(2002)
Dir - Ryuhei Kitamura
Overall: MEH
Though not as mind-numbingly insulting as his debut Versus, filmmaker Ryuhei Kitamura's follow-up Alive, (Araivu), still proves to be a faulty exorcise in badassery. An adaptation of Tsutomu Takahashi's manga of the same name, it takes place entirely in an oppressive, black steel, scientific prison complex where a mutated entity is experimented on as it jumps bodies to the most blood-thirsty host. The set design is impressive, giving it a dark, wet, and steamy cyberpunk aesthetic that suits characters dressed in shiny leather who stare each other down with inhuman patience as repetitive dialog is slowly, slowly delivered. At least an hour of its one-hundred and ten minute running time could be trimmed to keep the viewer from dozing off as Kitamura is once again working with a minimalist story line here and one that is stretched to a breaking point by a glacially paced plot that offers up little if any new information of any significance along its route. The CGI effects are typically cartoony and the wire-action stunts mixed with the techno-sci-fi visuals are clearly meant to recall The Matrix, but there is not nearly enough substance here to munch on as it simply becomes a plodding and cynical action movie with no pulse.
(2004)
Dir - Su-chang Kong
Overall: MEH
A Vietnam-set horror movie that blows some of its interesting supernatural ideas with a sluggish and inconclusive plot, R-Point is at least atmospherically on point. The debut from filmmaker Su-chang Kong, it was shot on location in Cambodia and largely takes place at the abandoned Bokor Palace Hotel, which provides an accurate setting for a 1972 backdrop where a South Korean platoon is sent to investigate missing soldiers in what proves to be a nebulously haunted area. While the premise is rock solid for war-torn, spooky shenanigans to unfold, the cast exhibits the right type of macho posturing, and Kong captures the locale in all of its exotic grime, his screenplay unfortunately gets lost in the weeds. The one-note crop of characters throw a lot of expletives at each other, blending together to the point of merely becoming casualty fodder for malevolent spirits to vaguely drive mad. Going the ambiguous route would otherwise work if the story had more memorable set pieces or led to a satisfying payoff, but instead it just gets more muck-heavy and meanders around as if it is building to a mystery whose explanation is never even attempted let alone given.
(2005)
Dir - Leste Chen
Overall: MEH
The debut from Taiwanese music video director Leste Chen and his to-date only work in supernatural horror, The Heirloom, (Zhai bian), is a laborious affair that never picks up any momentum and grows increasingly confused along the way. Despite an overbearingly gloomy set design which props itself up in a spacious family mansion in desperate need of a makeover, the film does everything incorrectly. The script by Dorian Li is both convoluted and boring, teasing a sacrificial dead baby practice in the prologue and then abandoning it for completely wooden characters slowly wandering around the crippling abode, investigating noises or the mysterious appearances/murders of other also completely wooden characters. Meanwhile, the melancholic, romantic music swells through every scene and Chen occasionally throws in some half-corked spooky flourishes to break up a meandering plot that borders on incoherence by the lackluster finale. It is an interesting trainwreck of sorts; one that looks impressive enough, seems to be taking itself seriously, and has an arthouse agenda, yet also one that fails to bring any of its ideas together while dropping the ball as both an atmospheric horror movie, an inciting mystery, and an emotionally resonant drama.
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