Nogizaka46: "The Legend of Sugisawa Village" movie review with Nene Ito

 Release Date: June 28, 2014  Length: 70 minutes  Director: Torii Kogo

Main Cast:

Nene Ito as Hiroko.... Yoshi's younger sister, the pair live together as their aprents had been killed many years prior in an auto accident

Mikino as Aki.... Semi-girlfriend of Yoshi

Itakura Shiro as Yoshi.... Aki's older brother who has been supporting her after their parents died and was involved in a mini documentary about the cursed village

Soejima Shingo as Kosuke.... Friend of Yoshi and also involved in the documentary

Keisuka Yamagata as Kawada.... Person who set the whole documentary up

That's it for the cast though we did see some other characters for a few seconds here and there.

 Writing this up on the night of August 31st and don't think it'll get done before the new version of Blogger is forced upon us(it was!). So because of that hope the format of the post and the way it looks won't be affected using two versions to write up one post. Also hope that the intro post for this review was completed, it'll explain a bit about this true legend and the film is based loosely on it. If that post was done no need to pay attention to those sentences and I often leave what was written.

 Note about the filming and other things about the movie. Not sure if I've ever viewed a movie with so little dialogue and because of that hope I was able to piece the story together, you'll notice in the screenshots how few words there are. Plus it's a very dark movie as most of it was shot in very dimly lit locations. Lastly much of the film or perhaps the entire thing was shot with a hand held camera so the pics may not be as pristine as you're used to. Let's get to the review and in all honesty this was the worst of the trio of 'Nogi horror' films that came out in 2014. Nene looks good at least and I wish she had stuck with the group longer, though she had the lead role in the film it was difficult to say whether her acting abilities are solid.

**** May be harder to notice because they're screenshots but Nene and Kyoko from Hina are close to being exact twins, was hard not to think that when she was on the screen.

 When this post is finished will be writing up an intro one with various things but you know that by now as that's the post above this one. Did that so I wouldn't have to explain too much of what the legend was or is about. This film is loosely based upon the true facts and presume it's about the remaining ghouls still there but in all honesty still not quite positive on so many details. Close to 98% of that is because of the lack of dialogue and minutes would pass without a word being uttered.

 A trio of young men have planned on doing a documentary on the curse of Sugisawa village. It was never revealed why they began this endeavor, were they doing it as a college project and to me that makes the most sense. The leader of the project is named Kawada though we saw very little of him as he was the cameraman. Above are the two others, in the jacket is Kosuke who we'll first meet soon while the man on the bottom is Yoshi who is the older brother of Hiroko, the film's heroine.

 The trio ventured to a remote part of Aomori where the now extinct village was though a few pieces remain standing. It's a quiet area but a bit spooky with it's history, the men notice a few objects such as a stone with a terrified face, is that or anything else a part of what they're looking for? This project has been going on for a while, before this day the men had been uploading videos of their progress and as the day goes on they keep adding new videos on how their first adventure is going. Sure many watched the videos but there's a pair who do that we're mainly concerned with, that's Hiroko(in white) who is the younger sister of Yoshi and they share an apartment. The other is Aki who seems to be an on and off again girlfriend of Yoshi and this is the pair in his apartment.

 The pair hadn't been watching the videos as they were uploaded during the day but all at once that night. However they were interrupted during their viewing by a knock at the door and who should be there but one of the three men, Kosuke who did have a secret crush on Hiroko. He's in a panicked state and tried to explain to the girls how Yoshi had begged him to leave the haunted village, not to get help for Toshi and Kawada but to save Kosuke's own life! It was difficult to tell in the video as the girls noticed but apparently an old woman had appeared out of nowhere which spooked Yoshi to no end, the final video didn't capture it but he followed the woman into the forest which is when he told Kosuke to flee for his life.

 Kosuke is beyond shaken up and it was a miracle he made it all the way back to Tokyo(?). He's doesn't trust himself and was locked in a room for fear he may do damage to the him or the girls. Though after a while he began to regain his senses and was beginning on making plans to return with the girls to Sugisawa village. Those plans went nowhere as all of a sudden from the room came a scream from Konsuke, upon entering the enclosed room they saw he had disappeared into thin air! With no other options and possibly with Hiroko's brother in danger the pair headed out to Sugisawa the following morning knowing they too could be caught in the curse.

 If this sounds a bit boring up until now it's because it probably is. This was such an extremely slow moving film and it's hard to out some life into something like this, slow moving yet decent in it's own way. That second screenshot above is of Kosuke who mysteriously reappeared back in Sugisawa and at a small house/shrine the girls are trying to locate. He wasn't long for this world though as an old woman arose out of nowhere and quickly snuffed out Kosuke's life, that's the old woman who Yoshi had seen before and like so many things don't know who or what she is. Meanwhile the girls are frantically trying to get to Sugisawa, even with maps and the videos the trio uploaded they got lost a few times. Once Hiroko thought she saw her brother calling her from the side of the road, the pair checked but he wasn't there though with so many unexplained details it could have been Yoshi.

 Finally the girls know the exact location of this dilapidated house but it's not accessible by car. The only way is first via a tunnel and you can see the duo above. But being a horror(?) flick what are the odds they reach the end unscathed? If you said zero you're correct as Aki went ahead by herself but within minutes was silently whisked away. Hiroko of course panicked at her friend going missing, when she went to hunt down Aki in the tunnel she too disappeared without a trace or at least we saw nothing. But the pair for now are living as some time later Hiroko awoke in the rundown village house they were looking for. However both were tied up but whoever did the deed was inept as they didn't gag the girls nor did he tie them up right, instead of tying their arms behind their backs he did it in front which mean Hiroko was able to use her hands to an extent.

 As I've mentioned twice don't you notice how little dialogue there is in the screenshots? Not tying Hiroko's hands behind her back was a huge mistake as she was able to scour through the small room and found a pair of scissors, soon her and Aki were semi freed. Both girls were hurt as you can see but Aki much more as though Hiroko was able to revive her friend she was in no condition to move nor fight if there was trouble. Biggest surprise of the movie came when Hiroko did a bit more checking of the tiny house, who should she find hiding in a closet but her brother Yoshi! Why he stayed hidden was never revealed but I was under the impression he wanted to stay hidden from his sister, if he couldn't be found perhaps Hiroko would leave the area which could save her life.

 We're at about the 55 minute mark of this film which lasted for seventy minutes or really 68 if you don't count the credits. These last 13-15 minutes were very confusing and at times like this is when we truly needed much more dialogue. Yoshi is trying to convince his sister to take Aki and leave without him but of course that's not going to happen according to her. Yoshi really can't explain why she has to leave and him stay for Yoshi can't recall what events led him to end up at the house. All he knows is that there's some evil spirits there and each passing minute brings them that much closer to death. During this time we did find out what happened to his friend Kawada who is now locked up(?) in a cell and Yoshi talked with him. But he never made an attempt to free his friend, that's one more unexplained mystery in this film and there's too many to list.

 Final segment and Hiroko was able to convince her brother to leave with her and Aki. Yoshi had agreed but don't think he was truly going to leave the area and just wanted to make sure his sister was safe. As the trio were preparing to leave an unknown middle aged man tried to prevent them from departing the house, that's him above. With this being about the an old massacre from a century ago could that man, the old woman and the warrior we'll soon see be ghosts from that tragedy? Horror films are supposed to make you think a bit but this one went a tad overboard.

 That man gut into a tussle with Yoshi and appeared to have the upper hand, Hiroko just stood and watched her brother about to die. But Yoshi was able to overcome this 'spirit' and eventually killed it if that's possible. But during their struggle the man's sword pierced Aki, she was already hurting badly and that wound proved to be the fatal blow. So for now no 'cursed spirit' is standing in their way so Hiroko and Yoshi were able to leave the house, Aki's car is parked on the other side of the tunnel which is where they needed to go. But as I thought originally Yoshi had no intentions of leaving the evil house and he still can't understand why he has to remain there.

 As he was relating that to his sister from behind her came this massive warrior who we had seen for a few seconds here and there. At first we thought this demon would attack Hiroko but it was after Yoshi as perhaps it thought he was leaving the house that he was forbidden to. In one swoop this warrior sliced through Yoshi and quickly ended his life with Hiroko looking on helplessly. And on that note this so-so film at best ended.

 Not really sure what to think of this film which would have made for a better TV movie. Will give it a rating of 5.5/10 which may be a tad too high. Hard to give it a recommendation but won't say not to watch it though it may appeal more to older Nogi fans. As noted my biggest gripe was lack of dialogue, I've viewed unsubbed films which I've been able to understand the story better. Also twenty more minutes may have been better as the ending was a bit rushed plus too many of those 'cursed characters' didn't get enough screen time nor were they described fully enough. If you've viewed this film drop a comment if I was mistaken on some things as I'm sure that was the case and perhaps knowing a bit more would make me watch it again.