Dream Home (2010)

Click.. Hiss... Puffff.....

Reviewed by Cigarette Smoking man A

I have seen some of Director Pang Ho Cheung Films. Most of his movies are dark with slight undertones of humor interlaced in between. Well, dark comedy as you may. His most prominent movie in this case, is Men Suddenly in Black, Pang's spoof of the highly-acclaimed Infernal Affairs. But his latest effort, Dream Home or known in Cantonese as Wai Dor Lei Ar Yat Hou (Victoria No.1) is definitely an extreme contrast to what HongKong cinemas are producing these days. Hongkong cinema had always rely on a steady staple of romance, comedy, sometimes horror and mostly tvb dramas, all which are poorly executed and extremely lacklustre. Before you chuck the mouse through the monitor in disagreement, I was expressing how I view Hongkong cinema these days. Back in the days in the 90's when Stephen Chow reigned supreme, we had almost no visual effects, but the storyline is solid and the overall movie is funny as hell. Back when Lam Ching Ying in the 1980's in his slew of hopping vampire series, they all had almost zero CG, but rely mostly on wiring an actual stunts. Yes, yes, we now have movies like Red Cliff and a plethora of martial arts movies like Ip man, but all these good movies are few and far in between.

Then you have Dream Home.

This is Pang's take on Hongkong fast-paced, ever-changing lifestyle, where society conforms to a certain standard, where Hongkies wanted only the best to suit their extravagant lifestyle. And for those average working wage-slaves like us, all these are mere unachievable dreams. The movies starts off violently, with the main actress, Cheung Lai Sheung (Josie Ho) killing off one of the guards in an apartment building. Next scene we are shifted to character development, as we are introduced to our killer, a meek gentle office lady who works 2 jobs just to make ends meet while supporting her younger brother. It seems that she is saving to purchase a house overlooking Victoria Harbour, providing a better life for her family. The movie then alternates between time frames, when Cheung was young and then back to present, explaining why Cheung went off to a murdering spree. I rather enjoyed the movie in this pacing. It must seem confusing, with the alternating time frames, but it plays a crucial role in spacing between the violent scenes and the history scenes, so its balances itself out, rather than have half of the entire movie is slasher-mode and the second half story-mode.

I can assure you that this movie plays like a western slasher movie. Its extremely refreshing to watch Hongkong cinema steering out of its direction and into something different. It also helps that Josie ho, daughter of Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho, PRODUCES this movie. Absolute freedom in creative process and direction made this film into one of the best, if not, the most brutal in HongKong cinema. We are served with a plethora of killing methods, from stabbings to decapitation, from ice picks to axes. This is borderline gore with extra helpings of bloodletting, as some of the scenes are surprisingly shock-worthy. I wouldn't have expected in my life, Hongkong to so daringly produce movies like this. At first glance, its a slasher flick, but if you watch further, you will understand that its basically a movie on how an individual deals with the pressure and stress of a modern, fast-paced society such as HongKong. Get the uncut version, not the version they release for foreign viewers under Fortissimo films. For this movie, I will lit up another as a celebratory smoke to one of hongKong's finest films in 2010. Download here

4.5 Ciggies out of 5

Semum (2008)

Click, Light… Inhale and Pufffff…

Reviewed by Cigarette Smoking Man B

The Middle East is known for a lot of stuff but it never crossed my mind that horror movies would be one of them. I seen this movie popping in and out of the net but getting my hands on this one left me high and dry unwittingly. Written and directed by Hasan Karacadağ which reportedly recounts the true story of a woman who lives in İzmir, Turkey actually reminded me of some other known ‘true story’ movies such as the Exorcist and The Amytivlle Horror. The recipe is quite simple, ‘I-saw- something-there’ wife and ‘There’s-nothing-there-honey-husband, added with ‘What’s-wrong-with-you?’ friend and ‘It-might-be-evil’ friend, shimmered with a dose of ‘I’ve-come-to-help-you’ priest and then served with fresh an evil demon coming to kill em’ all. Whoops! Seen that, done that, threw that out the window.

(Listening to Iron Maiden’s Run To The Hills while reviewing)

It goes something like this, Twenty-seven-year-old Canan (Ayça İnci) and her husband Volkan (Burak Hakkı) have just moved into a large, new house. Life seems to continue on its routine track in the young couple's new house until one day, when Canan starts feeling that strange things are happening to her although she cannot understand what and why. Canan gradually starts turning into an evil creature as a mysterious and malicious being takes control of her body and actions day after day.

The only thing that I would say stood out would be using Islamic mythology and demons as its inspiration, the Semum (also known as Ernie with Iron Maiden Fans) are a race of demons created by Satan that ruled the earth before god created men, banished to hell, they seek to slay humankind and jam on rock album covers as a screw to god. The flick starts out slow, then slower, then slow, then slower, slow, slower and then just when you think you figured it out, there is an argument scene in hell with the Holy man and a dance crew of semums. The debate? Who’s the man? God or Satan. I’ll just let you figure out who won that dance off. The movie does have its creepy moments and some unique views on the whole possession routine but overall, you’ll feel that lighting up another cigarette for this flick might not be the best idea. The ending comes with a twist that is supposed to do the trick but kinda doesn’t really add up. Watch it once and call your mom on the phone and tell her how much you love her. Download here

2 OUT OF 5 CIGGIES