SADAKO (貞子) (2019)

Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Hideo Nataka
Cast: Elaiza Ikeda, Takashi Tsukamoto, Hiroya Shimizu, Himeka Himejima, Renn Kiriyama, Rie Tomosaka
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Rating: PG13 (Horror)
Released By: Encore Films
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 30 May 2019

Synopsis:  Mayu works as a psychological counsellor at a hospital. One day, she is counselling a young girl who is under her care. Mayu sits across from the young girl, who is unable to do anything other than say her own name, when unusual things gradually begin to occur around her. Around that same time, Mayu's younger brother Kazuma goes missing. According to what his friend Yusuke said, Kazuma had mistakenly entered a forbidden site while making his name as a YouTuber, and had become rather strange after that. While looking for clues, Mayu watches a video that Kazuma had uploaded. She comes upon a video clip that is connected to the young girl under her care... Relying upon clues to search for her younger brother, Mayu and Yusuke travel to Izu-Oshima island, where there is an obviously disgusting cave called 'Gyojakutsu'. A mysterious old woman tells the sad tale of the island's past, which involves Shizuko Yamamura (Mother of Sadako), Sadako, and the young girl. When Mayu learns the truth about Sadako, she is deeply moved...

Movie Review:

No matter how little of a horror fan you are, you would most likely still have heard of the 1998 japanese classic The Ring. Not only did it launch a new era of stylistic horror, many aspects of the movies were repeated in titles to come, in one form or another.

You can’t deny that impressionable introduction. The story of a tortured and aggrieved psychic girl was as disturbing as it was pitiful. And with half of the film centred on the videotape, that jolt of realisation when she crossed from screen to real-life, stunned pretty much everyone. And that trademark walk from the well, gave body horror a new lease of life and contortionists everywhere a new avenue of work.

Hideo Nataka, who has worked on several projects both locally and internationally for this franchise, revives the titular character Sadako in a new film.

It starts off with a terrifying sequence. A young girl (Himeka Himejima) is seen locked in a wardrobe as her mother prepares to torch her alive. However, with the help of Sadako, she emerges from the fire unscathed. She ends up at a hospital where budding psychological counsellor Mayu (Elaiza Ikeda) is working and forms an unlikely connection with her, but the doctor has other problems at end.

It turns out, her younger brother Kazuma (Hiroya Shimizu) has gone missing while on the chase for good stories to add to his youtube. She speaks to his consultant Yusuke (Takashi Tsukamoto) and the pair seek out his whereabouts, and realises the connections between the girl and Kazuma.

Like every other Ring movie, it’s a slow grind through spooky happenings as we uncover the mysterious circumstances and Sadako sticks to this formula. It should be satisfying and remains so for the first half, but the second portion spins out of logic and surfaces more questions than answers.

Why is Sadako so interested in the girl? For that matter, why is she so interested in Kazumi and Mayu? Yes, there are loose basis of trespass and the orphan backstory that gives the hauntings some direction, but otherwise at the end, it’s easy to use hindsight to dig up loopholes that riddle the plot.

Motivations and logic aside, there are some gripping moments, not least of all Sadako’s horrific return mid-way. It never gets old to see her routine and it’s obvious from the squeals in the theatre that the audience loves her as much as ever.

Which is why Sadako feels like a missed opportunity. There’s a poignant message here about bonds and parentage, and filtered through the Japanese setting, can layer the horrific tale with some moving morality. But the last madcap frenzy upsets the build-up in favour of histrionics and muddies the water.

There’s a sense that this could be a two-parter, and if so, I would relish a better story and more legit appearances from our iconic female ghost.

Movie Rating:

(Sadako’s effect is still tangile, but underutilised in favour of a morality tale that fizzes out quickly at the end)

Review by Morgan Awyong