The Bridge Curse: Ritual

The film, from horror powerhouse Taiwan, starts with an interesting angle: students are working on an Augmented Reality video game based on a haunted, er, university. Said students (who are as dim-witted as most characters in this type of story) test out their game on location (why they need to test out the game when it's nearing completion rather than early on in the development process is unclear). The actual ghosts soon start layering with the AR gaming, which is an original approach and fairly interesting (what is really there and where??). We get a number of point of view shots from CCTV cameras and the gamers' equipment, and when handled well such subjective shots are always a great strategy to immerse viewers and turn up the horror quotient. Yet the film soon leaves that idea behind to focus on the real ghosts, which is a shame because everything becomes much more pedestrian at that point. Thankfully the visual dynamic is replaced by narrative ingenuity as a late twist shakes things up and saves the film... until a final revelation that's too rushed to have much impact (and perhaps the fact that I haven't seen the first film doesn't help). In the end the film is ok but clearly had potential for more.

The Bridge Curse: Ritual: Taiwanese horror film. Set in 2019 this is more of a prequel rather than a remake. The bridge and it's angry ghosts feature but these are mostly in relation to one character. The action centres around the university's buildings and again is largely composed of found footage. In 2016 a student tries to beta test a Role Playing Game he is creating, to see if it will also arouse the interest of reputed ghosts. Things go horribly wrong as he is attacked by invisible forces and ends up in a coma. 2019, his sister along with other students try to finish creating his game. She beta rests it in the same building and despite being twice attacked, apparently by ghosts she is intent on continuing as are her student friends. Have this lot never watched a horror film? Some effective jump scares and convincing ghosts along with an in-between dimension which has to be traversed. Time slips are also involved. Things do get a bit confusing as the film chops back and forward betwixt the timelines. There are some very angry ghosts and warped Feng Shui at work here. A ten minute cut it's running time might have improved things as well, still it's worth watching. Directed by Lester Hsi, Writers Keng-Ming Chang, Po-Hsiang Hao and Shih-yuan Lu. On Netflix. 6/10.

I didn't realise that this was a sequel until I got to the end credits. I don't think I missed much in the first film and I don't think anyone will miss anything if you don't see this one. It really is a generic demon ghost zombie terrorising teeangers with an unimaginative story, unoriginal production design, forgettable music and sound design and worst of all a really unengaging cast. The acting is perfectly adequate but the characters are not interesting. The best bit about the film are the 'games' but there are only like 2 of these and a lot of filler. It's really not worth watching and not even good enough at being bad.

TIME WASTING...KHANKI MAGI MOVIE.... "Khankir Chele" (translating roughly to "The Whore's Son") is not a movie that tiptoes around sensitive issues. Directed by emerging filmmaker Shafiq Rahman, this intense social drama dives headfirst into the underbelly of society, exploring themes of identity, shame, stigma, and self-discovery. With a name as provocative as its premise, "Khankir Chele" sets out to disturb, engage, and ultimately challenge viewers to rethink the way we judge and marginalize others.

The story follows Rakib, a young man growing up in the slums of Dhaka, known mostly as "Khankir Chele" due to his mother's occupation as a sex worker. From his earliest days, Rakib is ridiculed, beaten, and ostracized, not for anything he has done, but simply because of who his mother is. Society stamps him as dirty, criminal, and unwanted before he ever gets a chance to speak for himself.

Having watched the 2020 horror movie "The Bridge Curse" and finding it to be mediocre, I can't really claim that I was particularly thrilled when I stumbled upon the 2023 sequel "The Bridge Curse: Ritual" here in 2024. But of course I opted to sit down and watch it, after all it was a horror movie that I hadn't already seen.

And who knows, maybe it would prove better than the first movie. So of course I opted to give director Lester Hsi's 2023 movie a fair chance.

Writers Keng-Ming Chang, Po-Hsiang Hao and Shih-Yuan Lu put together a script and storyline that felt like a heap of random scenes written and shot independently of one another, and then handed over to director Lester Hsi to put together and attempt to make a coherent movie. It didn't really work out, because there was a horrifying lack of red thread throughout the course of the movie, and that made for a somewhat disjointed and boring viewing experience.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, but it should be said that the acting performances were actually fair. They had a good group of actors and actresses put together to portray the various characters in the movie.

And the title of the movie "The Bridge Curse: Ritual" just made zero sense when you look at the narrative and the contents of the script that the writers managed to concoct.

My rating of "The Bridge Curse: Ritual" lands on a three out of ten stars.