Forbidden Siren (J-Movie) (2006)

In 1976, on the southern island of Yamijima, the sea turns red, a siren begins wailing — and all but one of the inhabitants disappear. The sole survivor (Hiroshi Abe) is discovered with his mind gone and his eyes bulging with terror.

Twenty-nine years later, Shinichi (Reo Morimoto), a mild-mannered freelance writer, comes to live on the island with his grown daughter, Yuki (Yui Ichikawa), and his young son, Hideo (Jun Nishiyama). Shinichi hopes that the change of scenery will do his sickly son good, but it is the ever-anxious Yuki who takes care of him.

They are greeted on their arrival by the kindly Dr. Mi-namida (Naoki Tanaka), but the other inhabitants stare at them blankly, sullenly. Their Japanese-style house, deep in the forest, has not been inhabited in years — and looks it. A neighbor lady (Naomi Nishida) comes calling and offers Yuki advice with a frazzled urgency: Don’t walk alone at night, don’t go to the steel tower on the hill — and if the siren on the tower sounds, don’t go outside.

What, Yuki wonders, does she mean? As the day passes, Yuki learns that her new home has other . . . peculiarities, including a sinister folk religion, strange graffiti (the words “dog” and “live” in Roman letters feature prominently), an eerie folk song (with lyrics about dogs turning into gods and the living turning evil).

Meanwhile, Hideo keeps wandering off — it’s enough to drive anyone mad. Then one day the siren starts wailing . . . and Yuki finds out what all the warnings really mean.