SYNOPSIS:
After a messy break-up, Winnie (Charlene Choi) records all her
thoughts in her Diary. Diary tracks her life thereafter, which
includes falling into severe depression and a meet-up with Ray
(Shawn Yue) who looks exactly like her ex, Seth. Winnie relates
to Ray that Seth has died in a car crash two years ago. Winnie
and Ray starts dating thereafter. When Winnie suddenly reveals
that Seth has actually died from cancer one night, Ray finds
something amiss...
MOVIE REVIEW :
There
is nothing more satisfying than a smart psycho horror that
still sends shivers down our spines just by thinking about
it. Produced by the Pang brothers who are known for their
visually-enticing horror movies, this picture will go down
as one of the more creative executions of this genre in recent
Hong Kong movie history.
Directed
by Oxide Pang, the clever movie first introduces us to Winnie,
who meets Ray, who mysteriously resembles her deceased ex-boyfriend.
Then there is Winnie’s mysterious best friend Yvonne,
who keeps popping out of nowhere to give her advice on men.
And there is also a diary which Winnie keeps to pen down her
most personal thoughts. Oh, we have to mention those wooden
puppets which Winnie carves non-stop too.
With a
plot like that, you’d be expecting red herrings everywhere,
and the smart aleck in you would be continuously guessing
the truth behind this seemingly complicated storyline. We
thought we were quick, but Pang’s twisted plot got the
better of us.
While
some may regard this strategy of storytelling as a matter
of style over substance, one cannot disagree that it is truly
an interesting mind game while it lasted. And how apt this
approach is, considering the main focus of the plot is about
how the mind can destroy one’s life.
Hopefully
not giving any spoilers here, you may be irritated at how
the clues littered throughout the 85 minutes of the movie
do not make any sense at the end of the day. But they do make
for a visual feast, if you have seen the Pang brothers previous
works like The Eye (2002) and Re-cycle (2006).
Trust
these twin brothers to hook us with shot after shot of the
deep-coloured apartment which looms of threat and danger.
Besides
the lush visuals, Charlene Choi (A Chinese Tall Story, Rob-B-Hood)
breaks her sweetie-pie stereotype to play the creepy Winnie
to disturbing effect. Joining her is Isabella Leung (Dragon
Squad, Isabella) who would make Sadako from Ringu proud with
her eerie and unsettling stare. Shawn Yue (Initial D, Dragon
Tiger Gate) completes the young cast by playing a pretty boy
with limited room for expressions.
As
cliché as the following statement may sound, this is
one movie you’d either love or hate – depending
on your level of tolerance for directors who enjoy playing
mind twisting games with you.
SPECIAL
FEATURES :
This Code 3 disc contains trailers for the movie
itself, as well as Max Makowski’s One
Last Dance and Derek Yee’s Protégé.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
It
is a real shame that the DVD producers did not include the
original Cantonese track on this disc, leaving us with only
a weird Mandarin dub track. On a positive note, the visual
transfer does the original disconcerting shots justice.
MOVIE
RATING:
 
DVD
RATING:
Review
by John
Li
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