A young man, who is struggling as both a Tae Kwan Do tournament contestant and University student on a shaky student visa, is house sitting at a mansion as a favour for the friend that helped him obtain said student visa. While staying there, a mysterious young woman seduces him, and turns his life into a literal hell.
This thriller plays out less like an obsession film, as it is advertised (even the film’s unfortunately overused title implies some sort of obsession, if nothing else because it invokes memories of the Alicia Silverstone starring, deadly obsession film of basically the same name), but more as a haunting. Bumps around the corner, unexplained power outages and doors locking and unlocking themselves occur without ever seeing the seductress present. As the film progresses, it would seem we are being led to assume that the protagonist is descending into madness, but then things go headfirst into the supernatural and suddenly it resembles a far more serious version of the 1980s Prom Night films (where everything is directly tied to the supernatural powers of the obsessed girl).
The film is not long and the relatively straight ahead plot makes it run by like a decently paced episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The soundtrack is littered with hard rock and alternative tunes that are on the forefront whenever they turn on, which may not always suit the scene but does manage to give the illusion of a heartier pace for the film as these upbeat songs make mundane transitions and montages swim by.
Such a thriller hinges on the performances of actors, and this cast is quite convincing no matter what occurs. The relationships of the characters are clear but the focus is placed on the dangerous relationship of our hero and the ghostly seductress. Once you are sold on the story, you are in for a satisfying tale.
Video
Widescreen 1.78:1. The picture is very clear. The framing fits a widescreen television very well without any stretching of the image. The clear picture helps highlight the sparse but well rendered special f/x.
Audio
Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0. As mentioned, there is a hard rock soundtrack that dominates the soundtrack. The music and dialogue are all very clear which makes it a shame that it is not available in 5.1 Surround.
Subtitles available in Spanish.
Special Features
Trailers.
Final Thoughts
Since the film does not lay its cards on the table right away regarding its supernatural side (don’t worry, the menu spoils it before I can), one might find it to be odd in presentation, but still affective. It won’t rock your world but it is a relief to see an obsession film with a twist (or for that matter, a ghost story that goes beyond the level of The Grudge).
