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Review
by Kozo: |
Asian Horror gets another entry with the underwhelming
Futago. Hisako Shirata turns in a frightfully
average performance as twin sisters Asa and Mio Uchida,
a pair of Japanese girls with vastly different reasons
to be in Hong Kong. Asa came over to become a popstar,
but during her stay at a Tsimshatsui motel, she suddenly
disappeared. Enter sister Mio, whose sudden appearance
at the motel freaks out everyone else staying there.
Their overdone fright at Mio's appearance is because
A) something obviously happened to Asa and everyone
is acting guilty, and B) Mio walks slowly and in a bizarre,
zoned-out state, just like every creepy Asian girl since
The Ring. Everyone should be afraid; soon after
Mio appears, people begin dying left and right. You'd
think people dying would cause a mass exodus from the
hotel, but nobody leaves. The room rates must be good.
Mio's appearance could mean
many things. Is she a vengeful spirit out to avenge
her sister? A tourist just checking up on her sister
at the wrong time? Or a cheap knock-off of every other
creepy female in an Asian Horror movie? The answer:
a combination of the above. For a period of time, the
film does hold some intrigue. This is mostly due to
first-time director Fung Yuen-Man, who reveals the ins-and-outs
of Futago with a slow, patient style that's surprising
for a Hong Kong filmmaker. The film also has effective
cinematography and art direction, and manages some tense
and even effectively violent moments. Futago doesn't reveal too much too soon, so those who find
the mystery of Asa and Mio Uchida interesting should
be on the edge of their seats.
Unfortunately, the mystery
of the twin sisters isn't really that interesting, so
whatever goodwill the film engenders is soon lost. After
a while, the film's tension gives way to unintentional
silliness. Actors start to overact, characters and situations
grow inconsistent, and an obvious costume change occurs.
Hisako Shirata ditches her white dress and shows up
in a red one, which is a dead giveaway in any Chinese
horror film that you should run away as soon as possible.
However, nobody takes the obvious hint, and continues
to let Mio Uchida have her way. Making matters worse
is investigating cop Ching (Tony Ho), who qualifies
as possibly the worst cop in all of Hong Kong. Ching
is tortured by bad memories and a disintegrating marriage,
so he could be excused for being sloppy. However, Ching
doesn't seem to have any idea how to run an investigation
except show up after people are dead. As Ching, Tony
Ho makes a decent burnt-out cop, but he loses all credibility
when he begins to overact comically. But even before
then, Futago has already ceased to become anything
more than an unnecessary entry into an overcrowded genre.
(Kozo 2005) |
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