Out now in cinemas as distributed here by Viva International, is Hideo Nakata’s “The Forbidden Play.”
We were quite excited when we first heard about it remembering Hideo as the director of the original version of “The Ring,” which, of course, brought us one of the scariest horror-film characters in recent years, Sadako.
“The Forbidden Play” actually sees Hideo going back to the same formula.
No, there’s no Sadako here. But there’s a Miyuki.
Based on a novel by Karma Shimizu, the story follows the Iharas, a simple family of three leading an idyllic existence.
Everything changes after the mother, Miyuki (First Summer Uika), and the son, Haruto (Minato Shogaki), are involved in a traffic accident.
Miyuki dies but Haruto miraculously survives.
Unable to accept his mother’s passing, Haruto cuts off her finger and buries it in their garden, hoping to reanimate her.
The idea came from a joke that his father Naoto (Daiki Shigeoka) once told him about lizards’ tail being able to transform into another lizard when cut.
Meanwhile, a filmmaker, Hiroko Kurasawa (Kanna Hashimoto), learns about Miyuki’s death and renews her acquaintance with Naoto, whom she worked with years prior.
We learn that Miyuki once got jealous of her learning that she had a crush on Naoto, even going on to warn her to stay away from him.
In any case, with the continued effort of her child, Miyuki comes back to life.
But is it still actually Miyuki or just an entity borne out of anger and pure evil?
The film is seriously scary with jump scares aplenty but there are moments when you feel as if Hideo is being ironic.
The actors are hamming it up to comical effect at times.
Kanna for one, is given to bug-eyed reactions, taking it to the extreme at one point that we felt as if her eyes would actually pop out from its sockets.
But in all, it goes down quite well.
A big reason for this is, well, Miyuki.
Portrayed to the hilt by First Summer, she offers tons of dread to prop the film up.
But, of course, you have to see it to believe it.
