Talk:FeardotCom

The real fear.com

Fear.com exists, but it's related to keeping your phone records private. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.188.172.165 (talk • contribs)

One can presume that the producers of the movie originally wanted to make the fictional website in the movie (and the real one about the movie) at fear.com, but were stymied by not owning it (and the real owners would likely want a large amount to sell such a good name), so they instead put it at the bizarrely redundant feardotcom.com. *Dan T.* 20:03, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

It should be noted that specifically the AMERICAN version of the ring (based on the japanese ringu) came out after this movie. This movie is a blatant ripoff of ringu changing only the delivery method of the death curse. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.238.49.65 (talk) 08:49, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

This film has NOTHING to do with the Ringu series of films, nor the Ju-On films. It's a completely different story and unrelated to any film it has supposedly ripped off. Quite the contrary, it's a remake of horror.com (see below). If you consider a remake to be ripped off then FearDotCom ripped off Horror.Com which ripped off Kairo. If you are going to post opinion of no help to the general well-being of the article; you may be better served doing your research more thoroughly. At least that way you don't look as bad to those who are knowledgeable in the area. Lostinlodos (talk) 05:36, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

Who ripped off/re-made/imitated/tributed whom is a secondary issue. What is beyond a doubt is that the film lacks originality. Further, that the story line and basic principle of the movie is that of the ring. Only in a very superficial understanding is it possible to overlook this fact. (Irrespective of the cause for this similarity.)

94.220.253.72 (talk) 05:55, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

The death curse (呪怨, Ju-On, Curse of Death) is a common theme across East-Asian film, be it Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thailandish, .... along with Yōkai (妖怪, 요괴, Spirit Monsters) it is a base staple in all aspects of many Asian cultures; and is abundant in film, literature, religion, mythology, and ritual. Lostinlodos (talk) 23:42, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

15 years later, with more movies out and more other material available, the reasoning for why "it's completely different from Ring" is even more absurd.

Point 1: The modality of the spread - aside from the fact the curse mutates to a typed report, a novel, a theatrical movie, etc. in the sequel Rasen (novel and movie) and that already it implies a potential spread over the Internet as well, it is a reel to reel tape in the 1996 Japanese TBS Ring radio drame which ends with Sadako spreading herself over the Internet and something similar is seen in Rasen (TV) from 1999, where the curse is first on a CD-ROM and threatens to be spread over the Internet at the end before being thwarted, and it also spreads online in Sadako DX from 2019. Verdict: Internet as the modality of the curse's spread is seen in the Ring franchise.

Point 2: The amount of time the victims are allotted - a week / 7 days is the usual, but also have 13 days in Ring: Saishuushou (the 1999 TV series) and, finally, 1 day in Sadako DX. Verdict: While 48 hours / 2 days is never seen in the Ring franchise, there is variation from 1 day all the way to 13 days so 48 hours / 2 days is not off that spectrum.

Point 3: The killer of the vengeful spirit being still alive at the time of investigation - happens in any adaptation where the killer is Dr. Joutarou Nagao (this includes the original novel), as well as in The Ring Virus (the South Korean remake from 1999) where the killer is Eun-suh (the Korean Sadako)'s half-brother, Kyung-pil. Verdict: There exist Ring versions, including the original novel, where the killer is still alive at the time of the investigation.

Point 4: There being 4 initial mysterious deaths - this happens in every single Ring version except, I believe, where there's only one (Asakawa's radio station colleague Tomokazu). Verdict: This detail matches Ring perfectly.

Point 5: The victims looking like frightened - this also happens in basically every Ring version, bonus points for the 1995 TV movie which also has blood coming out of their mouths. Verdict: This detail matches Ring.

Point 6: The protagonists think putting the vengeful spirit to rest by finding the body from a place with water is the solution - I don't think I need to say much here, sure, in Ring, it's always a well rather than a still mill, but note that Mai Takano in Rasen is killed by the reborn Sadako in an industrial plant. Verdict: This more or less matches Ring, save for the specific place.

Point 7: The investigators are two - a man and a woman - this is two for every Ring version except for the Ring novel, the 1995 manga, and the 1995 TV movie. In the radio drama, Ryuji becomes the female Ryouko, in the 1999 TV series, Ryuji is replaced by a female version of Miyashita from Rasen, and in the 1998 theatrical movie and its remakes, it's Asakawa that becomes female. Verdict: This has a definite precedent in Ring and, in fact, matches the most popular versions perfectly, where it's also the male that dies, just like in FearDotCom.

I think this 7 points out of 7 either completely matching Ring, partially matching Ring, or being well within the spectrum of variations seen in the Ring versions, of which even being well within the pre-2002 spectrum of variations as well.

So I think saying this could not, possibly, have been a loose adaptation of Ring, is ridiculous. Now, I'm NOT advocating to put this into the article because original sources would be needed, I just wanted to clarify this. - OBrasilo (talk) 21:28, 5 October 2025 (UTC)

I just looked at the archived page of the film's website, specifically, the plot synopsis page... "Do you like to watch?" and "Do you want to see more?" stood out to me... such a thing at the very beginning of the cursed website's sequence reminds me of the videotape in the Ring novel which begins with the written message "Watch until the end" (Japanese: "Shimai made miyo"), followed by "You will be consumed by the dead" (Japanese: "Mouja ni kuwareru zo"). Did the people who made this movie read the novel? - OBrasilo (talk) 01:11, 6 October 2025 (UTC)

Missing links between films

While this film is related to the "Kairo universe" in storyline ways, it's a near-exact remake of Horror.com, a Chinese film. That in turn was a based on Kairo.
Story Time line

• Kairo 2001
• Horror.com 2001
• FearDotCom (FearDotCom.Com) 2002
• Pulse 2006

Lostinlodos (talk) 05:28, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

well i have not watched this but my sisters said that it was bad so well what will happen to me lol yea write nothing come get vanessa and heather and ayaan what is going to happen —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.17.33.149 (talk) 17:41, 14 February 2010 (UTC)

I still can't find Horror.com, but I found Horrorvision, also from 2001, with a very similar plots: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0275410/ . The site there is called horrorvision.com. But it's not Chinese. - OBrasilo (talk) 01:12, 6 October 2025 (UTC)

Expansion and Themes

This article could have a lot more information added to it. For starters there is no information on the film's production and release and there needs to be more reviews from notable critics added to the reception section. Also shouldn't some of the film's themes be mentioned in the article?--Paleface Jack (talk) 20:03, 20 October 2014 (UTC)

Missing catagory?

should this be in the dark web catagory? other films themed around it are counted. I might be missing something but i dont know. 96.55.168.38 (talk) 06:18, 12 February 2024 (UTC)

Distribution outside the US

Sorry, but I need to settle this once and for all: who controls the distribution rights to this film outside of the US, is it Columbia-TriStar, Warner Bros./Franchise (?), MDP themselves, GAGA/HUMAX or all of the above… My opinion is that MDP handled sales themselves since TriPictures held the Spanish distribution rights, CT in the rest of the world and WB in the states. VenezuelanSpongeBobFan2004 (talk) 03:08, 21 March 2024 (UTC)

Opinions are original research and are forbidden on Wikipedia. Wikipedia is based on what reliable sources say. NinjaRobotPirate (talk) 02:44, 22 March 2024 (UTC)