Review: The Sound of Summer

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet

The Sound of Summer
Directed by Guy (aka Guy Pierce, Guy Fragments)
Sculpting Fragments; Unearthed Films; MVD Visual
75 minutes, 2022
www.unearthedvideo.com
https://mvdb2b.com/s/TheSoundOfSummer/UN-1150

In James Clavell’s 1975 opus, Shōgun, he posits, “The Japanese have six faces and three hearts.” Society is incredibly different in the present than in feudal times when the novel took place, and life has become more in sync with the West. But when viewing art cinema, even in the Asia extreme cinema category, this quote can become more than just a philosophy.

A lonely young woman (cute Kaori Hoshino) – whom I will refer to as Her, as no names are given for the characters – works in as a barista in a coffee shop during a sweltering summer in Japan (with English subtitles, though there is minimal dialogue). It is 102F/39C and it seems no one has air conditioning. It reminds me of that episode of “The Twilight Zone” called “The Midnight Sun” (1961), where the Earth is moving closer to the flaming orb. One can almost feel the heat radiating off the monitor.

Kaori Hoshino

Because it is summer, the large flying insects called cicadas (there is a variation of the species in the American Southeast) are in large numbers and if you do not know, they make a loud rubbing noise, usually through the night. That sound is the source of the film’s title. Unnervingly, this is keeping our heroine awake, along with the heat. Lack of sleep and high temperatures can have a negative effect on one’s mental health.

Into the coffee shop comes a sweaty middle-aged man with a mask, a net, and a couple of cases filled with cicadas. He begins coming in often, each time dressed identically, and with the same containers full of captured critters.

Shinya Hankawa

As the summer wears on and the heat is unrelenting, Her breaks out in itchy rashes and scratches herself bloody, and begins slipping from reality, believing that the “Cicada Man” (Shinya Hankawa) as he is called by her and her coworker (Kiyomi Kametani) is visiting her at night, and infecting her with cicada eggs.

Being released by Unearthed Films, it should come as no surprise this leads into body horror, as she scratches and starts to remove skin, with lots of blood and gore for those who are drawn to that. The practical effects are done by Susumu Nakatani, who does an amazing job at bringing out the squeamish body manipulations.

And what makes this arthouse fare? Well, part of it is the very, very slow burn that starts the story, and with the high temperatures, the term “burn” feels appropriate. Once the Cicada Man visits Her at night, or perhaps in her dreams, is when the red sauce begins to show and flow. All this is underscored (literally) by the soundtrack by synth composer Microchip Terror.

The story and look of this are quite plain and basic, without arty shots or dialogue, despite the wild and swirling camerawork in the third act, but it still retains a certain pace that elevates it to a higher plain. There is also a question of psychology feeding into this style: is Her infected with cicada eggs, or is it all in her mind, twisted by the continuous heat?

Keita Kusaka

In almost The Fly (1986)-like fashion, she picks at her body bit by bit, pulling out what she believes are hatchling cicadas. The doctor (Keita Kusaka) accuses her of delusions of parasitosis, where one is convinced that they are infested by parasites. Considering her physical condition, I do not understand why the doc does not have her committed, or at the very least to the Emergency Room. But that would be the end of the story, so it soldiers on.

The big reveal of the Cicada Man is intense, again reminiscent of The Fly, but the question remains of how much of it is reality, and to what level is it imagined. Either way, it looks amazing.

The extras on the Blu-ray start with the “Behind the Scenes” (45 min) that is a mixture of “how it was shot” and mucking around by the filmmakers and cast, but my favorite parts were the application of the SFX make-up. On “Tokyo Talkshow” (34 min) is the director Guy, cult genre director Shozin Fukui, and the two directors of the film LOUD, after the on-stream premiere of both The Sound of Summer and LOUD. Last is the Japanese Premiere (42 min), which introduces three members of the principle cast and director to the audience. I have found many times these kinds of pre- or post-screening interviews tend to have terrible audio. Here, however, it is nice and crisp, and there are easy-to-read subtitles, as they are mostly in Japanese. There is also a trailer for this and another Guy short.

The director, Guy, is actually a native of Britain who has been living in Japan for several years and is fluent in the language. In this being his first full-length feature, he brings the sensibilities of both to the project, giving it a slightly different touch than from either. Oh, I would still label this under “Asian Extreme” (yeah, there are people who do not like that term, though it is accurate), but the plain and simple structure is totally Western influenced. It helps that he was aided by his co-conspirator of the film, Dave Jackson who directed Cat Sick Blues (2016). 

Honestly, I do not necessarily have a fear of insects per se (though I am not fond of them on my body or floating around my head), this was a bit extreme on the effects of the insects, not of the creatures themselves. While a fun ride, once it kicks into gear, consider yourself forewarned if you suffer from entomophobia, sometimes known as insectophobia.

MDB listing HERE