Reviewed by: Anticlimacus Date: 12/01/2006 Summary: The Most Underrated, Underappreciated East Asian Horror Film of the Last Decade MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW! Fantastic Cinematography + Great Psychological Concepts + An Unnerving Finale = A Great Film Unfortunately, Abnormal Beauty is one of those films that will annoy a lot of people, because it does not have enough explicit violence to please the gorehounds, yet contains enough to anger everyone else. It seems that almost all of the negative reviews I've seen are either the gorehounds complaining about the first "boring" hour, or the fans of psychological horror complaining about the "gratuitousness" of the last half hour. I think they both miss the point. Just like the critics of Audition. The violence is not gratuitous here. There is a heaping amount of character development in this film that sets up the finale. This is not empty, sensationalistic tripe that Hollywood loves to release (e.g., Hostel, The Hills Have Eyes, etc.). If someone insists that Abnormal Beauty is gratuitous, then they are effectively saying that explicit violence cannot be used in a film without being so. This is a closed-minded Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of the most blatant type. The second most complained about feature of this film (following complaints regarding the violence) was the introduction of the killer. Critics claim that he is a Deus ex Machina. The critics are wrong. Abnormal Beauty is not a murder mystery. It's a psychological horror film. The filmmakers are not obligated to present a trail of clues for the viewer to make a probable, educated guess at the identity of the killer. The purpose of presenting the killer is to introduce the perfected state of Jiney's undeveloped psychological affliction in an attempt to cure her of that affliction. Jiney spends most of the time BEHIND the camera, initiating her mental and sexual fulfillment by viewing the death of living things. At the same time, however, she's becoming more and more detached from reality. This is also manifested by the other subplots, which include her tormenting past and her dysfunctional relationship with her mother – events which she is unable to come to terms with. Even after her semi-revelation, she is still deeply affected by the pictures that she finds in her locker. She's not fully cured of her affliction yet. Remember, the camera is an important symbol/analogy in this film. Jiney is so helplessly reliant on detachment that she desperately needs the camera to be turned against her. Enter the killer, who places Jiney IN FRONT of the camera, thus forcing her to face reality. This is essential for the filmmakers to culminate the underlying psychological concepts of Abnormal Beauty. In addition, if I were a sadistic freak working in a library and saw a hot young girl check out a dozen works of literature featuring sadistic pictures, how the hell could I not take notice? Another complaint of critics is the final scene, which reveals that the lead character killed her cousin. Critics claim that this is an ad hoc, after-the-fact invocation to cheaply explain the movie. The critics are wrong. The traumatic child-hood event at the very end of the film was not the origin of Jiney's psychological condition. That event was already introduced near the beginning of the film: Jiney was sexually abused by her cousin, and her mother didn't believe her. The fact that she pushed her cousin down the stairs is merely a reflection of the negative effects that that initial event had on her. Did you see her face while she was standing at the top of the stairs? It was blank and emotionless – completely detached. The final scene adds emphasis to her psychological breakthrough and reminds us of what she overcame – she is now living again. And yes, this is much more demanding of the viewer's intelligence than all the carbon-copy garbage coming out of Hollywood nowadays. So this film may not be for the lazy. If you can appreciate smart psychological horror coupled with effective, explicit violence, then you can't go wrong here. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who can't appreciate one or the other, which explains the negative reaction to this film. After reading online reviews and discussing this film with others, I am convinced that this is the most underrated, under-appreciated East Asian horror film of the last decade. I've seen 73 East Asian horror films. Abnormal Beauty is better than 70 of them. It comes second only to A Tale of Two Sisters and Kairo. Reviewer Score: 9

Reviewed by: j.crawford Date: 11/29/2006 Summary: dark, unsettling movie Oxide Pang Shun directs and co-produces a dark, unsettling movie that, aside from the big budget, is just a film school thesis that explores the workings of the thriller format. He does a nice job continuing the look and feel of his earlier work with his brother, Danny Pang Fat, who co-produces here while directing a companion piece Leave Me Alone (2004). The scenario revolves around a student photographer (Race Wong Yuen-Ling) who tries to find beauty in the more grotesque side of life. She gets involved in some weird, kinky behaviors as a result of her fascination, all while an even wackier voyeur stalks her every move. Ms. Wong turns in a credible performance as does her co-star, and real-life sister, Rosanne Wong Yuen-Kwan. An implied, but unrealized, lesbian relationship between these two characters created a minor buzz around this movie. [In French] Oxide Pang Shun dirige et coproduit une sombre, troublant film qui, outre le gros budget, est juste une école de cinéma thèse qui explore les rouages du suspense. Il fait un bon travail continue de l'apparence et de ses travaux antérieurs avec son frère, Danny Pang Fat, qui coproduit ici alors que la direction d'un compagnon pièce Leave Me Alone (2004). Le scénario tourne autour d'un étudiant photographe (Race Wong Yuen-Ling), qui essaie de trouver la beauté dans la plus grotesque de part et d'autre de la vie. Elle s'implique dans certains étranges, les comportements érotiques à la suite de son charme, tout en même wackier voyeur tiges de ses moindres mouvements. Mme Wong se transforme de manière crédible des performances comme ses collègues de étoile, et de la vie réelle soeur, Rosanne Wong Yuen-Kwan. Implicite, mais non réalisée, lesbiennes relation entre ces deux personnages créé un mineur bourdonnement autour de ce film. [In Spanish] Oxide Pang Shun dirige y coproduce una oscura, inquietante película que, aparte de la gran presupuesto, es sólo una escuela de cine tesis de que explora el funcionamiento de los thriller de formato. Él hace un buen trabajo continuo al aspecto y estilo de su anterior trabajo con su hermano, Danny Pang Fat, que coproduce aquí mientras que la dirección de un compañero pieza Leave Me Alone (2004). El escenario gira alrededor de un estudiante fotógrafo (Race Wong Yuen-Ling), que trata de encontrar la belleza en el lado más grotesco de la vida. Ella se involucra en un tanto extraños, rizado comportamientos como resultado de su fascinación, mientras que todos aún wackier mirón tallos su cada movimiento. Wong se convierte en un desempeño digno de crédito al igual que sus colegas de estrella, y la vida real hermana, Rosanne Wong Yuen-Kwan. Una implícita, pero no realizada, lesbianas relación entre estos dos personajes creado un menor zumbido alrededor de esta película. Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: mrblue Date: 05/20/2005 Though they are best known for the projects they co-directed such as The Eye, in 2004 Oxide and Danny Pang decided to make seperate films which deal with how a car accident alters people's lives. Danny's take, an action/comedy starring Ekin Cheng and Charlene Choi called Leave Me Alone, was pretty far removed from the Pang's usual ghostly fare. Oxide's entry is closer in tone to the suspense the brothers usually put out, but it does take a darker tone than the normal "I see dead people" stuff most people expect from Hong Kong horror movies. The movie stars Race Wong (one half of the popular bubblegum pop duo 2R) as an art student who is bored with her life until she sees a car accident (apparently, it's the same one featured in Leave Me Alone, since we see Ekin Cheng for a few seconds) and decides to take a picture of the accident's fatality. She becomes obessesed with death, which begins to worry her best friend/girlfriend, who is played by the other half of 2R, Race's sister, Rosanne Wong (there was a good bit of controversy before the movie came out that Pang was going to be having sisters playing lesbian lovers, but their relationship is very tame; they don't even do as much as holding hands, much less make out in the movie). After hitting rock-bottom during a tumultuous weekend where she ends up torturing one of her friends, Race seems to have recovered. Soon after though, she begins receiving disturbing photos and videotapes that indicate a dangerous stalker wants to suck her into his own twisted world of death. Like the Pang brothers' other work, Ab-Normal Beauty is a very solid movie. Even though it is slow-paced for the most part, the inventive cinematography and solid performances (especially from Race Wong, who earned a Hong Kong Film Award nomination for her work) help to keep the viewer's interest. However, the third act does considerably ramp up the sex and violence quotient (let's just say the film fully earns its' Category III rating in the space of about five minutes) and that might leave some viewers feeling uncomfortable, as it tends to feel a bit cheap and tacked-on. Also, the explanation of who the stalker is comes off as simply ridiculous, like something from a CBS movie of the week, rather than an entry from one of Hong Kong's most promising young film-makers. Still, these are fairly minor quibbles. Once again, the Pang brothers have come through with a picture that's not quite like anything you've seen before, yet still accessible enough that it should entertain most any fan of scary movies. [review from www.hkfilm.net]

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