Arrow Video Blu-ray Synopsis: Over two decades after terrifying the world with the ghosts of Toshio and Kayako with Ju-On: The Grudge, legendary filmmaker Takashi Shimizu returns to his J-Horror roots with the thrilling diptych Sana and Sana: Let Me Hear. Starring J-Pop supergroup 'Generations from Exile Tribe' playing fictionalized versions of themselves, Sana sees the band members discover a mysterious cassette tape containing only a simple melody. But this earworm, comes with sinister consequences, as anyone who hears the tune becomes compelled to constantly hum it and finds themselves plagued with horrifying ghostly visions. The band, their manager and a world-weary detective must team up to uncover the mystery behind the tape and save themselves from falling under its malignant spell. In Sana: Let Me Hear, a group of high school students are taking extra classes during the summer holidays when one of them suddenly jumps off the school roof in a grim reminder of a similar incident that happened at the same school 30 years prior. Substitute teacher Honoka discovers that both events revolve around an elusive girl named Sana, and the chilling secret behind the cassette tape she recorded. Takashi Shimizu delivers a one-two punch of magnificent J-Horror mayhem that combines his affinity for elliptical storytelling with smart metanarrative scriptwriting that updates the genre's tropes for a whole new generation of horror fans. (103/107 Mins)

 

Views: After exploding onto the horror scene over 20 years ago with the Ju-on: The Grudge collection of movies, including their Hollywood remakes, director Takashi Shimizu returns to similar territory with Sana (2023) and it's immediate sequel, Sana: Let Me Hear (2024) – two horror films based around a mysterious cassette tape that haunts those who listen to it. Of course, Shimizu has certainly kept himself busy over the decades giving us films such as Reincarnation (2005), The Shock Labyrinth (2009), the live-action Kiki's Delivery Service (2014), Innocent Curse (2017), Suicide Forest Village (2021), and Homunculus (2021) among many others – although it's fair to say that none have been quite as successful as his original series. Is Sana (2023) a return to form for the praised director?

 

Well, almost. Starring popular J-pop boy band, Generations from Exile Tribe – celebrating their tenth anniversary by starring as fictional versions of themselves in this movie – Sana follows the boys as they prepare for new recordings and their biggest concert. But early on, they come across a mysterious cassette tape that was seemingly sent into the studio by a member of public, many years ago. The tape itself contains only a simple melody, but when played, buries itself in the listeners head, immediately haunting them with ghostly visions while in a trance-like state. Concerned, their manager and a tired old detective try to solve the mystery, and break the spell that has taken hold of the country's most popular boy band before it's too late! Sana: Let Me Hear, however, took a different approach altogether. Right from the get-go, we are drawn into this world of horror in a story that intertwines themes of family despair, bullying, trauma and social commentary on death. We return to the school that Sana attended where certain teachers and parents that come into play, know of and having previously experienced the hauntings of the dead schoolgirl. This, in turn, leads to some chilling moments that hark back to the directors past hits and, at the same time, feels like many of the high-school-set Japanese (or Korean) horrors from the turn-of-the-century.

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Truth be told, I wasn't expecting a lot from these new J-Horror entries, but I actually quite enjoyed Shimizu's modern take on his technophobia-induced ghost story. As with previous works, and other classics of J-Horror, the scares of Sana are delivered slow and steady – but they are there. Perhaps today's audience (even 20 years later) are well past this type of approach, but true fans of Japanese horror cinema will appreciate it. There was some genuinely creepy moments that did send a chill down my spine. I also enjoyed the reality of using the guys from Generations from Exile Tribe as themselves. They did a great job for the most part, and even though I didn't know much about them prior to this film, enjoyed watching them act and, at the end, put on a pretty damn impressive concert. But as much as I enjoyed the first, I felt that it's sequel, Sana: Let Me Hear, was a much better watch. Tomoko Hoshi returns as the vengeful young ghost in what is, supposedly, her only two acting credits to date. Hopefully we will see her return for a third before she gets too old. In both movies, we learn about and know the story of Sana – a schoolgirl who dreams that, one day, the world will hear her music until she is unknowingly killed by her parents when she is strangled by the cord of the tape-deck she hangs around her neck. Of course, I'm trying to keep things vague on her story to allow for the shock value of Shimizu's scares to work on you.

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Both films were recently given a neatly presented 'limited edition' Blu-ray release in the UK, courtesy of Arrow Video, as The Sana Collection – although the word collection would, more often than not, have you think there was more than two. Aside from a collectors booklet written by Hayley Scanlon, the films come with a number of bonus features worth seeing. Accompanying Sana on the first disc is a featurette called J-Horror: Then and Now, a 17 minute piece by Japanese cinema specialist Amber T. (who is often distracted with something over the camera as she delivers her lines). In it, Amber takes us back to the beginning of J-Horror, through to the Sana films and many other interesting titles of the much loved sub-genre. We get 5 minutes of deleted scenes, mostly shown raw and unfinished, as well as an alternate ending and a fun 'Find Sana' insert. One of the highlights for me was the hour-long Making of Documentary that shows just how big and involved the production really was, not to mention the true characteristics of the boy band members and the fun they had on set. Following that, a cool trailer and teaser finish things off. On disc two, Sana: Let Me Hear, we get another insightful feature-length Making of Documentary (over 80 minutes) featuring interviews with director Takashi Shimizu and horror consultant Nao Kawamatsu, as well as showing some great BTS with cast and crew on set. Also longer, is the deleted and extended scenes, coming in at 27 minutes which made for an interesting watch – but with the film already running over 2 hours in length, you can understand why the cut them. As before, a trailer and teaser close things off...

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Overall: Another fantastic release by Arrow, The Sana Collection is a must for fans of classic J-Horror and offer plenty of scares along the way!

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Arrow Video Extras: Making of Documentaries for both films, J-Horror: Then & Now with Amber T., Deleted/Extended Scenes for both films, Trailers, Teasers​

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