Tag (2015)

"Japanese Splatterpunk Does 1970s Children's BritHorror TV"

Because that's exactly what this one felt like to me - as if director Sion Sono wanted to do something along the lines of Bob Baker & Dave Martin's classic HTV series KING OF THE CASTLE but with a schoolgirl and gallons of blood. TAG is getting a dual format release in the UK courtesy of Eureka & it's well worth catching up with.

Mitsuko (Reina Triendi) is on a school trip with her friends when the top of their coach is torn off, and so are the upper halves of all of Mitsuko's classmates. Running from the scene she finds herself pursued by an invisible force that kills anyone she comes into contact with.

...and then she finds herself back in school, with her friends. They all decide to skive off class and spend the morning at a local lake, where the talk turns to alternate realities.

When they eventually get back to school, more murder and bloodshed awaits, and a change of identity for Mitsuko as she slips into a different reality and becomes Keiko, waiting to get married. More bloodbaths and changes of identity ensue until the film reaches a conclusion.

The press release calls TAG 'ALICE IN WONDERLAND meets TOKYO GORE POLICE' but I actually think it's even more interesting than that - more 'Lindsay Anderson meets Kafka', There's certainly the feeling of Anderson's classic IF... (1968) in the use of violence in a school setting to set about the destruction of social conventions, and this is a theme that runs through the film.

The denouement is pure 1970s ITV children's drama, though, with a kind of explanation, but at the same time you're not entirely convinced by what you're just seen, because by now you've formed your own explanation of what's going on, one that is as much emotionally driven as it is by plot.

       A few years ago, I reviewed Sion Sono's GUILTY OF ROMANCE and for quite a while it was the most popular review on the site. I actually think TAG is the better film, and it certainly confirms his status as an interesting film-maker who is putting together a fascinating body of work. Eureka's disc only has a trailer as an extra, but don't let that put you off getting this one. 

Sion Sono's TAG is getting a dual format DVD & Blu-ray release from Eureka on Monday 20th November 2017