From Takeshi Shimizu, the director of Ju-On: The Grudge, and the other Grudge movies that came after it, comes another bone-chilling movie where the real world and the virtual world will merge on a remote island haunted by an ancient curse.
Entitled “Immersion”, it stars some of Japan’s biggest stars, led by Daigo Nishihata of the boy idol group “Naniwa Danshi”.
Daigo Nishihata plays Tomohiko Kataoka, a genius brain scientist who is asked by the chief of a Virtual Reality research team to join them on Abominable Island.
A virtual space was created for the entire island, and with Tomohiko’s expertise and advanced techniques, their project will be enhanced.
Like many islands in Japan, Abominable is home to shamans, and legends and superstitions abound. One such legend is that of the “Imajo”, referring to a brutally murdered young woman who comes back as a vengeful spirit.
As Tomohiko gets on with business and puts on the VR goggles, darkness envelopes him in the virtual world, and an unidentifiable woman appears.
Suddenly, employees of the VR company who have travelled to work on the island project all turn up dead. All died the same way on the same day at the same time, but at different places.
Two worlds, one real, the other not, begin to intersect. What is its connection with “imajo”? Will they unlock the mystery? Who will survive the curse of this island?
“Immersion” was filmed on Amami Oshima island, and its story has parallels with a secret local superstition, The Curse of Yanchu. “Yanchu” refers to the slavery during Japan’s feudal era where locals who are indebted to wealthy farmers were forced to sell themselves.
It also tells the story of a woman and her child tormented to death by islanders. There have been comments that shooting “Immersion” in Amami Oshima island, horror film master Takashi Shimizu “may have stepped into the greatest taboo location of his career”. And that certainly adds to the terror that horror fans will love.
Also starring actress/model Mizuki Yamamoto (The Fable series and Threads – Our Tapestry of Love), and Rina Ikoma (formerly a central figure in the idol group Nogizaka46), “Immersion” opens in Philippine cinemas on September 13, 2023.
