Re-Cycle

The Pang Brothers book marked a creatively grim, if disconnected little supernatural horror film balancing that of a novelist (a perfectly pitched performance by Angelica Lee) trying to write a horror novel, but finding out what she writes is personally happening to her. Being haunted by her work with the growing expectations, or a former if complicated love coming back on the scene. She enters a dream reality (where the title comes in to play), mixing the stark horror and fleeting happiness in what is a journey of discovery… up until its undermining ending. I was actually liking the (traditional, but stimulating) build-up (consisting of eerie sounds, lurking figures and a sense of danger) until she enters this fantasy world (like a nightmarish spin of 'Alice's in Wonderland'), where the story felt more like clips (well that's how memories kept hidden, waiting to be remembered simply come and then go) and being cluttered with crazy CGI… which wasn't badly projected, as some sequences were amazing, but eventually I grew tired of the routine. The Pang Brothers' surefooted handling is slick, letting the flowing cinematography craft out haunting frames and wonderfully strange imagery. Inspired, but emotionally starved and the story really loses momentum.

This film from the Pang Brothers stars Lee Sin-Je (also known as Angelica Lee), who becomes more assured with each film. She plays Ying-Tin, a successful novelist who is experiencing writer's block. As she begins to write her novel, strange things happen. She gets phone calls which are just noise, she sees visions. She goes out of her apartment and into another world entirely, which looks life a post-apocalyptic Hong Kong. What once appeared to be heading for a straight horror film becomes more of a supernatural thriller. There are many interesting images and the film looks great. The outcome of the story itself is tied to an old relationship she had, and you'll understand the message of the film as you go along. If you like films like this and/or like Ms. Sin-Je, you'll find this very watchable. Ms. Sin-Je, who looks great, gives a good performance, carrying the film on her shoulders pretty admirably.

What's the worst in Re-Cycle is an absence of story. Purposeless journey, groundless twists, meaningless dialogs, loose ends all way round. To avoid misunderstanding, the script isn't simple or stupid, it nearly doesn't exist.

The only thing, which shines are creative, scary, stylish, surprising visuals/sets. Those sets with recycled books, rotten town, waiting deads almost took my breath away from either visual or creative points of view. Worth mentioning, last time it happened to me with Silent Hill. Extra marks.

Special effects and scares are not novel for those, who have seen previous Pang brothers features, but they are mixed in quite a fresh way. Across the movie one may also experience feelings resembling The Cell, Silent Hill, and even Matrix.

Avoid if looking for traditional horror movie, but watch rather to widen your imagination and to have several strong scares. Provision yourself with patience to neglect the absence of the story.

The only other Pang Brothers film I had the misfortune of watching was The Eye, which I was told was a must for Asian horror fans, being bewitching and suspenseful. However, one hour into the film I was so bored I couldn't have cared less about where it was going that I turned if off.

So I approached Re-Cyle with caution. In the first half an hour I was pleasantly surprised - the direction wasn't uninteresting like The Eye at all. There was some good cinematography, effective subtle use of suggestion to employ chills and uncertainty, and even the soundtrack was well used.

However, from the point where our heroine goes into the 'other world' the whole thing collapses. The imagery is too reminiscent of Silent Hill to be original, there are more Ringu-like girls with long hair creeping around, and the undead zombies have such laughable makeup they could have walked off a Romero set.

The main problem with this film is not its ideas but their execution. It's a great idea that for every killed or abandoned creature there is a world that they go to to live out their uncared-for lives, but the way the Pang Brother put this across is so cheap and naff that I was laughing and cringing in my seat. Scary babies, zombies, and following a map to get 'out' made the whole thing turn into some 90s computer game. As well as this, the end sequence with its poignant and tearjerky flashbacks and cutesy music was so cheesy I'm surprised my DVD player didn't turn into a wheel of Stilton.

Overall Re-Cycle is not a bad film, but it's certainly not a good one either. If you prefer the classier and more subtle Asian films like Uzumaki, Sorum and The Isle, this won't be for you. It's far too heavy and stodged down by pseudo-meaning, cliché and over the top visuals. However, if you happen to own several Lord of The Rings box sets, some Star Wars costumes and never miss a Stratovarius gig this may be for you.

All writers ruthlessly re-cycle ideas, characters, memories and experiences. The creative mind is littered with discarded snippets of people and places all waiting to be remembered and put to use. In Re-cycle, Ting-Yin is a successful writer who turned a failed romance into three bestsellers. She is now working on a supernatural novel and strange things are happening in her house. Is this her inspiration, or is her story coming to life? The film's beginning is classically horror, but when Ting-Yin stumbles out of reality it becomes much more fantastic and really feels like a video game. She moves from one bizarre landscape to another, dealing with zombies as she goes.

Beautifully shot, the production is slick, but the story is more melodramatic than frightening.