This horror film is like a Chinese/Singapore SIXTH SENSE. Not that there is some big twist, but because the main character Mun (Angelica Lee, SUNSHINE COPS), after having a corneal transplant, starts seeing dead people.
Mun hasn't seen since she was two, so at first she can't tell the difference between real people and dead people. As her eyesight gets increasingly better, her dread, and that of the audience, begins to increase. There's a scene in an elevator that is truly frightening. The only person Mun has on her side is her handsome young psychiatrist Dr. Wah (Lawrence Chou, HEROES IN LOVE). A great surprise midway through the film leads Mun and Dr. Wah to search out more information about the corneal donor.
The film does a great job of taking the premise and telling the story naturally and realistically. The directors Oxide and Danny Pang have become hot in the world of J-horror. Here they work in the same realm as RINGU and the JU-ON series, but find ways to infuse their own style into this production. More so than the JU-ON series, this film is interested in its characters and their experiences. With no pun intended, we see the world through Mun's eyes, making use care more about what happens. The Pang Brothers are more interested in telling scary stories than just conjuring up scary imagery.
As is a signature with Asian horror the visuals are great. One thing the Pangs borrow from the West is their use of sound, which isn't a good thing. From time to time they rely on bombarding the audience with loud noise and jump cuts to scare us. These cheap flares seem to be in contrast with the film's relative reflective character based flavor. Even when the film borrows from the conventions of the genre, the Pang Brothers help the material with good direction and great timing. It's always a good sign that a horror director knows what they are doing when they can make a scene during a sunny day just as scary as if it were taking place on a dark and stormy night.
The release here in the U.S. is just a precursor to the American remake, which is being done by Tom Cruise's company. The obvious reason is that Asian horror is hot, but this particular film already fits to a Western style. It mixes classic B-movie horror plots with the popular Asian ghost story. In the end, the film works as a thrilling chiller that is grounded in good characters and real emotion.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
