(2006 / Thailand / Hong Kong)
Review By-Paul Cooke
Director: Oxide Pang & Danny Pang Starring: Angelica Lee , Lawrence Chou , Siu-Ming Lau & Rain Li Source : Universe Laser & Video Co Limited / Wide Screen Ratio Approx 2:35:1 / Anamorphic 16:9 / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS / English Language Subtitles / Region 3 NTSC / Two Disc Directors Edition / Making Of / Deleted Scene / Special Effects / Isolated Soundtrack / Sketches / Two BookletsNot since ‘The Eye’ have the brothers Pang assaulted film goers senses with a visual startle to jolt an audience upright in its seats. All the garish garnishes are on display that set the work of these two film makers apart and ladled up from a tasty Thai broth that not only looks great but goes down a treat.
Like industrial smelling salts to a rotting corpse Oxide and Danny Pang have reawakened a dying genre with their stylish and often jolt inducing visions of horror. Nightmares thrown up onto celluloid like a Jackson Pollock convulsion and bound together with a child like innocence ignored through the ages by societies indoctrinated parentage !. The Pang Brothers serve up their untold terrors of youthful disdain through the medium of film , and the contrast is as vivid in unveiling as it may have been in experiencing. Moments of pulling the bed cover over our heads , to keep at bay the monstrosities invading our imagination , are evident in the creepy moments that lay in wait. A pervasive uncertainty around each corner trickles throughout the gloomy domain within the world of ‘Re-Cycle’.
The opening thirty minutes merely misdirects the viewer from the true experience ahead as starlet Angelica Lee’s character slowly loses herself within her world of writing. She has a tragic tale of an aborted child and lost opportunities , yet is afforded a comfortable lifestyle through her books. Her life is about to imitate her fantasy world that she writes about however as events surrounding her start to fade in and out of reality. What happens to the things we lose and leave behind in our lives ?. What happens to the thoughts and words we cast to one side , never to be used as designed ?. The unnerving possibilities are soon to be thrust upon the attractive young writer as she slips into the parallel world of ‘Re-Cycle’.
Angelica Lee steps into a land hauntingly familiar in a fragmented way , like shards of memory flashing before her. A hollow world with grey housing blocks reaching up into the darkened sky , like the aftermath of a nuclear fallout. The uneasy breeze of something uneasy blows through her like someone walking on your grave !. An old man tells her she should not be there and within moments the sky is filled with human bodies falling to the ground. The distorted figures rise up , and in a disjointed and stilted fashion push towards the startled young woman. Within moments the horde of human horrors are led up by the truly creepy appearance of three visions of evil. A trio of human harpies that you turn and run from no matter whether experiencing in a dream or chancing upon after one too many glasses of alcohol. The nightmarish visuals on display are seamless and the effectiveness of the elements of unease are without question spot on. You will place yourself in the shoes of the protagonist and wish with all your might for her to turn into Mary Decker and run for all her worth.
The chilling air is maintained throughout this carnival of terror , as is the mystique of the unravelling relationship the heroine has to this bizarre world. Her journey is one to seek a way out of this un-waking nightmare as she is assisted by the old man and a strangely familiar young girl. The trio of ghostly harpies pursue her to the very edge of the inhospitably adapted Hans Christian Anderson landscape to the conclusive revelation that will leave you bemused in thought provoking awe.
The pathway to self realisation is paved with many eerie moments for Angelica Lee’s character as the un-dead are all around , particularly hauntingly in a scene where she and the young girl must cross a bridge littered with the slow moving Zombies. A forest of woe and a chamber of unborn babies crying out is effectively enhanced by the magnitude of the impressive musical composition. One that audibly heightens the ambience of unabated dread that filters throughout the undercurrent of this sublime chiller. An effects filled expansive picture for sure but one that is not overburdened by such , as the creativity of the foreboding framework is as effective as the presentation of the story told piece itself.
Both ‘Re-Cycle’ and ‘The Eye’ are essential viewing and impressive showcases for the Pang brothers. ‘Re-Cycle’ will doubtlessly be dismissed by mainstream audiences , but those looking for something that is invigorating to the Asian horror genre then this is unquestionably it. Its stylishly stunning look will stick with you like visual Velcro. The return to form that reunites the brothers Pang with star Angelica Lee is no rehash , but a very welcome horror re-cycle.
© 2006 cinema-nocturna.com
