result of… a virus? That might be smallpox? I dunno, it’s pretty weird.

Rasen bombed at the Japanese box office and a second direct sequel was made, ignoring Rasen completely and continuing on from the end of Ringu. The cleverly named Ringu 2 was directed by original Ringu director Hideo Nakata and – again – had a lot of cast overlap (including those who were also in Rasen). Watching the two films back to back is an intensely trippy experience.

In my opinion, this sequel went too far in the other direction. Instead of introducing a clinical, logical explanation for Sadako’s curse, it swings so hard toward the mystical and supernatural that it becomes unbelievable in a different way. Think of how it took multiple sequels for Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers to become supernatural beings instead of mindless killers… Ringu did it in one.

Finally, this set includes 2000’s Ringu 0: Birthday, which is a prequel set 30 years before the original film and follows a young Sadako when she was still alive. Listen, prequels are never a good idea.

Arrow has loaded up these three discs with oodles of extras, including audio commentaries, documentaries, interviews, and trailers. They’ve also included Sadako’s full video as an extra, which is perfect to just leave on the TV and scare people silly.

If you’re a fan of the franchise, there’s a lot to comb through here.

Though the set contains the bulk of the Ringu franchise, there is more (of course) for those who want to explore the further absurdities of the series.

• A Japanese TV show called Ring: The Final Chapter aired in 1999 for 12 episodes. It was ostensibly a remake of the original book/film, but it quickly took liberties and told an original story.
• That show was successful enough to get a sequel, though, confusingly named Rasen. It ran for 13 episodes and, from what I gather, shares very little in common with the novel or film of that name.
• If you’re not confused enough, Rasen (the ignored sequel) got two sequels of its own: Sadako 3D (2012) and Sadako 3D 2 (2013). So, if you’re looking to track canon, there are two distinct branches.
• Of course, there’s also the 2002 American remake – The Ring – starring Naomi Watts.
• Which had its OWN sequel in 2005 called The Ring Two. So, three canonical branches, I guess.
• Which ultimately led to 2017’s Rings (known in Japan as The Ring: Rebirth), based on “elements of” Koji Suzuki’s novel Spiral, which if you’re keeping track was the basis for Rasen.
• And, in the grand tradition of Freddy vs Jason, there’s also a 2016 team-up movie where Sadako meets Kayako (from The Grudge franchise). Appropriately named Sadako vs. Kayako.

Whew. Confused yet? Still, that’s not bad for a film based on 1990s VHS technology.

This new 3-disc set from Arrow, though, has pretty much everything you need to enjoy the best of the franchise. Grab it.