Help (Qiu Wo) - China

          Director:  Qi Zhang
          Year:  2008
          Plot:  "Jiang Yan, is a psychology student preparing her thesis in hopes to go to the United States.  While having a hard time with the topic she was given, she also struggles with her boyfriend who doesn't want her to go.  After an incident that leaves her boyfriend dead, Jiang Yan begins to see and hear things that frighten her.  Her stress and horror escalates when she begins to suspect that her friend and Professor are plotting against her."

          So as I always do, I went and checked on IMDb to get the plot for this movie and was quite surprised.  This movie only has a 5.0 rating on the site.  This surprised me as I really enjoyed it, but maybe it just had to do with the fact that only 17 people voted so far.  This movie had a 4/5 stars on LetMeWatchThis.ch (my referral address is under the Asian Movie Sites tab, just in case you decide to get a free account).
          Okay, so onto the actual movie.  As I said, I found this movie to be really enjoyable.  I especially loved the fact that this movie got me with the ending.  The only problem was that this movie was not scary.  It didn't scare me at all, but that didn't seem to matter much while I was watching it.
          Like I said, this movie did get me with the ending.  During the movie, I was quite convinced with what was being shown.  The reason I think I was easily convinced was that as it was a horror movie, I had no reason to suspect there would be a twist in the story.  The ending really was one that I did not expect, but looking back, it does fit well with the story line.

          This is a movie that I would easily suggest to someone, but I would definitely add a warning.  This is not the movie to be watching if you are looking to be scared.  This is however a really good movie that I feel will be worth your time.

My Ex - Thailand

          Director:  Piyapan Choopetch
          Year:  2010
          Plot:  "Ken is a superstar and the dream date of every girl.  He can attract any woman he wants, but every detail of his life ends up in gossip columns and tabloid magazines. When news leaks that Ken will marry actress Ploy, the media goes into a frenzy and their dream life turns into a nightmare.  Someone is stalking them, day and night.  Nimit, Ken's agent, encourages his client to take a break at a beach house, but the problem only escalates when people around Ken start to disappear one by one."


          I watched this movie a while ago, but appearently forgot to post my review.  I found this movie to be quite good.  I hated Ken, but then again, I didn't completely.  While watching a horror movie, you need to be able to feel bad for the characters, otherwise you aren't connected to their horror.  With this movie, though I kind of hated the main character, before things really get to the climax, the story starts to show that he isn't completely bad.  He had done some not so great things to girls, but it seems like maybe he actually did care.
          Like I said though, the main character of this show was a major jerk to women.  He is always in the tabloids for his antics, and it seems rightfully so.  There really is no reason to treat women the way he did, and especially Meen, you will understand why her especially if you see the movie.
          The movie wasn't really all that scary.  Sure the ghost looked creepy, but it didn't scare me.  That doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy this movie.  The story line is what keeps this movie entertaining and enjoyable.  The scares are just there, though they aren't done poorly.  I have to say that this is one that my sister would probably find scary, but for me it didn't reach that level.

          I would suggest this movie.  The story line is well done, and rather decently acted out.  The only thing that wasn't up to par for me was the scares, but that is partly because of my obsession with horror movies.

Rule Number One - Singapore

          Director:  Kelvin Tong
          Year:  2008
          Plot:  "Follows the events that occur after a man calls the police to let them know of the mysterious presence in his house."


          I have some mixed feelings about this movie.  I watched it a few nights ago, but I am still not sure how I really feel about it.
          I so have to say that this kind of lacks the horror aspect.  Sure, it might get a few jumps out of you, but not because it was actually scary.  The whole aspect of the ghosts seems a little wrong by the end of the movie.  I say this because if you pay attention to certain details, it kind of seems like this movie is not what it seems.
          The ending leads you to think that ghosts ruin this guys life, but the fact is that it might actually simply have been his own doing.  I know I usually don't share this much info, but I am not sure what else to say about this movie if I don't.  It is really one of those movies where you think the character has been lying to you the whole time.  If you watch it and pick up on key things, I am sure you would feel the same.
          I do have to say that the story line of this movie did keep me watching to the end.  I didn't even think about turning it off, because at least the story line was decent.  The fact is though that it wasn't extraordinary, and that is what leads me to be a little unhappy with this movie.


          This is not a movie I would suggest if you want anything really exciting or scary.  This movie though is not a complete waste of time.  It does have some points that are fairly good.  If you need something to watch to waste some time, then give this one a shot.

Yoga Institute - Korea

          Director:  Jae-yeon Yun
          Year: 2009
          Plot:  “After the co-host of a shopping channel TV show loses her job to a younger rival, she enrolls in an intensive yoga course.  The very strict trainer informs her students that there will be serious consequences if they do not follow her rules.”


          This is a strange movie to me.  Not that the movie itself was necessarily strange, but my feelings about it are strange.  I am kind of neutral about this movie.  It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t all that good either.  While watching it though, I was interested in finding out the ending.  That is the one good point about this movie.  Once you start, you really do want to know what happens in the end.
           I felt kind of unsatisfied with the ending.  I wasn’t sure what was going on exactly, and that is not something normal for me.  I understood that this movie kind of runs on a form of witchcraft that is never fully stated, but that still doesn’t rationalize the complete ending sequence.  Even with some of what is stated, the ending still makes no sense and really did nothing for me.  I really felt that there was no real resolution to this movie.
          This movie wasn’t completely bad though like I said.  It had some good points.  I did enjoy some of the death sequences like the one who breaks the “no showering one hour after training rule.”  For the most part, I think that this movie could have been rather good.  All it really needed was a great ending.  Without it, it just leaves this movie as a decent time waster.


          I would suggest to definitely skip this movie if you are in the mood for a great one.  This is a movie that though not completely bad, lacks some much needed points.  This movie is more for a boring day when there isn’t anything better to watch.

Art of the Devil - Thailand

          Director:  Tanit Jitnukul
          Year:  2004
          Plot:  “Boom, pregnant from an affair, is told by her lover to leave him and his family alone.  Enraged, she goes to a witch doctor and has him use black magic against her ex-lover and his family.  They all die in suspicious manners.  Just when Boom thinks everything is over, a woman claims her ex-lover’s inheritance and moves in to his house with her family.  Not long after that, unexplainable things begin to happen to them.”


          I put this one off for awhile, as I had seen it mentioned many times.  I never seemed to have the urge to watch it, and now I understand why.  I am not saying that this was a bad movie, but it wasn’t very great either.  This one definitely didn’t really leave any lasting impression on me.  It was decent for the time I was watching it, but not really to see again.
          I have to say I didn’t like the way that this movie was told.  Some movies it is okay to see out of order and actually enjoy it.  This one was just irritating.  It begins by showing the beginning of the end, then goes back and tells bit by bit with adding some bits of the end in as well.  I might not have found anything wrong with this, if the rest of the movie was more entertaining.
          I also didn’t like the fact that the end parts were black an white, they just looked kind of cheap.  I don’t usually like to say stuff like that because many actually cheaply done movies look great.  The black and white scenes though looked very cheap to me while I was watching the movie.
          I do have to say that the scene with Neng in the hospital was rather gross.  It was about the only scene that stuck with me.  All of the other deaths were rather lackluster to me.  The characters were also a little lackluster.  Boom was the worst to me.  The character just seemed a little flat.  Nothing but the Neng scene shocked, surprised, or astounded me.


          I would suggest to skip this movie if you are expecting something thrilling.  It isn’t going to be much to watch, but it might be good if you have nothing else to do.  Though I wouldn’t necessarily suggest watching this movie, it really isn’t horrible, just not good.  Also the relatively poor quality of this movie isn't going to deter me from giving Art of the Devil 2 a shot sometime.  n.n

Rumah Darah (Macabre) - Indonesia

          Director:  Kimo Stamboel and Timo Tjahjanto
          Year:  2009
          Plot:  “Two newly weds Adjie and Astrid, along with 3 of their best friends decided to have an interstate road trip as a last attempt to reconcile Adjie with his estranged little sister Ladya. Their trip is however abruptly interrupted when they run into Maya, a strange girl out of nowhere, who wanders aimlessly into their path. "I've been robbed" is all she has to say.”


          This happened to be another movie that I have seen mentioned in a few recommendations that I had been putting off.  It also didn’t help that I have had a lot of homework from college and haven’t had much movie time.  When I did get a slight break from my homework, I decided to give this movie a shot.
          As far as the storyline goes, I was rather happy with this movie.  It kept me pretty interested throughout the whole movie.  I absolutely loved the portrayal of Darah.  I have to say she is rather creepy just in herself.  The rest of the movie wasn’t creepy or scary to me.  I am usually not a big fan of slasher type movies, but this one was still rather good.
          As far as the gore in this movie went, it was all pretty good.  There were points where the stuff looked as fake as it really was, but because I was really interested in finding out what was up with Darah, it didn’t matter much.  
          The characters really do hold this movie together well.  Beyond wanting to know about Darah, the best character was Ladya.  Usually I have problems with the standard horror movie theme that also plays in this one, but this one did it very well.  It is always fun to see a girl fighting back especially when it is effective.  


          I definitely suggest giving this movie a shot.  Despite some of the fake looking gory scenes, the storyline is rather good.  Its ending is a lot like a typical American slasher movie, but this one pulls it off better than most in my opinion.

Evil Twin - Korea

          Director:  Kin Ji-Hwan

          Year:  2007

          Plot:  “A peaceful Joseon village is disturbed by the sudden awakening of So-yeon, a young lady who has been in a coma after surviving a drowning accident 10 years before.  But So-yeon's identical twin sister Hyo-jin, who also fell into the lake, was not so fortunate.  Unable to rest in peace, Hyo-jin returns as a phantom and a series of unnatural deaths ensues.  Eerie weeping sounds presage the appearance of the "han" or grudge-ridden ghost, who takes one victim after another.”

          More than once, I had thoughts about turning off the movie.  The problem was that this movie was so confusing, I wanted to know what was going on.  That really was the only reason I watched this movie till the end.

          The deaths in this movie were really pointless.  That’s not something I usually say during a horror movie.  They really didn’t add any edge for me whatsoever.  It also didn’t help that our grudge style ghost was in no way scary.  Most of the time it just stood in one spot.  It’s not the grudge like ghost that bothers me, as I love that style, but it didn’t do very much.

          I also have to say that the big secret reveal was a complete flop in my opinion.  I love movies where I can have some idea about the truth before it is revealed.  I love the “Ah!  I was right!” moments, but this one didn’t really give me that.  The fact was so obvious to me that I really didn’t have any doubt as to the characters true identity.

          I must admit that there was one truly good part of this movie, and that was the ending.  No, not because it was finally over, but because I really enjoyed how it was done.  After the big reveal, mother and daughter end up on the dock and daughter ends up in the water.  Things turn into the same situation as 10 years prior and the mother has to choose again.  I love the choice that she makes, as it would be the only right way to deal with a ghost like that.

          I would suggest skipping this movie.  The only way I would suggest this movie to someone is if they were extremely bored and had no access to anything better.