We were hoping to drop Waldo, our compatriot in our battle against the Goose Lord Gang, under cover of night, but when we emerged from the sewers it was broad daylight. Considering that two members of our group were a ninja vigilante and a kangaroo fitted with boxing gloves. Plus, Waldo was bleeding out all over the place as I struggled to carry him through the city streets. There were four blocks between us and the hospital.

What could possibly go wrong?

— To be continued.

Tonight’s movie is 1999’s Shikoku from director Shunichi Nagasaki. My plan this month was to see if I could uncover some gems of Japanese horror movies, another Ju-On: The Grudge as it were. Tomie didn’t really fit that bill, but we’ll see if Shikoku fairs better. The movie is named after the small Japanese island of the same name, an island with a dark secret.

The movie begins with three children: Hinako, Fumiya, and Sayori. I guess they’re best friends to the end. Sayori is an outsider of sorts as her mother is a Shinto priestess and requires her daughter to channel the spirits of the dead. Hinako witnesses Sayori during one of these sessions and is warned not to reveal what she’s seen. They still remain friends Sayori even manages to save Hinako from drowning. Sayori dreams of leaving Shikoku one day, but that day comes for Hinako instead when her parents and her leave for Tokyo.

  Many years later, an adult Hinako (Yui Natsukawa) returns to Shikoku to check on the family home in what condition it’s in to sell. She reunites with Fumiya (Michitaka Tsutsui), but learns that Sayori died many years ago. Sayori died when she was sixteen by drowning, but there are rumors that she was spirited away by a demon. Further tragedy hit her family as Sayori’s father fell off of a cliff and her mother became obsessed with making regular pilgrims to shrines around the island.

The ghost of Sayori has been seen about town and one night Hinaku sees her. In addition, someone has been messing with some of the ancient shrines around the island, but Fumiya’s boss at the paper tells him to stay out of those places as they’re the territory of the priests or something to that effect. Fumiya reveals to Hinaku that he never loved another woman as much as Sayori, but that doesn’t stop him from making a move on Hinaku. Sayori’s ghost visits them later that night and this prompts Fumiya and Hinaku to figure out what the heck is going on. 

Turns out that the shrines around the island work as a gateway between the living and the dead. When a Shinto priest visits each shrine in the right order, the barrier between the living and the dead remains sealed. By visiting them in the reverse order, the barrier between the living and dead will open and the dead will become flesh once again. Guess which order Sayori’s mother is visiting the shrines in?

Through this meddling, Sayori (Chiaki Kuriyama) is made flesh once again and embraces her while breaking every bone in her body. There’s a confrontation between the resurrected Sayori and Hinaku. Fumiya must choose one of them and he picks the reanimated ghost girl as his one true love. And then he gets crushed to death. I didn’t see that coming and neither did Fumiya. This was a weird one, folks.

Until next week.

Jeff Shuster (episode 47, episode 102, episode 124, episode 131, episode 284, episode 441, episode 442, episode 443, episode 444, episode 450, episode 477, episode 491, episode 492, episode 493, episode 495, episode 496, episode 545, episode 546, episode 547, episode 548, episode 549, episode 575, episode 596, episode 597, episode 598, episode 599, episode 642, episode 643, episode 644, and episode 645) is an MFA graduate from the University of Central Florida.