[They Wait]
Plot:After living in Shanghai for three years, Sarah (King), her husband, Jason (Chen), and their young son, Sammy (Oye), return to North America for a family funeral. But something strange is going on. Sammy starts seeing ghosts and then falls gravely ill. Traditional western medicine offers no hope. Sarah turns to a mysterious pharmacist who warns that her son is being held in a death grip by a living corpse. Sarah must find out what the spirits want if she is to save her child. Time is of the essence; once the sun rises the next day, the last day of Ghost Month, Sammy will be lost forever.

Cast:Jaime King, Pei-pei Cheng, Terry Chen, Henry O, Colin Foo, Michael Biehn, Regan Oye.

My Thoughts:A bit more balanced than the standard supernatural horror movie.

Review:Supernatural horror films, especially ones that go straight-to-dvd...have been disappointing as of late. Mostly because no original ideas have passed through this subgenre in a long time. Ernie Barbarashes "They Wait" however, a ghost flick which immerses itself in Chinese superstition and legend...is a bit more balanced and has alot more depth than the average supernatural horror film, and comes up with a few original ideas to keep itself from falling too deeply into any cliche zones. The film stars Jaime King and Terry Chen as Sarah and Jason, a couple with a son who live in Shanghai, but upon Jason's uncle dying...they return to the Pacific Northwest for the funeral.

Upon arriving, things are somber...but soon turn terrifying for Sarah and her son who shortly after arriving...are constantly watched, stalked, and contacted by ghosts. All of this occuring right at the time that the Chinese Festival of Ghost Month, is upon the community. Soon the ghosts cause Sarah and Jason's son Jamie to become ill, but it's much more than that. They've partially taken his soul over to the other side, pitting Sarah into a race against time to solve the mystery behind the angry spirits, and in the process...save her son.

"They Wait" starts off really well, and is creepy in many moments in the early going. But soon it begins to settle down a bit, and gets slow in pace. I really felt this film would push the envelope at the beginning, seeing how it starts out of the gate. But instead, it falls into a methodical mode and slowly allows any scares or thrills unfold on their own, instead of pushing the action. I felt this hurt the film a bit, not going full force with everything. But Jaime King and Chen give good enough performances to keep the movie at an interesting level when nothing horror-related is happening.

The key to the film is watching all of these weird things unfold at this supernatural and mystical time in the Chinese community, and seeing if you can figure out what's going on before it's revealed to you. But writer Trevor Markwart does an excellent job of steeping the script in Chinese mysticism early on. But alot of that luster and intrigue rubs off as the film moves along, and by the middle of the movie...it's just another A-typical ghost tale ala "The Grudge" remake.

Even though you hope the movie doesn't just fall into that column, it eventually does sadly. And that's when things get a bit boring. Luckily, the picture manages to rescue itself by not dragging out to long, the mystery element of why these ghosts or demons as they're referred to in this film...want Sarah's son, and why they have directed their anger at her son and her husbands family. The film begins to reveal bit by bit, piece by piece the dark secret behind the angry ghosts at just the right time, which is when it becomes necessary to keep the viewer from becoming disinterested.

Throwing some freaky and weird visuals at us along the way, giving the movie the perfect blend of asian horror and asian horror thrills, with the edgy look and tone of american filmmaking. This is a film that pretty much relies on visuals and quick-hitter spook moments. There's not the heavy amounts of blood and gore present here that are present in most asian-horror-themed films. Although this film was shot in Canada, it still manages to combine alot of elements from different cultures around the world with it's diverse story and diverse cast.

The reveal regarding the ghosts is sad in many ways, while dark in many ways also. It's more by the book, and not very unique or stands out very much when you think of how many crazy motives we see all the time in ghost movies. In this film, the writer uses a closer-to-real-life motive for the ghosts anger, and mixes it in with a backstory which has real-life connotations. Depending on what kind of horror fan you are, you might find the revelation lame, or then again you might find it a safe choice by the writer, who decides in this film to not go with something outrageous and crazy.

The final act of the movie holds the most action, although at the same time still manages to move in a slow and steady pace. There's not many intense moments in this film, instead...it goes more for the chill with a few thrills. This isn't a movie where you'll have many memorable scenes, although there is one in particular involving the act of vomiting and what comes out which is certainly a new one on me. But despite it's "wow" factor, "They Wait" does just enough to get the job done with a creepy story and a nice yet subtle supernatural-superstitious tie-in to chinese mythology.

Positives:Good performances by Chen and King. Satisfactory story, nice use of Chinese cultural mythology within the story.

Negatives:A bit slow at times, no real memorable moments except for one scene involving bone-puking.

Overall:Two and a half stars out of 4.





( Talk about it in the Forums!)



( Back to the main page)