Zhong gui

Truth: We've seen worse Singapore movies than this Chai Yee Wei directed horror action comedy.

At the rate Singaporeans are condemning almost every other commercial flick which comes our way (when was the last time you actually liked a Jack Neo movie?), it is only a matter of time our homegrown filmmakers lose confidence in making films. But this doesn't give the liberty for directors to produce works which, well, to simply put it, make viewers feel that they could have better made use of their time by sleeping at home.

After receiving MDA's Feature Fund to make his debut feature Blood Ties (2009), how does Chai's second horror feature project fare?

In what seems to be a popular approach to telling stories, the 108 minute movie features three intertwined segments starring an ensemble of familiar faces in the region. The protagonists are exaggeratedly personified for comedic effect: A flashy womanizing drug dealer who kills his girlfriend in an accident, two horny male flight attendants who want to get fresh with their pretty colleagues and a pair of hilarious con men who decide to take on their last job by exorcising a demon out of a possessed girl.

Thanks to his capable cast, you almost ignore how underdeveloped Chai's story is. The screenplay co written by Chai and Eng Boon Ping does not boast of the most innovative dialogues, but you'd still find yourself chuckling at some of the deliberately localised usage of words. The nice mix of dialects in the film is definitely welcoming.

This is where leading man Mark Lee, who plays the flirtatious drug dealer, is a natural. The comedian (and recently turned director) shoots his mouth off the moment he appears on screen in the first segment, and doesn't stop until he meets his, err, end. Despite the character's unlikable personality, his entertaining performance is one of the highlights of the movie.

The other member of the cast to look out for is Hongkong based Zhu Mi Mi, who stars in the film's third story. The veteran actress plays the mother of a possessed schoolgirl, and you have to take your hats off as the acclaimed comedian sends shivers down your spine with her zoned out and creepy expressions. Commendable performances also come from Malaysian actors Joey Leong (she plays the obligatory possessed girl again after her breakout role in Chai's first feature), Alvin Wong and Brandon Yuen (as the mediums who unluckily stumble upon the cursed family).

Elsewhere, pretty faces come in the form of Linda Liao, Tracy Lee and Randall Tan, who star in the segment about a wild party gone wrong. The most senseless segment of the lot, the only redeeming aspect of this story comes from local host Cavin Soh, who will have you believe that cabin crew members can be a slimy, sneaky lot.

Chai attempts to link the three segments together by superficially writing the characters into each others' stories. There is also this underwhelming feeling that the writer director is attempting to relay a message about karma and fate, as well as cause and effect. Unfortunately, this gets buried beneath the laughs (no, there aren't much scares here except the "been there done that" specials makeup), and as the film's end credits begin rolling, you'd find yourself moderately entertained with no contemplation on how karma can affect one's life.

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With Blood Ties being a serious thriller in tone, not many will know about writer-director Chai Yee Wei's funny bone which had been a hallmark of his short films, and this time with horror anthologies being popular vehicles for filmmakers to dabble in various aspects of the genre, Yee Wei tackles three distinct stories in his sophomore feature film, boasting a stellar regional cast in his stories that cover the spectrum of horror, comedy and a little bit of action to boot.

Told in a juxtaposed timeline with each segment being self contained, save for Mark Lee's drug dealer character popping up, and an Indian Father and Son team when you least expect, as they feature in all the stories to provide some comic relief. Smaller support caricatures also appear every now and then serving as opportunities for the director to dabble in gaudy humour complete with bawdy references, embedded in the stories to serve as sight gags in the same vein as how Hong Kong "mo-lei-tau" would treat them to milk some laughs irreverent to the plot.

Each of the three vignettes has its own star player where an ensemble cast got built around, and it's not difficult to see why. Mark Lee from Singapore with his characteristic screen swagger opens the first segment as a drug dealer having to collect his new zhng-ed Evo "Wiralution" vehicle, before a call from an ex-girlfriend (Candy Ice) resulted in a meetup that turned nasty, culminating in a deliberate crash along an empty stretch of road. At some point it does venture into Silent Hill territory with Mark's star power amped up to carry the film through its atmospheric build up, and without a doubt the highlights of this segment are its sound design and make up as it goes into overdrive with its extended Man versus Ghoul battle.

Linda Liao is undoubtedly the star of the second segment about a group of flight attendants out for some fun with colleagues played by Cavin Soh and Randall Tan up to no good through the spiking of their drinks. What was planned as a sexual romp turned out to be a series of mishaps with one dead body turning up after another. Perhaps the least ghoulish of the lot, this short enabled Yee wei to get his hands dirty dabbling with gore and close quartered action, though tame by Hollywood standards, with the liberal use of blood and the victim fighting tooth and nail for her life against a determined, though known, unintended killer. Plenty of quick edits were used to fast track the setup within an airplane and the nightclub to bring us to the story proper, and this probably didn't provide audiences with any vested interest in any character, especially the victims, which made this the weakest segment of the lot.

But Yee Wei saved the best for last, in a segment that gave rise to the movie's title. It's probably what's as close as one can get to a local remake of The Exorcist, though in more Oriental terms. We get introduced to an earlier familiar face in Alvin Wong playing the role of a medium who together with his assistant (Brendan Yuen) have scammed more folks than they can remember, until the medium decided to go honest with an opportunity provided by a mother (played by Hong Kong actress Zhu Mimi), whose daughter (Joey Leong, in danger of being typecast with her second role as a possessed woman in as many films directed by Yee Wei) is believed to be possessed what with her constant inexplicable violent behaviour, and fits.

This segment had a fair balance of Yee Wei's comedic and horror forte, with an engaging storyline to boot, boosted by the presence of wonderful performances from the cast, as well as their spot on comic timing. Make up made the pretty lass Joey Leong look more horrific than her first outing in Blood Ties, with strong technical aspects complementing a story that had much more than meets the eye, with some naughty innuendos slipped in for cheeky laughs as well. Alvin Wong is certainly the star here for his well written role, and his pairing with Brendan Yuen turned out to be a certain highlight for their chemistry on screen.

It is in this episode that Yee Wei brings about and draws upon references to the more Oriental ghoulish folklore, where in his debut feature explored that of the significance of the 7th day after someone's passing, and here the belief on the potency of blood from a black dog, as well as the convention of representing ghostly possession through being tip-toed (so that ghouls can slip under the soles of your feet).

From some of the production stills released on the Internet, they may suggest richer, more detailed plotting in the second segment especially with scenes set onboard the jetliner, as well as the hotel involving Benjamin Heng. The third segment, the longest, also probably had a more verbatim explanation to its back story and rationale behind the haunting, but I suppose in the interest of time some scenes would have to be unfortunately shortened. Still, as showreel of sorts, Twisted demonstrates Yee Wei's strengths in crafting spooky tales of different horror sub-genres complete with his comedic touches reminiscent of Hong Kong horror comedies of old, dealing with how karmic retribution works itself into the lives of the wicked.