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.

Gin Gwai 2 (The Eye 2) - China

          Director:  Oxide Pang Chun, and Danny Pang
          Year:  2004
          Plot:  “After a failed suicide attempt, a pregnant woman gains the ability to see ghosts.”


          I finally decided to watch this one.  I really enjoyed the first one and thought this one had to be good.  I am happy to find that this one was in fact good.  It wasn’t scary at all, but the storyline kept me very interested.  The idea was different from the first one which is definitely refreshing.  Some movies that change it up for the sequel fail with the quality.  This one though seemed to do really well, but did lack scares.  Still even if it wasn’t scary, it was worth the time to watch it.  I also enjoyed the ending, they really wrapped it up in and good way.
          It took me all day to watch this movie, not because there was anything that actually made me take that long besides a little boy.  I had to keep putting it off to occupy my nephew, so I don’t have too much to talk about.  The longer I put off my reviews, well the shorter they get.
          I have to say that this woman was really bad at killing herself.  I mean really, it shouldn’t be that hard.  She tries quite a few time and fails.  Also this turned out to be one of those karma type movies.  You do wrong and your life gets flipped upside down.  Our main character isn’t the only one though, but that’s something that you need to see.


          I would suggest this movie, especially if you liked the first one.  Though, you might want to put this one off when you are looking for a scare.  This won’t waste your time entirely.

Dark Water - Japan

          Director:  Hideo Nakata
          Year:  2002
          Plot:  “A mother and her 6 year old daughter move into a creepy apartment whose every surface is permeated by water.”


          I have been wanting to watch this movie since I read The Ring by Koji Suzuki.  This is of course based off Dark Water, one of his other books.  I was finally able to see it, and I am happy that I got to.  It turns out that you can really tell that it was written by Koji Suzuki.
          This movie wasn’t scary in anyway.  The thing is though that it really didn’t have to be for me.  I had already expected not to be scared.  Many people had already told me it wasn’t going to be, so I wasn’t too surprised. I was also told though that it was also a very slow movie.  This one though didn’t really come into play.  Sure it takes awhile to get to the resolution, but it certainly has a lot of things to keep you interested in what is going on.  At no point did I consider turning off the movie because it was slow.
          The ending to this was kind of sad actually.  This isn’t something that is unheard of in Asian horror though.  I wasn't as surprised to find a sad ending rather than those I am used to in many American horror movies.

          I do suggest this movie to many.  If you want something scary though, I suggest you save this for another time.  It is a really good movie, but it lacks any real scary parts.  This is one that you should watch when you just need something to occupy you, not something really scary.