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Review
by Kozo: |
Lazy horror-thriller starring Louis Koo as the proverbially
haunted cop. He's Officer Chan, who's investigating
a cult-influenced group suicide. He consults Officer
Chiu (Anthony Wong), a fortune-telling cop who has a
past with similar cult-themed mysteries. It seems that
Chiu once put away Lam Yuet-Tin (Mark Cheng), a confident
cult leader who likes to say that he was God, Satan
or some combination of the two. Chan couldn't care less
about such supernatural mumbo-jumbo, but he probably
should. His parents died thanks to cult-inspired shenanigans,
and the new evil cult leader Pope (Andrew Lin) claims
to be another God/Satan combo. Chan must attempt to
solve the crimes while maintaining his own sanity.
The dilemma faced by Officer
Chan could easily extend to the audience. Ivan Lai's
collection of cheapo horror clichés is told with
screwy camera angles and annoying musical cues which
only add to the lack of suspense. Furthermore, lots
of useless exposition is foisted upon the audience in
place of storytelling. It seems that both Lam and now
Pope claim to be reincarnations of God/Satan, but neither
really can be. Or can they? That metaphysical question
is probably the central hook of this unnecessary production,
but it's handled in such a poor and undeveloped way
that the final twist only annoys in its utter randomness.
The acting is passable
to nonexistent. Louis Koo has shown fine presence in
the past, but he's so dour and intense here that it
borders on annoying. Anthony Wong sleepwalks through
this production, and newcomers Andrew Lin and Grace
Lam do nothing of any interest. At least Mark Cheng
seems to be having fun, but that's probably because
he shot all his scenes in one day. He also has the most
howlingly stupid lines, which is where the film's true
fault lies: screenwriting. You could knock Ivan Lai's
direction, but it's the nonsensical and frankly stupid
story that make this an all-out loser. Louis Koo fans:
watch something else. (Kozo 1998/2000) |
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