Tag Along didn't catch my attention the first time I had heard about the film. "Another horror film about a ghost taking the form of a child" was what I thought. Seeing a movie poster with a girl in a red dress among all the countless horror titles don't really stand out either. I did somehow mange to run across the trailer for the second film and it peaked my interest. So, I decided to watch both films. Part one is directed by Cheng Wei Hao while being written by Chien Shinh Keng who based the screenplay off of a very well known Taiwanese urban legend called "the little girl in red". Hsu Wei-ning and River Huang star in part one and reprise their roles in the sequel. Taiwanese superstar, Ranie Yang stars in part 2 along with Wu Nien hsuan, and Francesca Kao. Both films were huge successes in Taiwan, earning much more than the budget needed to make the films.
The first part doesn't add anything new to the universal genre that is horror. There's an overload of east asian horror films about little girls or women becoming ghost to bring dismay to the living. One classic film that I can think of off the top of my head is Ju-ion(The Grudge), A film that used the emotion of hatred as a factor to cause horror to all who came in contact with ghost's place of murder . Tag Along also uses a place of origin for the ghosts but viewers don't have the slightest clue as to why the hauntings are happening. This might be the one charming trait about the plot. None knows what the hell is going on here(unless you know all the details of the original tale.). Just that people are literally disappearing and reappearing like they been locked up in jail after a couple months. Shaking off the comparisons to the Grudge is necessary right about here. Little Girl in red strives to be her own impactful version of a horror story's ghost as the film progresses. She actually gets to the point that she gets crazy busy ruining people's lives. Well, in the matter of a scene involving a police booth, Our ghost officially freaked me the hell out at least. Big warning about Tag Along also is that the film plays anticipation games much like all the other horror films but the anticipation seems to be stretched out when Tag Along does it. Viewers will wet their pants before anything happens and when something does happen, you wish you had borrowed your grandma's diaper. It's not even that some of the scares aren't predictable. Some are predictable to the point that the scare still comes out strong. Tag Along one has a strong message about parental responsibilities outside of the horror aspect too. Especially from the mother's point of view. I won't give too much away since I like to keep these posts spoiler free. Tag Along part one was unoriginal as far as the plot goes for a horror film. However, the mechanics of the ghost's curse are somewhat fresh and new. Evidence of this is more apparent in the first film.
I didn't have a problem with the performances of the actors. This was the type of horror film that didn't require ground breaking acting ability to get the character living truthfully in an imaginary circumstance. Part two tests the acting chops of a few of the actors and actress on another level. More about that in a few.
I enjoyed the scenery that was shot for both films. Most of the film has to do with the forest in the mountains. Viewers will see a lot of shots from above the mountain. That includes the fog filled sky and the highways leading to the nature landscape. A lot of the scenes in both parts are filmed either at night or on cloudy days to signal that something isn't right about what's going on.
Tag Along 2 was a whole another breed compared to the first part. The plot still follows the same formula: A person is trying to track down their loved one that was lead away by the girl in red. Differences come in to this plot by the way of each new added quality that are shown throughout the film. Now, there are some type of ways for humans to stand up to the girl in red. The first film didn't have a solid concrete method to save you from her. Humans come ready to fight back this time around because the introduction of new characters. The girl in red doesn't slow down either. I wasn't sure if the girl in red in the first film was the same girl in red in the second film. They felt a bit different to me. It was like they didn't act in the same manner. Girl in red in part two does a lot of possessing of bodies and the ghost in part one was down right physical[INSERT ME LAUGHING.]. These things didn't add up for me. Bringing back old characters tied together the two films but the way the first film ended didn't match up to the events of the second film. Hsu's character's situation in the ending of the first film leading to second film came across uneven in parts to me. Then the background that explained where the girl in red came from made sense but things felt a tiny bit rushed. Maybe because this second installment was doing a lot in the span of one film. An element of dark fantasy eases into the story before you realize it's there. Wu Nien plays the boyfriend of Raine Yang's character's sister who got "spirited away". He comes from a family of shamans that protect a god like entity called Lord Tiger. All of these new traits added to Tag Along 2 caused the cast to challenge their acting abilities more. Playing a possessed person can come off as super cheesy or very terrifying. I got to hand it to Hsu, she did her scenes well….. Ranie Yang's acting was what it was. She's kind of a secular actress. Not too bad nor too good in my option. Wu Nien did pretty well for this being his first feature film. I loved the fantasy element added to the film because of his character. It surprisingly fit within the storyline. The film's ending ties up every loose end in a Taiwanese drama fashion… The effects saved the last fifteen minutes from being too cliche though.
Viewers get a lot more expansion on the forrest mountains for part two. You can see that in part one, the mountains are pretty big and cover a large amount of ground. The cameraman shoots the cast walking through abandoned hospitals and amusement parks in a scary manner. What shocked me the most was the special effects that looked really good considering the budget used to create them. The effects of the Lord Tiger and the demons exceeded my expectations. The last sequence involving the girl in red was also eye candy for cinema lovers.
I had fun watching both films. The writer left a possibility of another film so I wait and see what will happen. Fans of Horror and East Asian cinema should give these films a watch if you want to.
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