Dumplings (2004)

Dumplings (Chinese: 餃子 Jiǎozi) was one of the films Dell over Dell on Movies picked for his entry of the non-English language themed week of the Thursday Movie Picks series. It sounded interesting great so I decided to check it out. 

The film is set in Hong Kong and follows Mrs. Li (Miriam Yeung), a once-famous TV actress who is losing her good looks and her husband (Tony Leung Ka-Fai) with them as he's having an affair with a much younger and attractive woman (Pauline Lau). In order to rejuvenate, she seeks the help of Aunt Mei (Bai Ling), a retired gynaecologist now famous for her dumplings with a mysterious ingredient that can restore youth.

It's a pretty basic plot with a few gruesome twists that don't come off as surprising as you can almost sense right from the start what's the secret ingredient in Aunt Mei's dumplings --I figured it was human meat right away, but it took me a little longer to realise it actually was unborn babies.

It's fine though as Dumplings is not a film built on surprise and suspense but a film whose purpose is to show that we as a society are obsessed with youth and how far we are willing to go to achieve it. The special ingredient of the dumplings isn't the disturbing aspect of the film, but the fact that people go against the law but especially morals to appear is. It's yet another movie that highlights the fact that we live in a society that values more external than internal beauty.

And the character of Mrs. Li, along with the performance from Miriam Yeung, is perfect to embody that. It's hard to believe though that Mrs. Li would go through so much to get her husband back since he is nothing but your typical rich, middle-aged, unfaithful man whose favourite hobby is drooling over young women. In other words, the guy doesn't have any redeeming quality whatsoever. Which is why it was a smart choice to cast Tony Leung Ka-Fai as he is quite charming. However, the stand out is Bai Ling as Aunt Mei. She gives such an excellent and compelling performance and manages to carry the film pretty well.

Lions Gate Films

At last, there's the cinematography by Christopher Doyle (2046), the aspect of Dumplings that stands out the most. There are some out-of-focus shots that are just beautiful; the lighting gives the film a very mysterious look; the bright, lush colours make it quite unforgettable.

Ultimately, Dumplings is not your typical horror movie as it doesn't have monsters, gore, jump scares or what else you would find in a horror movie, but it still qualifies as one because of the disturbing and disgusting subject and the way is handled, it being a touch of dark humour.

Wicked City (1987)

As soon as I decided I would do the 31 days of horror thing, I realised I didn't know any horror animated movie. Actually, I did, but I already had reviewed those so I started searching and, list after list, I always came across one movie, the anime Wicked City (Japanese: 妖獣都市 Yōjū Toshi). I figured it oughta be good so I picked it.

The film is set in a world where most humans unknownly co-exist with an alternate dimension populated by supernatural demons. There's between peace between the two worlds for centuries and agents from both sides cooperate to keep it that way. However, as the end of the 20th century approaches, a group of demons wants to destroy the human world and it's up to two agents, a human playboy, Taki (voiced by Yūsaku Yara), and a beautiful demon, Makie (voiced by Toshiko Fujita), to protect a 200-year-old man, Giuseppi Mayart (voiced by Ichirō Nagai), the only one who can keep peace between the worlds.

It sounds like an interesting storyline, but unfortunately, the writers didn't put a lot of effort into it so, not only the plot is incredibly simplistic and predictable, but there's barely one as there are more holes than in Swiss cheese. It's not like it would have made much of a difference or any sense for the film to have a plot considering the pointless and useless sex going on most of the time.

The characters are just as bad as they are bland, boring and completely uninteresting. Also, other than any no development whatsoever, they are nothing but clichés --the main character is the typical playboy who eventually falls in love --he is supposed to be the hero but he's not even that likeable--, and there's even the old creep/perverted. Honestly, I felt sorry for the female lead for being in this as she is constantly subjected to the old man's sexual comments and the camera ogling her breasts.

Joy Pack Film

Another major problem with Wicked City is that the city is barely in the film. The majority of the film takes place indoors so instead of seeing the city, we see interiors all the time. We get to see the city, specifically the skyline, a couple of times and it's beautiful but it's not enough for a movie with that title.

But I guess you can't/don't have the time to show the city when your main focus is to deliver sex scenes and female nudity to please those (sick) individuals who get turned on by watching anime porn.

And it's really a shame Wicked City is the disgusting, misogynist film it is because the visuals are pretty impressive --the colours are beautiful, especially the use of red and blue, and the monster designs, which include a woman shooting webs from her toothed vagina after the film's first pointless sex scene, are quite interesting.

Shutter (2004)

Many years ago, in my early teens, horror was one of my favourite genres and See No Evil was my favourite movie. That's how I ended up with a girl crush on Rachael Taylor which ended up with me watching another of the terrible horror movies she starred in, Shutter. It's only recently, after I started blogging, that I discovered it was a poor remake of a Thai movie, also named Shutter (Thai: ชัตเตอร์ กดติดวิญญาณ), and I decided I would check it out.

The film tells the story of a young photographer, Tun (Ananda Everingham), and his girlfriend, Jane (Natthaweeranuch Thongmee), who, on their way home after a wedding reception, accidentally run over a young girl (Achita Sikamana). Tun persuades Jane to flee the scene and they drive off. Everything seems to be fine until Tun develops his next roll of film and he finds some mysterious shadows in the photos.

Since I've seen the remake, even though I didn't remember every single thing about it, I already knew how the story would develop, I was aware of the horrifying turn it would take, and yet Shutter kept me glued to the screen from start to finish as the story is "beautifully" told, it's filled with fear, dread and suspense, and slowly drags you into its mystery as it does with its characters.

The film also has solid characters. Tun and Jane are interesting and believable, they have a nice development, and are very likeable, so much so that you genuinely feel sorry and anxious when they find themselves in danger.

It's not only the script though that gets the job done there; the two leading actors indeed do a very good job. In addition to being eye-candy, Ananda Everingham gives a convincing performance as Tun, and carries the film well; Natthaweeranuch Thongmee provides a solid performance as Jane; Achita Sikamana is quite impressive in her small role.

GMM Grammy, Phenomena Motion Pictures

At last, when it comes to horror, and frightening the audience, the directors, Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom, clearly know what they are doing. They deliver an incredible, intense atmosphere throughout the entire film, with the help of a nice camera work, a good use of lighting, and a creepy musical score. The film does rely a lot on jump scares to frighten its audience, more than it should have, but at least they are effective.

The Wailing (2016)

Original Title

곡성 Gokseoung

Genre

Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Director

Na Hong-jin

Country

South Korea

Cast

Kwak Do-won, Hwang Jung-min, Jun Kunimura, Chun Woo-hee, Kim Hwan-hee, Her Jin, Jang So-yeon, Kim Do-yoon, Son Kang-gook, Park Seong-gyeong, Kil Chang-gyoo, Jean Bae-soo

Storyline

As a Japanese (Jun Kunimura) arrives in a little village, a mystery sickness starts spreading, and a policeman (Kwak Do-won) is forced to solve the mystery in order to save his daughter (Kim Hwan-hee).

Opinion

I haven't seen a lot of Korean movies, but until now I loved them all. This is the first time I felt somewhat disappointed. Why? Koreans are famous for making creepy and scary horrors, and, while it is an enjoyable and entertaining film, I wouldn't suggest The Wailing to someone looking for a good horror because it isn't that scary.

More of a supernatural tale with a little horror and some dark comedy, the story involves ghosts, possessions and other stuff of this kind, but comes off as very original and requires a lot of attention from the viewer. In fact, even a few missed details could "compromise" the understanding of the story and its ambiguous ending.

However, is that complexity of the story and the mystery elements that keep the viewer glued to the screen until the very end, and it's very likely to find yourself trying to solve this sinister case like Jong-goo, the sympathetic main character. And even when you think you have it all sorted out, another twist comes and leads you in a different direction. 

That's what makes this film so interesting, because, like I've mentioned earlier, the film isn't scary. Most of the time, people wailing are supposed to be scary, but unfortunately that didn't work for me. 

Also giving the film an extra kick is the comedy. While it certainly isn't a comedy, The Wailing features a dark, eccentric sense of humour that perfectly fits the film. Even though in the second part it becomes more slapstick and it doesn't really work.

Something I can't complain about is the running time. Honestly, I was scared to death when I saw the film was 2 hours and 36 minutes long, but time flew. And the credits also go to the beautiful scenery and setting, and the cast. For the exception of some overacted scenes, the acting is strong, especially from the child actor. Which isn't much of a child actor actually since she is 14.