ARAGNE: SIGN OF VERMILLION (2018 - Japanese)

Studio:       Zelico Film
Director:    Saku Sakamoto
Writer:       Saku Sakamoto
Producer:  Osamu Fukutani
Stars:     Kana Hanazawa, Ayana Shiramoto, Yosuku Ito, Yukari Fukui, Takaya Hashi

Review Score:

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Summary:

A young woman discovers her mysterious apartment building may be connected to a haunting secret involving bugs that possess human bodies.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

In a flashback, a man being treated in a medical facility suffers from a mutative disease as well as psychotic visions of destructive giant bugs. The man, who has a characteristic of tilting his head at a right angle toward his shoulder, brutally kills several staffers with scissors.

In the present, a hooded figure walks away from a dead woman in the woods behind Shikinuma Historical Society. A red moth lands on the body, whose neck is broken at a right angle.

Lured by a misrepresented rental listing, introverted university student Rin Shiida moves into a mysterious housing complex built on a reclaimed industrial site. Rin witnesses worms coming out of a bug in front of a robed man outside the building. Rin also sees an old woman clawing at her skin while complaining of bugs.

Rin regularly sees a dark-haired mother pushing a baby carriage that also appears in her building. The hooded figure pushes another murdered woman off of a bridge. Rin experiences a vision of herself lying in blood after having suffered a fall.

Rin sees fellow building resident Nasuha dancing enchantingly in a park. Rin mentions the Shikinuma serial killer. Nasuha claims that the killer could be “The Savior” said to purify lost souls. Nasuha adds that there is a secret circle of chosen ones who repel curses, but one of them reportedly became gripped by strong delusions and was banished before becoming a murderer.

Rin comes home to find the old woman from earlier being wheeled into an ambulance by a blonde man. Rin witnesses a large bug bursting out of the woman’s arm before slithering away. Rin sees the robed man sitting on the curb.

Curious about the bugs, Rin does research at the library. Rin experiences visions of more bugs when she touches a book titled “Spirit Bugs.” Realizing Rin can see the ethereal insects, librarian and folklorist Tokiyo discusses spirit bugs with her.

Rin contends that her visions are a byproduct of her medication. Tokiyo explains that ancients believed spirit bugs lived within people and could influence unconscious minds. These bugs also traveled between worlds judging the worth of souls.

Tokiyo adds that many people who saw the spirit bugs back when factories surrounded the city died. Rin worries she will die too. Tokiyo shows Rin a picture of a red moth drawn by a child just before the boy died. As Tokiyo begins explaining the nine types of spirit bugs, Rin leaves abruptly.

Back at the housing complex, the hooded figure chases Rin with a handsaw. Rin passes the baby carriage to lock herself in a bathroom where she hears crying coming from a dark hole in a bathtub. The hooded figure seemingly captures Rin.

Rin wakes in her bedroom. The news reports on additional murders as well as a suspicious person seen near each victim. Rin sees the dark-haired mother pushing the baby carriage outside. On her way out of the building, Rin passes a blonde man posing as a gas line inspector.

Rin sees Nasuha in school clothes and follows her to a deserted building in the housing complex. Rin suffers another vision of herself lying in blood after having suffered a fall.

Rin wakes on a park bench in front of the robed man, who introduces himself as Saion. Saion explains he is training to master the rituals of the insects. He also tells Rin that he threw out her medication because it was harmful to her, and gives her a pendant of protection instead. Saion warns Rin to stay away from the building that Nasuha led her to. Rin concludes Saion belongs to the secret circle Nasuha mentioned.

Rin’s research into the Shikinuma serial killer reveals that all of the victims’ necks were broken at right angles after dying from blood loss. Their bodies also match descriptions of victims who suffered from a mysterious disease 40 years earlier.

From Tobun newspaper articles at the library, Rin learns that the disease involved a sudden mutation of the cervical region and a “tilting sickness.” The afflicted were known to be in contact with red moths that appeared near waste disposal facilities, resulting in an extermination attempt. Rin recognizes the moths from the drawing Tokiyo showed her. The cause of the incident was never uncovered as no proof linking the disease to the waste disposal facilities was ever found.

Saion investigates the room where Rin encountered the hooded figure. Darkness spreads and an entity seemingly kills Saion.

Rin tries calling Tokiyo, but he does not answer his phone. Rin sees Nasuha dancing again, but notices she appears different.

While showering, a scar is seen on Rin’s neck. Rin emulates Nasuha’s dance and realizes that Nasuha looked like a puppet with a tilted neck, perhaps indicating she was about to die.

Rin rushes back to Nasuha to find red moths landing on her. Rin knocks off the moths. Nasuha transforms into a ghost.

Rin follows Nasuha back to the building. In an empty room, Nasuha morphs into a creature with a cracked neck and lunges at Rin. The hooded figure suddenly cuts off Nasuha’s head with his handsaw.

Revealing himself to be the blonde man seen previously, the hooded figure, who is “The Savior,” tells Rin that Nasuha was a “dead soul soldier.” The Savior explains that spirit bugs are souls and when they leave a human, the body becomes an unkillable demon hunting humanity in its search for death. Victims first see signs that someone is about to die. Then their heads tilt and the spirit bugs within are driven out, leaving a dead soul soldier with no will of its own. The Savior warns that someone is purposefully creating these creatures and he plans to stop them.

Demon hands cause a driver to crash his car into The Savior. The car explodes, killing The Savior.

Back in the room with the baby carriage in front of its door, Rin embraces Nasuha’s ghost. Nasuha unexpectedly pushes Rin down the shaft in the tub. Nasuha then grows red moth wings.

Rin recovers on a pile of dead bodies in a basement room with red moths on the ceiling. Rin uses the body pile to climb into a vent and escape.

Rin finds papers dated to 1944 revealing that “The Dead Soul Soldier Project” was a secret WWII experiment designed to create unkillable soldiers. Film footage depicting the opening scene shows a test subject mutating before killing the medical staff.

A human/creature hybrid begins chasing Rin. Saion’s pendant twinkles. Rin experiences a vision of what looks like herself as a child fighting with a dark-haired girl who resembles Nasuha. The dark-haired girl pushes Rin to a bloody fall. Saion’s charm twinkles again. The creature resumes chasing Rin.

A vision of Saion emits a butterfly that causes the creature to burst into flames. Rin then falls down another shaft.

Rin recovers to find Tokiyo’s dead body. The dark-haired mother appears behind Rin and stabs her with a pair of shears.

Rin wakes up restrained to a large mechanical apparatus. Rin feels bugs crawling inside of her. Sprouting arachnid legs, Rin’s brain crawls out of her skull toward an assembly of giant bugs taking over the city. The large machine explodes.

Rin flashes back to the two young schoolgirls pushing each other. The dark-haired girl inadvertently hits her head on a fire extinguisher, giving her the neck scar seen on Rin in the shower. Angered, the dark-haired girl pushes Rin into her bloody fall. The dark-haired girl morphs into adult Rin.

Time suddenly reverses to before Rin’s stabbing. Rin uses an unknown power to destroy the dark-haired mother. Rin then grows butterfly wings as the building explodes.

A flashback shows Rin Shiida becoming friends with dark-haired Rin Sumihara as schoolchildren because they shared the same name and looked alike. Rin Sumihara’s mother is seen attempting to drown her. Rin Sumihara’s push puts Rin Shiida in a coma.

Rin Shiida regains consciousness in a hospital, flatlines, and is then suddenly swarmed by bugs. Explaining that she was merely jealous because she wanted to be like her, Rin Sumihara apologizes to Rin Shiida, pulls her away from the bugs, and exchanges places with her. Rin Shiida survives, but giant bugs are still seen taking over buildings in the city.

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Review:

While the claim can be disputed, particularly by those who disagree with my reviews, I consider myself to be a relatively perceptive, reasonably intelligent person.  Nevertheless, I watched “Aragne: Sign of Vermillion” a second time in the same day because my first viewing left me slightly bewildered, as though I’d missed important factual aspects of the fiction in addition to certain themes.

It’s odd that a re-watch seemed in order considering there are only four or five key characters in the film.  “Aragne” isn’t overly confusing per se, although it is surprisingly complex in conception for a movie that only runs ten minutes over an hour.

It’s relevant to mention that the version I screened was dated to May 2018, close to three months before it played Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival, and was labeled “WIP” for “work in progress.”  Storyboard still frames and pencil drawing animatics stood in for missing shots while other sequences contained unfinished elements.  Mentally filling in those blanks was simple enough, though it is possible that entirely new scenes could make it into the final cut, rendering some of my notes about incompleteness and odd editing irrelevant.

No matter what its flaws may be in the end, “Aragne” remains an outstanding achievement for being the singular vision of its imaginative and impressively talented creator.  Not only did Saku Sakamoto, who provided digital effects for “Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence,” write and direct “Aragne,” he also animated the movie and produced the musical score too.  Rarely has one person worn so many hats while making it seem as though an army mounted the solo effort he expended.

The story centers on Rin, a timid young student so shy, she can’t muster the courage to cuss out the rental agent when a misrepresented listing turns a mysterious housing complex into her haunting new home.  In addition to several strange residents seen around the premises, the surrounding city of Shikinuma is reeling from a rash of serial killings whose victims are found with their necks broken at right angles.

Meanwhile, Rin deals with terrors less tangible.  When she isn’t experiencing visions of lying in blood after having suffered a fall, Rin witnesses oversized insects bursting from human bodies that other people can’t see.  A librarian warns that Rin’s ability to see these “spirit bugs,” which ancients believed were otherworldly entities capable of influencing unconscious minds, could be a portent of her death.  Rin’s research into spirit bug folklore subsequently leads her down a rabbit hole connecting Shikinuma’s murders and mythology to secrets concerning a government conspiracy as well as Rin’s true identity.

In addition to all of the above, other crucial components of “Aragne” include clandestine experiments carried out during WWII, a cervical disease dating back 40 years, a mysterious mother regularly pushing a baby carriage, an equally mysterious blonde man in a hood, a dark-haired girl who may be a ghost, and a secret society of “chosen people” devoted to repelling curses through meditative magic.  Like I said, there’s a great deal of content compacted into 70 minutes and it takes an actively engaged mind to process each detail.

Whether or not you get the gist of everything the movie means to say as both entertainment and allegory, the film still evokes a frightful feel.  Combining the psycho-science of “Parasite Eve” with the nightmarish texture of “Silent Hill,” “Aragne: Sign of Vermillion” slices an unsettling piece of animated horror.  From eyeless extras in backgrounds to sudden swarms of slugs, imagery always emits eeriness.  And the fiction is so dense that it becomes easy to feel transported to a parallel world operating under its own weird rules.

To give his animation an illusion of more activity, Saku Sakamoto employs an unsteady handheld camera.  Of arguable artistic necessity, it’s a hit or miss tactic.  I’ve never been one to feel nauseous during “NYPD Blue” or any first-person “found footage.”  Here however, I definitely had a sense of disorientation, undoubtedly intentional, although I found the sensation to be in conflict with keeping focus on the story.

Frequent lens flares are another atypical animation technique Sakamoto uses for a traditional movie feel.  An eye for experimentation certainly plays into his style.  Again, Sakamoto’s artistic choices have variable values.  Yet when you look at his work under the lens that one person architected almost everything, it’s impossible to not be awestruck.  At a minimum, the characters, which remind me of “Castlevania” concepts, and environments are extraordinarily well-designed.

Ultimately, that’s the chief factor influencing evaluation of the film.  Sakamoto’s mildly convoluted script relies heavily on repeatedly having Rin fall unconscious only to wake up in another situation, which may be less an indicator of Rin’s fractured mind and more of a persistent cheat to transition milieus.  But “Aragne: Sign of Vermillion” makes up ground lost on iffy plot progression by having a coolly creepy look befitting its askew atmosphere.  Although not an all-timer, whatever form the polished product takes can carve out a unique corner for itself among intriguing animated J-horror concepts.

Review Score:  60

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