Hikiko-san

Hikiko-san

(ひきこさん）
A.k.a. Scream Girls

The Story:

A group of high school horror fanatics start investigating the rumours of a series of bizarre murders happening in their city. In each case, the victim has been dragged across the pavement until they were torn to shreds. The girls soon come to believe the murders are being caused by Hikiko-san, a ghost that targets victims of abuse and drags them to their death. When one of the girls manages to get a photo of the mysterious killer, her life is turned upside down. Blamed for the murders and abandoned by her friends, the only friend Kaori has left is stranger on the internet with the screen-name Hikiko.

The Reason:
After watching Hikiko vs. Kuchisake-onna, I was curious what Hikiko was actually like. Even though that movie was poorly handled, I felt Hikiko had the potential to be an actual threat if done right. I'm glad I did.

The Star:
Hikiko-san

A vengeful ghost that targets victims of abuse and drags them to their death.

Very bandaged and raggedy, she appears and shambles about like a zombie with a broken back. She's played with around the same level of subtlety as in Vs, however, it's used to much greater effect this time. While she does drag her feet and moves ridiculously slow, she also abuses the crap out of the between-scene-scooter by teleport spamming behind her victim as soon as they take their eyes of her.

The Review:
This entire movie is shot in grey-scale giving it a very avant-garde feel that's somewhere between student-film and found-footage. It may seem gimmicky to begin with, but it does add a whole other layer to the atmosphere.

The movie starts with the group updating their horror blog and discussing the bizarre string of murders. It does feel like a bit of a slow boil teen drama at times, but that's okay because before long the girls are talking about Hikiko-san and the rumours of her involvement.

Kaori snaps a picture of a mysterious figure standing over one of the crime scenes and then strange things start happening. After a local girl dies, her friends tell her to drop it and move on, but Kaori is obsessed. She can't quite seem to get Hikiko out of her head.

Someone posts a cryptic message to their site and suddenly everyone is blaming Kaori for causing the murders. The class bully starts attacking and humiliating her, her friends abandon her, and every night her abusive father takes to beating her. 

Kaori starts having vivid dreams of being dragged to her death by Hikiko-san, and soon she can no longer tell reality from the dreams. She feels Hikiko-san getting closer. Drawn in by the abuse that she is suffering.

Frightened and alone, Kaori turns to a stranger on the internet. Constantly suffering, Kaori's one light in the darkness is her new friend known only as Hikiko. Kaori confides in her as her life gradually becomes a living hell, but is her friend really who she claims to be?

Overall:

This movie is just brutal. And I love it. I'm not even sure if I'd class this as a horror movie, but by halfway through I was sitting there awestruck completely engrossed in watching. I don't think I've ever seen a movie with the impact this one had, I was literally struck speechless by the end.

The level of abuse Kaori suffers over the film's 1hr duration is terrifying, and the torture she undergoes from the school bitch squad would be enough to count as a war-crime if they were soldiers. It really made me feel for the character, and then the ending happened. It was the perfect cap to events with a twist that, maybe a bit predictable, managed to tie things off perfectly.

Stats:

Watched: RAW

Understood: Around 80-90%

Does it matter: I have a theory that this movie would work just as well even without understanding a word.

Would watch again: Hell yes.

Recommend: Go. Do it now!

Rating: Must See

Amazon link

Bonus:

While she was playing hide-and-seek at the beginning of the film, Hikiko kind of reminded me of the First Slayer from Buffy.