Just when you thought it was safe to freely scope out CRTs at celebratory nerd gatherings, one of the best cosplays from this year’s ATL Comic Convention has reminded us of at least one nasty issue with old cathode ray tubes: Sometimes ghostly girls can crawl out of them. Or at least that’s what one particular 2000’s-era American remake of a notable Japanese horror film did back when it had us all terrified.
Having just wrapped up a few days ago, the ATL Comic Convention was home to a wide array of the usual sights and sounds of a con. Celebrity appearances included Steve Burns, Elijah Wood, and Sean Astin; but this year the event did not disappoint in the cosplay department. One particular video making the rounds on TikTok and Twitter is of an elaborately detailed recreation of a classic scene from the 2002 horror film, The Ring. The movie follows the events of a haunted VHS tape that claims its victims seven days after watching it. A remake of 1998’s Japanese horror film, Ring, the film’s iconic “girl crawling out of the TV” scene had certainly gone “viral” before we probably even using such lingo. Check it out:
Nailing the hauntingly surreal vibes of the 2002 film, it’s hard not to look away. But it ain’t just creepy makeup; the cosplay makes use of a pretty neat feat of engineering. I’m not sure if that’s an LCD mounted in there or some kind of cool projection contraption, but I seriously need someone to get Adam Savage to break down how this thing is built; pay attention to how the screen continues to play animated scenes as the cosplayer crawls through it. Neat, right? Though, I imagine getting through security might’ve been a challenge, it was clearly worth it.
Photographed by @Daracelll, the cosplayer, Bella Evans, has ignited a bit of a viral firestorm.
“Just give her every cosplay award that will ever be given out,” reads one comment on TikTok. Other people were just as impressed…though perhaps more than a little terrified. “This movie haunted me back in the day to the point where I would turn my CRT TV around when going to bed,” reads one such comment. “Jesus Christ,” one Twitter reply reads, “I used to be high af during cons. I think I would have a heart attack. Or piss my pants. Or both.”
Other folks took the opportunity to quote another film of the era: Multiple comments simply read “Cindy, the TV’s leaking.” Good to see our ‘00s pop culture references are being kept sharp and at the ready.
