It’s Seven meets Ring in a supernatural horror from Peony Pavilion director Chen Kuo-fu - starring Hong Kong’s Tony Leung Ka-fai and America’s David Morse…
Ever since Hideo Nakata’s Ringu series hit the screens at the turn of the decade, the popularity of the horror genre has really taken off in Asia. The same as what’s happened in America since Scream and Blair Witch - but thankfully without their annoying preoccupation with teenagers.No longer the domain of the hungry first-time director desperate to get noticed (even Ringu was only Nakata’s second film and his first, Joya-rei, was also a ghost story), horror has become something even established directors aspire to. Recently we’ve seen Miike Takashi (Audition), the Pang Brothers (The Eye) and Kim Ji-woon and Peter Chan (Segments in Three) all have turned their hands to scary stories. Now their ranks have been joined by the acclaimed director of the 1995 drama The Peony Pavilion, Chen Kuo-fu.
Kuo-fu’s initial premise is hardly the most original. Tony Leung Ka-fai (Zu Yu’s Train, Ashes Of Time, The Lover) plays Huang Huo-tu, a cop tortured by events that left his girl unable to speak. With family and career falling apart, he sleeps in his office the ridicule of his colleagues. But when a bizarre series of gruesome murders leave the local law enforcement baffled they call on help from a top FBI expert Kevin Richter (David Morse, The Green Mile, The Crossing Guard, Dancer in the Dark).
It’s serial killer meets supernatural horror, while our cop buddies bridge cultural divides far wider than their geographical distance. A well trodden route that, if it hadn’t been so intelligently handled by Kuo-fu, the film might have fallen at the first hurdle. In fact, the prejudices of the both sides - particularly those of the Chinese against a meddling Westerner - are so well played they show where the director strength’s really lie.
At the root of grisly goings on is an ancient cult, intent on gaining immortality. But when the police locate the cult’s hidden temple (in a very modern office building) nothing can prepare you for the ferocity of the confrontation - in the unrated version at least. The disciples calmly liberating an armed troop of police of their limbs whilst happily losing their lives in the process.
The good work, however, is undermined by a script that doesn’t quite go far enough to make the point there’s much that can’t be explained by Western science. Co-written by Kuo-fu and Su Chao-bin, who also co-wrote the Going Home segment of Three, it echoes the sentiment of that film. However, for it to work you need to at least credibly explain some of the events. There are just too many holes. For instance, the bacteria found on the victims makes them believe what happens to them. But that’s not true for all of them, and it’s never explained fully who causes them to believe or how - even when the police themselves seem quite happy to have wrapped up the case! Thankfully there are some neatly played out false endings to keep you on your toes.
Like so many Asian films at the moment - particularly those bankrolled by Columbia Pictures Asia - this is so obviously aimed at the international market. Perhaps too much so, as the film looks thoroughly American in style (unlike those other Asian horrors already mentioned). It was even partly filmed in Australia - like most American films now!. Its slick work by Hong Kong cinematographer Anthony Wong Ngok Tai, whose long and impressive filmography includes 2000AD, Purple Storm, Iron Monkey, Crime Story and New Dragon Inn.
The leads are excellent. Leung proves his calibre on a global scale, whilst Morse is as solid as every - an excellent C-list actor who happens to have been in some very big films (The Rock, Contact, The Negotiator). And if that doesn’t get this film noticed in the states and beyond, then that’s a real shame. The rest of the cast, including Rene Liu and Dai Li-zen, give exemplary support in their roles. There’s also a guest appearance by Ang Lee favourite Lung Sihung (Eat Drink Man Woman, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Touch) in one of his last roles.
This is a solid horror that makes up for scares with gore. Well acted - but that only highlights how much more it could have been. Still worth checking out, particularly if you can get the unrated version.
DVD details
Distributor: Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment (Asia)
This beautifully transferred DVD features a choice of rated and unrated versions. The unrated version is 3 minutes longer and - particularly on the temple scene already discussed in the review - much, much gorier.
