The Tag-Along: The Devil Fish (Mandarin: 人面魚: 紅衣小女孩外傳) is a 2018 Taiwanese horror film directed by David Chuang. It is a prequel to The Tag-Along (2015) and The Tag-Along 2 (2017). The film stars Vivian Hsu, Cheng Jen-shuo. The film had its world premiere at the 55th Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards. It was released on November 23, 2018.
Plot
The movie is based on another famous Taiwanese urban legend, a ghost story that involved three men catching and grilling a fish in central Taiwan only to notice a face appear as they began to eat it. They then heard a voice ask them, in Taiwanese, 「魚肉好吃嗎？」 ("Is the fish meat tasty?").
The story of 人面魚 (fish with a person's face) is a well known folktale in Taiwan. Tales of a fish-like creature with a human face, similar in a way to Japanese yokai, has existed in Taiwan for decades. The film introduces the same folktale of the three men catching the fish and hearing the famous sentence at the start, then the plot then follows the efforts of a group of people, involving a temple priest, a young boy and the boy's mother as they are harassed by malicious spirits brought on by the caught fish.
After completing the Tag Along story, the creators of the film wanted to make a movie about another Taiwanese folk tale, choosing the Devil Fish, potentially starting a series in which they could cover more Taiwanese urban legends in the future. The film is also set before the events of 紅衣小女孩2 (The Tag Along 2), including the young son of the Tiger Temple priest and his grandfather who both appear in The Tag Along 2 working at the Tiger Temple, with the son being the boyfriend of a missing girl in the story.
Cast
Main-starring
Vivian Hsu as Huang Ya-Hui
Cheng Jen-shuo as Lin Chi-Cheng
Wu Zhi-xuan as Chia-Hao (Juvenile) Joe Chang as Chung Francesca Kao as Lin Mei-Hua Lung Shao-hua as Aron Tsai Wu-hsiung as Hung Wen-Hsiung Wu Hung-hsiu as Hei-Gou Kuan Ming-tso as Fatty Chen Shao-Hui as Lin Chun-Kai Belle Hsin as Mei Ling Chou Ming-yu as Chia-Hao's father Hsu Li-Yun as old grandma Wang Hsin-Jue as Ah-Di Mitsue Kagota as Chia-Hao's Father's girlfriend