Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: Yurian Retriever
Starring: Sara Minami, Mai Fukagawa, Tetsu Hirahara, Atsuko Hirata, Joe Kujo, Ôshirô Maeda, Mizuki Maehara
Yuriyan Retriever is a Japanese comedian, actress, singer and hip-hop artist who now turns her hand to directing with Mag Mag. Simultaneously a spoof of well-worn J-horror tropes and a satirical takedown of her country's infamous sexism, Mag Mag plays like the creation of someone who has a lot of ideas floating around their brain but can't quite make them coalesce into a satisfying narrative.
When you think of J-horror you likely think of its most common image, that of a female ghost with strands of long black hair covering their face. Such spirits are usually revealed to be women who have been badly wronged in some way. Mag Mag leans into this with its titular entity, a ghost who falls in love with men and ends up killing each of them, removing their eyes from their sockets.
The main narrative through line follows art school student Sanae (Sara Minami) as she tries to find a way to end the scourge of Mag Mag after the ghost kills the boy with whom she was madly in love, an affection that was unrequited. But the movie plays almost like a horror anthology, with various individual stories of men and boys being targeted by Mag Mag.
First up is a prologue involving a high schooler who meets a hilariously disgusting demise while relieving himself in the school restroom. Then we see Sanae's beloved Hiroshi meet a grisly end at the hands of the spirit, prompting Sanae to investigate the source of Mag Mag's terror. This leads her to learn of Yurika (Marina Mizushima), an overweight high schooler who was bullied into taking her own life after her infatuation with her class's most popular boy was cruelly exposed. Mag Mag is believed to be the spirit of Yurika, seeking new lovers from beyond the grave. Another story involves the contestants on a Big Brother-esque reality show called "Share House," one of whom, a lothario sleeping with all of his female housemates, draws the unwanted affection of Mag Mag. Finally we have the tale of an abusive husband whose wife decides to aid the Mag Mag in an attempt to rid herself of her torment once and for all.
Retriever's film plays like a series of skits, the various plot strands joined together by the flimsiest threads. The movie has its own logic and demands you go along with it. For instance, Sanae is transported from one story location to the next by covering herself in grease and climbing through a giant replica of a sphincter!!! At one point we get a musical number that plays like a disgusting riff on Faye Wong's stalker antics from Chungking Express, as Sanae breaks into her unrequited love's apartment and stirs her pubes into his stew.
Much of the humour here is of the gross-out variety. Admittedly, some of it lands, like the aforementioned restroom attack and Yurika's drastic action being witnessed by a bunch of children learning about colours ("Red!" they exclaim as one when they see their teacher covered in Yurika's blood). But there just aren't enough laughs to justify its near two-hour runtime.
Ironically, Retriever proves herself arguably more comfortable with her debut's horror elements than its comedy. While the horror here purposely leans into clichés, Retriever stages the sequences of Mag Mag's attacks to good effect, making effective use of dark school corridors at night and faulty lightbulbs allowing the ghost to sneak up on her victims in the dark.
Perhaps Retriever's sense of humour plays better to Japanese audiences, but Western viewers will likely find it outdated. J-horror, on the other hand, may rely on predictable tropes, but it continues to prove popular outside its home nation.
Mag Mag is on UK/ROI VOD from October 19th.
