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Ren mian yu: Hong yu xiao nuhai waizhuan
The Tag Along: Devil Fish
Taiwan 2018
produced by Hank Tseng (as Tseng Han-Hsien, executive), Chen Shin-Chi (executive) for Vie Vision Pictures, CMC Entertainment, Damou Entertainment, Sky Films, Lots Home, HIM, Showtime Entertainment, Ambassandor Theatres, Once Upon A Story
directed by David Chuang
starring Vivian Hsu, Cheng Jen-Shuo (as Rexen Cheng), Joe Chang, Wu Zhi-Xuan, Lung Shao-hua, Francesca Kao, Tsai Wu-Hsiung, Wu Hung Hsiu, Kuan Ming-Tso (as Que Ming-You), Chen Shao-Hui, Belle Hsin, Chou Ming-Yu, Hsu Li-Yun, Wang Hsin-Jue, Mitsue Kagota, Cheng Ko-Chieh, Chiang Shao-Yi, Hsu Wei-Ning, River Huang, Li Pei-Chun, Li Yin-Chieh, Liang Shang-Wen, Lin Cheng-Yi, Liu Yin-Shang, Low Pei-Fen, Shih Jui-Hsiang, Tsai Jui-Tse, Rainie Yang, Zhan Wan-Ru
written by Chien Shih-Keng, Hsu Ling-Fang , music by Rockid Lee, visual effects by Charles Lee, Yeh Jen Hao
The Tag Along
review by Mike Haberfelner
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On a fishing trip, Hung (Tsai Wu-Hsiung) has caught and eaten a fish
that was apparently possessed - and upon coming home he has killed his
whole family. The police is baffled enough that they ask spirit medium
Cheng (Rexen Cheng), who performs an exorcism on the man and transfers the
demon that has possessed Hung back into a fish. That should have been it,
but young Chia-Hao (Wu Zhi-Xuan) finds the fish in the trash and sees it
give birth to a little fish that Chia-Hao takes with him and gives him a
new home in his aquarium. And from there on, things get weird at home,
expecially with his concert pianist mother Ya-Hui (Vivian Hsu), who grows
crazier by the hour, which all culminates when she plays a concert in
Chia-Hao's school - where all the students go crazy, and in all the
madness Ya-Hui just disappears. Chia-Hao begs Cheng for help, but before
he can do that Cheng has to find out why Hung could be possessed so easily
and learns that he had a disfigured son whom he kept away from everyone
for years to not lose face before literally burying him alive. And to
track down the remains of the buried son is key for solving the mystery.
But once he has succeeded, he finds out his real opponent is to be the
Arch Demon, which he can only defeat if he lets his personal deity, the
Tiger Master, possess him. But the Tiger Master only possesses those pure,
and he has his own personal demons to overcome before he can take up the
fight against the Arch Demon ... Now on a purely narrative
level, The Tag Along: Devil Fish feels a little concoluted, as for
the most part it seems Cheng and Chia-Hao's stories are only loosely
linked, which is why at times one loses track of one narrative thread or
the other. That said, what really helps the film is its rather low-key
approach that focuses less on spectacle or jump scares and more on
characters and atmosphere, and thus make both plotlines palpable, and even
some (genre-immanent and intentional) leaps of logic work just fine. And
some setpieces (like Ya-Hui's madness-inducing concert intercut with Cheng
fighting off demons) really pack a punch, which all results in a pretty
cool genre trip.
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Robots and rats,
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the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
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