Navigation
[Home] Film 2010 101 War 101 Sci-Fi 101 Horror 101 Gangster Films on TV Film Charts IMDb Top 250 EIFF Film 2009 Flickr 89 Years 1001 Upcoming 1001 Movies Film 2008 Trip Advisor 80 Countries Google Photo Map Microsoft Map Film 2007 Film 2006 100 Andys Last.fm World Wide Wilkie Blog Reviews
200 Films My DVDs My Games
Find a Review
Reviews::Main
Showing all films by director Oxide Pang Chun
Bangkok Haunted
In a bar in Thailand, three women tell three ghost stories. The film follows through each story and so is kind of three short films in one. The story lines jump around quite a bit and it can get a little confusing, the camera work is great and at times the film is a little unsettling, although not as scary as other East Asian horror movies such as The Eye or Dark Water.
The first story tells of an antique drum, which is haunted and brings bad luck to the modern day finder. The second of a love potion which has some unsettling side effects and the third about a cop working on an apparent suicide case.
Overall, the film is a bit weird but very good. A lot of it didn't seem to make sense at the time, but thinking about it later it makes more sense.
Bangkok Dangerous
Another Tartan Asia Extreme Film, and another great film. The story follows a deaf mute hitman by the name of Kong and his partner. I don't want to give too much of the plot away, but the story centres on the assinations he carries out and his relationship with a young woman who works in a pharmacy. The story is not just of guns and violence but also of how his actions have repercussions for others. I highly recommend this film to any fan of Asian cinema.
The Eye
The main character Mun has been blind since the age of two and receives a cornea transplant to restore her sight. After the operation, she gets more than she bargained for when she starts seeing things that others can't. Along with her doctor Lo, she travels to Thailand to discover more about the donor of the cornea. A well written and directed film from the Pang Brothers (Bangkok Dangerous [4/5]), this is what a modern horror movie should be like, very scary in places. In the same way as Hideo Nakata's Ring and Dark Water films the emphasis is not so much on sharp shocks as tends to be the case in modern American horror film but in a more psychological sense. All in all a must see movie, and another great film from the east.
The Eye 2
Marketed as a sequel to the Pang Brothers' earlier Horror masterpiece, The Eye. The Eye 2 is a sequel in nothing but name, none of the same plot, actors and certainly none of the horror which made the original so scary.
The Eye 2 tells the story of Joey (Shu Qi), a young woman who has just split from her boyfriend and finds herself in a fragile mental state. After surviving a suicide attempt she learns she is pregnant and the failed attempt has left her with the ability to see ghosts.
What follows is an hour or so cataloging all the nasty things that can happen to a pregnant woman. The ghosts just aren't scary; there's only one real scare in the film; some of the scenes are just nasty and to top it all off the end is a complete mess and makes very little sense.
Unfortunately this is the first bad Pang Brother's film I've seen, lets hope that the soon to be released Abnormal Beauty directed by Oxide Pang Chun is slightly better.
Abnormal Beauty
Abnormal Beauty tells the story of Jiney, an arts student with a passion for photography. One day while out with her camera she witnesses a car crash and in the heat of the moment takes a shot of the dead pedestrian who was hit. When she develops the photo she likes it a lot and begins to take more photographs of dead animals, culminating in her taking pictures of a suicide. Unfortunately someone knows about her secret and when she is sent a movie which looks like the filming of a deadly beating she begins to fear that she is in too deep.
Abnormal Beauty feels like two completely different films, the first half is pretty boring and focuses on the character of Jiney and her fascination with photographing death. The first time when she takes the photo of the car accident is accompanied by a totally over the top soundtrack which borders on comical rather than anything else. The character of Jiney is completely unlikeable and when it is clear she is not mentally stable you wonder why no-one gets her the psychiatric help she needs.
Then half way through the movie turns into a dark twisted horror tale with a brutal beating to the death being filmed and sent to Jiney. It's not scary at all, but is pretty nasty at times with women getting their heads staved in with metal poles for no particular reason. The plot twist at the end is so bad that even king of the stupid plot twists M. Night Shyamalan could have come up with something less silly.
Overall, Abnormal Beauty is half boring, half disgusting and a whole lot of stupid. On the plus side, it is reasonably well made and the absolutely terrible subs on the Tartan Asia Festival release make for some humorous moments.
Eye 10
Four Hong-Kong friends are in Thailand on holiday with a Thai friend; one night while they are telling Ghost stories he shows them a book he bought that contains 10 rituals they can perfom in order for them have an encounter with a ghost.
The 5 try some of the rituals in the book and are successful in summoning spirits from the nether worlds, in what seems to be typical of Thai ghostlore, some of the rituals are a bit silly; brushing your hair in the mirror; looking between your legs; feeding the ghosts at a crossroads. Things go wrong when one of the group disappears during a game of hide and seek in the woods with a black cat. The remaining 4 are more than a little worried and fear a curse has come upon them.
The Eye 10 starts off a subpar; not really scary Ghost movie, typical of a couple of Thai Ghost legend movies I've seen previously. Up until about half way through the relatively short movie, it's a bit boring and nothing scary actually happens. Then just over half way, the movie changes completely and becomes a kind of Hong Kong version of the Scary Movie films.
Two scenes in particular stand out, the first involves a ghost from the original Eye turning up and getting kicked in the head and the second sees two Chinese B-boys's challenging a possessed guy to a dance off with a whole corridor of old women coming out their flats to witness the whole thing. Both those scenes had me in hysterics and turned a well below average ghost movie into a work of comic genius.
The end of the movie then becomes a kind of mild comedy as two of the group try to sort the whole mess out.
I'm not really sure if the Pang Brothers intended this to be a horror movie, or a comedy, or whatever. It's not scary, but for fans of very silly movies, the two scenes mentioned above are enough to warrant watching the movie, especially since it only runs to 82 minutes.
In short, crap horror film, funny comedy.
Re-cycle
I used to be a fan of the Pang Brothers, they've made some good films, The Eye and Bangkok Dangerous for example. But recently they seem to have lost the plot. The two Eye sequels (Eye 2 and Eye 10) were a bit of a let down and Oxide Pang's Abnormal Beauty was just stupid. So when I heard that they had a new movie out, I bought it out of interest (and because it was cheap).
Focusing on a writer who is well known for her love stories but decides to write about the supernatural for her next novel, the film follows her as the subject of her writing becomes more and more real, finally taking her deep into an alternate reality.
Re-cycle is a bit of a random mess, the first 15 minutes crams in pretty much every Asian horror cliche going, scary phone calls; long black hair turning up; you name it, it's there. Shortly after this when Tsui Ting-Yin goes into the other world things become a little stranger.
Beautifully shot in very muted tones with a lot of CG which works for the most part, the fantasy world is inhabited with a number of zombie like creatures and scary beings. Ting-Yin must travel across this world in search of the exit while trying to avoid the monsters.
At the end of the movie, there's a bit of a twist, but most of it didn't really make much sense to me. As a horror movie it's a bit of a let down, only the cliched start has any scary moments, the rest being just weird.
Overall, a movie which in places is stunning to watch, but which never really hooked me in.
Bangkok Haunted
Director:
Oxide Pang Chun
Year: 2001
Language: Thai (English sub)
Country: Thailand
In a bar in Thailand, three women tell three ghost stories. The film follows through each story and so is kind of three short films in one. The story lines jump around quite a bit and it can get a little confusing, the camera work is great and at times the film is a little unsettling, although not as scary as other East Asian horror movies such as The Eye or Dark Water.
The first story tells of an antique drum, which is haunted and brings bad luck to the modern day finder. The second of a love potion which has some unsettling side effects and the third about a cop working on an apparent suicide case.
Overall, the film is a bit weird but very good. A lot of it didn't seem to make sense at the time, but thinking about it later it makes more sense.
Dave W - 20th March, 2004 - 14:06
Another Tartan Asia Extreme Film, and another great film. The story follows a deaf mute hitman by the name of Kong and his partner. I don't want to give too much of the plot away, but the story centres on the assinations he carries out and his relationship with a young woman who works in a pharmacy. The story is not just of guns and violence but also of how his actions have repercussions for others. I highly recommend this film to any fan of Asian cinema.
Dave W - 21st September, 2003 - 16:17
Director:
Oxide Pang Chun
Danny Pang
Year: 2002
Language: Cantonese, Thai (English sub)
Country: Hong-Kong
The main character Mun has been blind since the age of two and receives a cornea transplant to restore her sight. After the operation, she gets more than she bargained for when she starts seeing things that others can't. Along with her doctor Lo, she travels to Thailand to discover more about the donor of the cornea. A well written and directed film from the Pang Brothers (Bangkok Dangerous [4/5]), this is what a modern horror movie should be like, very scary in places. In the same way as Hideo Nakata's Ring and Dark Water films the emphasis is not so much on sharp shocks as tends to be the case in modern American horror film but in a more psychological sense. All in all a must see movie, and another great film from the east.
Dave W - 26th October, 2003 - 01:08
Director:
Oxide Pang Chun
Danny Pang
Year: 2004
Language: Cantonese/Mandarin (English Sub)
Country: Hong-Kong
Marketed as a sequel to the Pang Brothers' earlier Horror masterpiece, The Eye. The Eye 2 is a sequel in nothing but name, none of the same plot, actors and certainly none of the horror which made the original so scary.
The Eye 2 tells the story of Joey (Shu Qi), a young woman who has just split from her boyfriend and finds herself in a fragile mental state. After surviving a suicide attempt she learns she is pregnant and the failed attempt has left her with the ability to see ghosts.
What follows is an hour or so cataloging all the nasty things that can happen to a pregnant woman. The ghosts just aren't scary; there's only one real scare in the film; some of the scenes are just nasty and to top it all off the end is a complete mess and makes very little sense.
Unfortunately this is the first bad Pang Brother's film I've seen, lets hope that the soon to be released Abnormal Beauty directed by Oxide Pang Chun is slightly better.
Dave W - 28th September, 2005 - 13:42
Director:
Oxide Pang Chun
Year: 2004
Language: Cantonese (English Sub)
Country: Hong-Kong
Abnormal Beauty tells the story of Jiney, an arts student with a passion for photography. One day while out with her camera she witnesses a car crash and in the heat of the moment takes a shot of the dead pedestrian who was hit. When she develops the photo she likes it a lot and begins to take more photographs of dead animals, culminating in her taking pictures of a suicide. Unfortunately someone knows about her secret and when she is sent a movie which looks like the filming of a deadly beating she begins to fear that she is in too deep.
Abnormal Beauty feels like two completely different films, the first half is pretty boring and focuses on the character of Jiney and her fascination with photographing death. The first time when she takes the photo of the car accident is accompanied by a totally over the top soundtrack which borders on comical rather than anything else. The character of Jiney is completely unlikeable and when it is clear she is not mentally stable you wonder why no-one gets her the psychiatric help she needs.
Then half way through the movie turns into a dark twisted horror tale with a brutal beating to the death being filmed and sent to Jiney. It's not scary at all, but is pretty nasty at times with women getting their heads staved in with metal poles for no particular reason. The plot twist at the end is so bad that even king of the stupid plot twists M. Night Shyamalan could have come up with something less silly.
Overall, Abnormal Beauty is half boring, half disgusting and a whole lot of stupid. On the plus side, it is reasonably well made and the absolutely terrible subs on the Tartan Asia Festival release make for some humorous moments.
Dave W - 11th October, 2005 - 12:59
Director:
Oxide Pang Chun
Danny Pang
Year: 2005
Language: Cantones/Thai (English Sub)
Country: Hong-Kong
Four Hong-Kong friends are in Thailand on holiday with a Thai friend; one night while they are telling Ghost stories he shows them a book he bought that contains 10 rituals they can perfom in order for them have an encounter with a ghost.
The 5 try some of the rituals in the book and are successful in summoning spirits from the nether worlds, in what seems to be typical of Thai ghostlore, some of the rituals are a bit silly; brushing your hair in the mirror; looking between your legs; feeding the ghosts at a crossroads. Things go wrong when one of the group disappears during a game of hide and seek in the woods with a black cat. The remaining 4 are more than a little worried and fear a curse has come upon them.
The Eye 10 starts off a subpar; not really scary Ghost movie, typical of a couple of Thai Ghost legend movies I've seen previously. Up until about half way through the relatively short movie, it's a bit boring and nothing scary actually happens. Then just over half way, the movie changes completely and becomes a kind of Hong Kong version of the Scary Movie films.
Two scenes in particular stand out, the first involves a ghost from the original Eye turning up and getting kicked in the head and the second sees two Chinese B-boys's challenging a possessed guy to a dance off with a whole corridor of old women coming out their flats to witness the whole thing. Both those scenes had me in hysterics and turned a well below average ghost movie into a work of comic genius.
The end of the movie then becomes a kind of mild comedy as two of the group try to sort the whole mess out.
I'm not really sure if the Pang Brothers intended this to be a horror movie, or a comedy, or whatever. It's not scary, but for fans of very silly movies, the two scenes mentioned above are enough to warrant watching the movie, especially since it only runs to 82 minutes.
In short, crap horror film, funny comedy.
Dave W - 15th November, 2005 - 13:30
Director:
Oxide Pang Chun
Danny Pang
Year: 2006
Language: Cantonese (English Sub)
Country: Hong-Kong
I used to be a fan of the Pang Brothers, they've made some good films, The Eye and Bangkok Dangerous for example. But recently they seem to have lost the plot. The two Eye sequels (Eye 2 and Eye 10) were a bit of a let down and Oxide Pang's Abnormal Beauty was just stupid. So when I heard that they had a new movie out, I bought it out of interest (and because it was cheap).
Focusing on a writer who is well known for her love stories but decides to write about the supernatural for her next novel, the film follows her as the subject of her writing becomes more and more real, finally taking her deep into an alternate reality.
Re-cycle is a bit of a random mess, the first 15 minutes crams in pretty much every Asian horror cliche going, scary phone calls; long black hair turning up; you name it, it's there. Shortly after this when Tsui Ting-Yin goes into the other world things become a little stranger.
Beautifully shot in very muted tones with a lot of CG which works for the most part, the fantasy world is inhabited with a number of zombie like creatures and scary beings. Ting-Yin must travel across this world in search of the exit while trying to avoid the monsters.
At the end of the movie, there's a bit of a twist, but most of it didn't really make much sense to me. As a horror movie it's a bit of a let down, only the cliched start has any scary moments, the rest being just weird.
Overall, a movie which in places is stunning to watch, but which never really hooked me in.
Dave W - 18th January, 2007 - 12:52
Latest Reviews
|
Director: David R. Ellis Country: America Rating: 2.5 |
|
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman Country: America Rating: 3 |
|
Headline: Bad Religion Venue: ABC Rating: 3.5 |
|
Director: Phillip Noyce Country: America Rating: 4 |
|
Author: Stieg Larsson Rating: 4 |