So I didn't know anything about Wei-Hao Cheng's very popular Hong yi xiao nu hai, about a specter in the form of a little girl (also said to take the form of a monkey in certain instances), dressed in red, who lures someone into the wilderness outside Taipei City out of guilt over some past "sin".
I was actually looking for a film from this part of the globe, something similar to Ringu and its ilk. I think plenty will feel a familiarity when watching The Tag-Along (2015).
Wei-Ning Hsu -- a very beautiful actress who, not surprising, seems to be a big star in Taiwan -- stars as radio DJ, Shen Yi-Chun, dating a young real estate agent, Ho Chih-Wei (River Huang). She isn't interested in marriage or a family, seemingly aggravated at her boyfriend for even mentioning either of the two. Grandmother of Chih-Wei, Ho Wen Shu-Fang (Yin-Shang Liu), is always on him to introduce her to Shen, wanting her over for supper. So when a missing elderly woman returns from the wilderness after a period of time, Shu-Fang realizes "something" (leaving a muddy, leafy trail on her kitchen floor to the front door) grabs her face from behind, causing a type of possession that draws her to the very same wilderness. Eventually Chih-Wei worries about his missing grandmother, unaware she had been lured outside their home to the woods on the outskirts of the city. A camera from his aunt featuring her and his grandmother in the wilderness on a march with friends shows the little red dress girl following them.
So the film sets in motion another disappearance. You'd think the film will follow River Huang, but, in actuality, this really is Wei-Ning's vehicle. She is on her own journey of self-discovery, eventually realizing what should and is most important in her life. When the grandmother is found by police walking from the woods on a road in a trance-like state, eventually transported to a hospital (with a moth in her stomach), and Chih-Wei goes missing, Shen will pursue his whereabouts in the wilderness where it seems the little red dress girl specter takes all her victims. One gives up another so he or she can be freed from the wilderness, however, Chih-Wei won't do so in the case of Shen. That is admitted by the grandmother, guilt-stricken herself for giving up her grandson in a moment of weakness which allowed the specter to claim him as the next victim. Shen, though, won't stand for that, venturing into the wilderness with a search party to find him.
What Shen will encounter throughout the film when her boyfriend vanishes is the little girl in a ghoulish, hideous form. She/it crawls about like an insect, and later Shen studies a moth with a "death-head" that resembles the specter's face. The film has a LOT of CGI that I personally wasn't all that crazy about. I think when the director shoots the ghoul just briefly, it was more effective to me. But when the director really puts the CGI ghouls (more than one emerges in the wilderness, with "tree victim souls" also compiling to scare the hell out of Shen) on screen, the impact flattens because they look so unrealistic. This was the case where more isn't more to me. And there is such reliance on CGI. One scene has the specter dropping to "all fours", staring right into the frightened face of Chih-Wei's uncle, a security guard monitoring the buildings, Uncle Kun (Po-Chou Chang). Kun fancies himself a voluntary priest who blesses/cleanses places "invaded" by evil, complete with firecrackers as extra potency. Unfortunately for Kun, the ghoul is able to pounce on him. Shen will have to brave deep into the wilds to find her love.
I felt a certain revelation involving a child Shen didn't want could cause the pro-Abortion side to take offense. The end would seem to indicate Shen's feelings about putting her own freedom and single status in favor of a marriage and child are selfish. That once she chooses to have a marriage and child, her life is so much more rewarding and special. I can see how this could get a positive and negative reaction according to where you stand on embracing a life that does or doesn't have marriage and family.
I do think the performances, especially from Wei-Ning, are solid, though. She gives this role her all. The roller coaster of emotions, with a character that goes through a lot. And the film eventually is anchored on her by the half-way point. Probably the grossest scene in the film has Shen finding a vision of Chih-Wei at his dinner table eating worms, roaches, and maggots. Another scene has Chih-Wei's face with CGI little fingers piercing underneath his skin for his eyes. The grandmother's face fades to gray as the specter touches the back of her head, as if the color is purposely drained from her. There is even a giant moth that appears in the woods, opening its wings to spread a flood of dark insects that Shen must flee from.
The blood in the bed, and later the vision of Shen's "daughter", asking her why she didn't want her, took me aback because I couldn't help but imagine pro-Abortion advocates furiously wanting to toss a bucket of popcorn at the screen. It is a big guilt vision by the specter in the woods leaving Shen shaken. After her experience in the woods, Shen marries Chih-Wei and has his child. So I could see a section of people left unhappy by this. The way I left the film: she is happy with him and the grandmother, having a nice dinner together after work. Also, Shen goes into the belly of the beast and emerges victorious, retrieving the man she loves and escaping in one piece.
Most poignant scene could be where grandson has a memory of grandmother asking him to always have dinner with her. His taking her for granted is universal, I think. I always tried to remember to treasure each stay with my own grandmother. I think about her almost everyday. 3.5/5
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