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32 out of 42 people found the following review useful: Beautiful, intriguing, but watch your nerves for the last 20 minutes., 19 February 2005 Author: fedtho from Geneva, Switzerland
Only 2 comments as I'm writing this, and this movie definitely deserves better.I saw it at a little horror festival in France in January.This movie is about being lost when you're supposed to become an adult, being lost in the harsh, individualistic world we live in... (that sounds very common, but the movie isn't.) It also takes on voyeurism in a quite original way, even questions photography and "beauty"...There is a perpetual and nameless menace surrounding the young girl we follow. She feels alone, misunderstood. But she's got strength and will and talent...Her obsession with death will ultimately be an opportunity for her to face herself, although she really seems to loose it as the story unfolds.I really find this movie appealing and quite outstanding, and I want to recommend it... ...but there is that finale!!! I can't talk about the ending without destroying what is certainly an intended impression...******************* but I feel this movie should warn audiences about its extreme violence.*******************That said, there are a lot of reasons to watch this if you have the opportunity.
21 out of 28 people found the following review useful: Creepy and fascinating thriller., 24 July 2005 Author: HumanoidOfFlesh from Chyby, Poland
Jiney is a young photographer,but she is not satisfied with her work.One day,she witnesses a car crash which stimulates her to take some pictures of its dying victims.The girl starts obsessively making photos of dead and dying people and animals.This morbid fascination with death become her ghastly obsession.These images of death and destruction turns on Jiney and when she is finally able to shoot a suicide,she finds complete sexual relief and totally losses herself.However,knowing that her sexual desires are not right,Jiney wants to stop this before it gets out of control.Together with her intimate friend Jas,Jiney starts to acknowledge her wrong behaviour.Suddenly she receives a snuff video from a killer who is sharing the same artistic idea about death as Jiney."Ab-normal Beauty" is a pretty unsettling thriller made by Pang brothers.It's a fascinating look into a young woman's obsession with death.The film is loaded with truly ominous and dark atmosphere and there are some lashings of gore that may shock casual viewers.The S&M style killer looks creepy but his identity is rather easy to guess.The film is colorful and stylish as it resembles a truly moody painting.Give it a look.9 out of 10.
7 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Morbid, Bizarre and Fascinating Aesthetic, 7 May 2007 Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Jiney (Race Wong) is a talented student of Arts with a trauma in her childhood and lack of communication with her mother, and excellent photographer that is not satisfied with her awarded works. When she witnesses a car crash, she is driven by a morbid wish and takes pictures of the dead victim. She becomes obsessed with death, and her close friend Jas (Rosanne Wong) feels that Jiney needs help with her abnormal behavior and attraction. When Jiney supersedes her death wish, she receives a snuff video where a girl is tortured and killed in front of the camera. Jiney shows the tape to Jas, who questions the authenticity of the footage, and they believe it is a prank of their friend Anson (Anson Leung). When the girls realize that it is not a joke of Anson, Jiney receives another tape with the message inviting her to take a look. When she sees the tape, she becomes scared with the sinister footage."Sei Mon Se Jun" is morbid and bizarre, but presents a fascinating aesthetic and an awesome cinematography and the style of Dario Argento. This gore and violent tale is stylish and dark, with magnificent use of colors prevailing red. Oxide Pong gives a homosexual connotation to the close relationship of Jiney and Jas, but it is never explicit. The childhood trauma of Jiney should have been previously disclosed and not in the last scene. Race Wong and Rosanne Wong are very beautiful actresses and the killer recalls Leatherface. I am a big fan of the Pang Brothers and I really liked this creepy film that in some moments looks like pictures at an exhibition. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Desejos Mortais" ("Deadly Desires")
10 out of 14 people found the following review useful: Ab-normally stunning, 4 March 2006 Author: Mana-Rayne Ash from Canada
I give this movie a ten, and not lightly.It was beautifully filmed, and very artistic. The darker portions of the movie where you're engulfed in an eerie feeling are very dark and dingy in the colors selected, and yet so very bright when goals have been accomplished, putting forward a great feel and really intriguing anyone interested in artistic films. The writing wasn't great, but the story was amazing. Still, I'm drawn to the shots and beauty behind the movie.If you're looking for a creepy movie that isn't about the fairy tale monster, but rather the monsters we may look at every day, this' the movie for you.I recommend this movie whole heartedly. A GREAT watch.
10 out of 16 people found the following review useful: Visually stunning, but to no effect, 23 January 2006 Author: André (afdiazr) from Mexico City
The Pang Brothers know their stuff when it comes to visual style. This movie is a proof. It's visually flawless. Beautiful photography, nice camera tricks, gorgeous looking leads and eerie atmospheres, but that's as far as it goes. Oh… And the sound is nicely done too. In some ways this film is like The Crow: City of Angels, an absolute feast for the eye, but it delivers no content to back it up. And it gets boring in some parts, since you don't really give too much about the characters. The so-called violent scenes at the end are a letdown –that's if you're looking for something truly disturbing. It's well done, and creepy in some parts. The killer's method was a great idea, with all the cameras and the sound of him approaching. I loved that. But at the end it's like if someone mixed Beverly Hills 90210 with Thesis (the Spanish flick). If that's your cup of tea, then this movie is for you.Watch it on a nice home system. You will get it's full blow.
5 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Sexually Confused Girl with a Death Fetish, 11 July 2007 Author: Der_Schnibbler from Germany
It starts like a horror film. Photography student one day witnesses a death, takes a picture of it, and her morbid fascination is unleashed. She starts taking picture of dead things and being generally "creepy." There is really nothing more to say as far as plot goes.To her credit, it's not as if she was already a perfectly adjusted art student, assuming there is such a thing. Apparently, she was gang raped while she was about eight years old from her ten-year-old cousin (!) and his friends. No, I'm not kidding. The film really shows a pre-teenie gang rape. But let's buy it for plot's sake.So now, our morbid art student hates guys, has hooked up with another sexually confused girlie like herself, vows that she will "never" like guys, and is generally "angry" and, well, disturbed.Enter Spineless Geek character. Some emasculated, effeminate film student (is there any other kind? nyuck, nyuck) is -- against all rationality and reason -- infatuated with her. Being that he never leaves her alone, she eventually finds herself forced to battle her attraction toward him.And that's really the film. No horror here. Just an overly stylized, chic-music-laden film about a psychologically disturbed and sexually aberrated girl trying to figure it all out. And that's the true meaning of the "abnormal" in the title.Stay away from this movie unless you want to witness plenty of drawn out scenes of our protagonist doing "weird" things, like dangling off a balcony or drenching herself in red paint -- oh, and screaming into nothingness while she's at it. You know... screaming, as in "woah, this scene is emotionally deep and stuff." All because mum did not believe her when she said her cousin gangbanged her. (Enter even more disgustingly schmaltzy piano music here.)*** POTENTIAL SPOILERS BEGIN ***Alright, now. To be fair. After a torturous hour of nothingness, the protagonist spills the beans to mum and all turns bright and cheery again -- until the very next scene. She receives a videotape showing the torture and murder of an unidentified girl. Confused Duo now turns to Detective Duo, and the protagonist and her "girlfriend" go confront Spineless Geek for having made it. Of course, he knows nothing of it. Soon a second tape arrives -- uh-oh. It's the main squeeze. Not a big loss, really. She was a man-hater and not particularly attractive to begin with. Amusingly enough, while the "girlfirend" is being beat to death, her only concern is "Don't hurt Jin!" Ridiculous. It's very hard to watch, though. Unless you enjoy seeing violence against mentally ill women, who need psychological help, and certainly not murder! But anyway. Who is doing all this?*** POTENTIAL SPOILERS END ***The film actually does turn to a bona fide horror film, but only after having us wait an entire hour! Even then... the final scene -- the last 20 minutes, which are supposedly the "nerve-racking" part, according to some reviewers -- is nothing more than another ridiculously drawn out pseudo-emotional part that attempts to make you "care." The killer's identity is eventually revealed and, um, oooh, "surprise." Whatever. By the way, one of the funniest parts of the film is where the protagonist is taking pictures of a guy killing chickens and the guy exclaims (referring to the chicken), "What a beautiful cock!" This is, incidentally, precisely what the protagonist needs. Then this entire miserable film would have never been made.I suggest you watch the first twenty minutes, then skip to the last twenty. However, if you don't have the patience for it, you're not missing much. There are plenty of films that have done this better.The lesson of the day is, kiddies: Hong Kong cannot make horror. Even the infamous "Ebola Syndrome" fell prey in large part to the typical Hong Kong "horror film" weakness of being more wishy-washy pseudo-emotional social commentary than true horror film (though it is, admittedly, in a class of its own). And this is what this film is as well. Nothing more than a schmaltzy wannabe heartstring tugger disguised as "horror."
11 out of 19 people found the following review useful: Nothing Normal about this movie..., 19 February 2006 Author: Lccrusher from United States
"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen" - Richie, "American Beauty" The Asian films are so different from American films. They put a different thought process behind it. They make you think about things, while many American films are just sit in the theater for 2 hours, watching nothing.The heart of this film is everything is beautiful. It can be a purple skyscraper. An overpass. Someone dead in the middle of the street from a car accident. This movie shows the beauty of the latter, which is good, until the character becomes obsessive about these pictures. Then it becomes a nice little thriller. Not jumpy, but it is wince worthy.At times, I almost felt bad for liking this movie so much, but it is now one of my favorite.
3 out of 4 people found the following review useful: fascinating, appealing, intriguing but a deviating (and somewhat disappointing last 20 minutes., 6 August 2007 Author: Senyales from Fraggle Rock
'Sei mong se jun', with it's fascinating cinematography and background score tells us the story of Jiney. Jiney is a lonely, introverted and talented young lady who's in search of herself in a somewhat deceitful world. She only confides her thoughts to her friend/cousin Jas. She reveals a deep painful secret that is destroying her inner self. Photography is her passion but she lacks the inspiration to find it fulfilling until she develops a fascination (which gradually shifts to obsession) for death. Why does she find comfort and solace in such a disturbing act? The Pang brothers have really created a visually wonderful film. The camera, the lighting, the choice of colour, all of it adds to the beauty. Oxide Pang gives us a visual treat. The background piano tune really brings out the mood. The screenplay during the first hour is very well written and the events unfold quite smoothly. However, it is during the last 20 minutes that the plot seems to take a different direction and (spoiler alert) it was quite disappointing when the identity of the killer is revealed.The performances are quite good. Race Wong and Rosanne Wong share a warm chemistry and their relationship is very sensitively portrayed. Anson Leung as the awkward guy in love is impressive.This really is a worthwhile watch mainly because of it's visual appeal that really makes you feel a part of its world. Even otherwise it's quite a decent watch.
4 out of 6 people found the following review useful: Crazyness..., 15 January 2007 Author: Aaron Martinez from United States
A very weird tale about a lesbian girl, semi-losing her mind from a combination of past events, and her present preferences. She is an artist, with an emphasis on photography. She suddenly starts becoming obsessed with taking pictures of death.Her friends don't really take that very well. They think it's psycho, and so do other people that you wouldn't really call her "friends"...All in all a very good movie. If you're into Asian films, especially those with a chilling twist... This ones for you! The director portrayed losing your mind very well in my opinion, which I didn't really expect because the main character was very good looking. Making her lesbian made me think that it was going to try and make her looks sell the picture... I was very wrong. This film was written very well, and the character development was nothing short of amazing.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: An American take, 20 September 2009 Author: dave-sturm from Baltimore
This is either brilliant Asian horror or total claptrap. I'm leaning toward the latter.Hmm. I'm split. The first half is totally compelling as we watch a brilliant young Chinese lesbian art student veer off into a fascination with photographing death after witnessing a fatal traffic accident. She's obsessed with capturing the moment of death on her Nikon, be it chicken or fish or a suicide jumper from a tall building. We watch lovely young Jin as she follows her muse into dangerous places.There may be a reason in her past for this obsession. Her lesbian partner is really worried about her. And -- whoa! -- now there's a boy in her life who has obviously fallen in love with her.A lot of interesting elements have come into play. And the Pang brothers are brilliant cinematographers and editors. Sheer beauty on the screen. I cannot stress how magnificently this is filmed.Then comes the last half hour. It is total gibberish. And it's filmed in such deep darkness you cannot see what's going on (I am talking about the DVD version). All you can tell is that it involves bondage and sadomasochism. A woman bound to a chair is screaming her lungs out. Someone unseen is tormenting her.If some truth came out, I totally missed it. Maybe it's a western thing. I like Asian horror movies. But this left me baffled.
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