Director: Cheng Wei-Hao
Notable Cast: River Huang, Tiffany Hsu, Yin-Shang
Liu, Yumi Wong, Chang Pai-Chou, Mario Pu, Pai Ming-Hua, Mei-Man Jin, Basang
Yawei
It wasn’t until the third film in the franchise that I
started to pay attention, but when I finally looked up a way to watch The
Tag-Along my curiosity was full-blown. Not only was this Taiwanese horror
flick well regarded in my horror circles (at least to the degree to pique my
interest), it was - at the time of its release - the highest-grossing horror
film in Taiwan. Although the film has seemingly floundered to find a mass
audience outside of its home, The Tag-Along is a remarkably adept horror
experience that blends its culturally ripe urban myth concept with classic
ghost story thrills into an atmospheric, jump scare littered ride. Don’t assume
it’s just another Ring knockoff. The Tag-Along hangs on with some
fascinating depth and still delivers the scares.
When so many ghost stories are birthed from older urban
legends or stories from historical texts, it’s always somewhat refreshing to
hear a relatively modern one. Usually, when they occur, it’s because a film is
attempting to cash in on the 15 minutes of internet fame of a new ‘creepypasta’
trend, ala Slenderman. The Tag-Along, however, is a blend of the
two. The origin of the urban myth only kicks back to the 1990s when a video
featuring a little girl in a red dress following some hikers was discovered, went
viral online, and then created entire new “experiences” of people seeing the
‘tag along spirit.’ It’s just intriguing enough in its unusualness to perk
interest and yet vague enough to be imbued with layered meaning for artists to
use.