Synopsis
Mu-ju is trying to adjust to life again after surviving a terrible accident. Life is still hard, as her eldest daughter suffers from something like autism, and she is having trouble landing a permanent position as a teacher at a music school (plus, a former student has it in for her). The aforementioned eldest daughter becomes obsessed with a cello, and a mute housekeeper moves in, and terrible things begin to happen.
But those terrible things wait far too long to happen. A third o… the movie’s running time has expired before any sign of a plot shows up, and the denoument is so hackneyed and nonsensical that even those who have enjoyed what came before will be left trembling with rage. A real disappointment.
Audio
The music certainly sounds nice, which, given the movie’s premise, is a good thing, but there are some oddities here. Quite often, the music is heavily oriented towards the rear speakers – exclusively so, in a few cases – and while this sometimes makes sense within the context of a given scene, this is not always the case. Otherwise, the sound is solid, with some nice left-right placement.
Video
The colours are very nice and strong, and the blacks are superb, so the look of the film is plenty atmospheric, even if the story takes too long to get to the same point. There is no grain, though there is some minor edge enhancement. The image is sharp. In other words, the presentation is very good, and in line with the other films in Tartan’s Asia Extreme series.
Special Features
The director’s commentary is a subtitled, pretty thorough guide through the film. The behind-the-scenes featurette has no subtitles, which greatly diminishes its interest. The other extras trailers for the feature and other releases in the series.
Closing Thoughts
A nicely shot and presented horror film, but one that doesn’t reward those willing to make it to the end.
Special Features List
- Director’s Commentary
- Behind the Scenes Featurette
- Trailers
