UNPLUGGING NIGHTMARE (2004-HK)
review by Neo


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Cheesy premise turns out pretty good for a B-movie!
Horror/thrillers directed by virtual unknown is certainly and clearly one of the most difficult and easy film to direct. To direct one is easy, but to direct one that maintains tension and suspense all the way requires good execution. While the direction here is not top notch and nor is the acting anything special. This low budget flick is surprisingly good and cheesy in giving a few frights and a good steady suspend and not ruining the movie kind of twist to make a quite enjoyable B-movie nightwatchman.

The story goes like this: In the past ten years, Chee (Yoyo Mung), wakes up from a horrified nightmare every night. In the dream, a woman with long hair moves up her head when the clock of the old house strikes 12. The only thing that puzzles Chee most is she can never see the face of the woman. One day Chee and another fellow-worker Kee (Jo Koo) are asked to go for a special assignment. On the way they encounter an accident - a man jumped over from a highrise building to commit suicide. Since then, things go more weird... While the movie may seem pretty straight forward, the director excels in not doing too much and clearly despite his not too flashy camera work, there are some excellent photography, especially the artistic overhead shot of Yoyo and also the good use of HK style FILM Noir.

Sure the movie is filled to some very cheesy acting from Edmond Leung, an average but adequate performance from Yoyo Mung and the cool and natural performance from another one of my favourite actress Jo Koo - this movie is not relying on the performance but rather the suspenseful parts of the movie. While cheesy thrillers good downhill with the ending, this one though quite cheesy in the end and very sudden works quite well for this movie as it is pretty much an average story.

So do I like this movie? Well, I don't really want to be certain, as it is up to personal tastes, as I am never a fan of horror/thrillers, so asking me like such a movie is no point. To me, this is a movie that a person will watch it if they have time or like thriller/horror genre, or else, it is mindless and a movie that you will forget the very next day that you wake up. As for the scary scale, it is not very scary, but steady direction and some average performances lifts this movie to be better than most B-movie thrillers.

I rate it 7/10

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Product Title : Unplugging Nightmare
Artist Name(s) : Yoyo Mung | Edmond Leung| Jo Koo
Language : Cantonese|Japanese|Mandarin
Duration : 89 minutes
Reviewed by Neo (Andrew) - December 2004