Halloween Advent Calender, Day 4

Movie Review: Oan Hon/Spirits


Well, I've reviewed films before here (and a particular holiday special that will never be mentioned in this household), and most of them were horror movies. Wait...I think all of them were. Which brings us inorexibly to our happyfuntime advent calender to all things haloweeny and deliciously horrific. Note my extremely huge Silent Hill movie poster to my left, and to our right is a naked pig. Sorry, I needed a away out of that intro.

Ghosts. Its a subject that I've been interested with in an on-off again relationship, not unlike Ross and Rachel of Friends. Well, its been a part of my life since Ultra Magnus told me to stay tuned to this station to learn about these....unsolved mysteries. I mean Robert Stack. No, I mean Ultra Magnus.

Why? No, you're not going to hear of my amazing story in which I had a close encounter of the see-through kind. In fact, I've pretty much never had a "real" supernatural encounter in my entire life. And by real, I don't mean finding a away to justify dust specks in a church as a ghostly monk or the slamming and noises in the house as the cat getting into trouble, or even the fact that a mere power outage on a single part of the house might make my Wii suddenly turn on. What I'm typing makes sense, you just need to read it 18 billion times in a row. I'm counting.

I think my obsession with anything that starts out with "so, there's this story of this place, see...." stems from that mere fact that I've never seen anything ghostly in my 24 years of being alive. Its not that I don't believe in that stuff; I do, and to an unnerving to total strangers degree. I'm not looking to prove this to skeptics. I'm not a skeptic. I'm just obsessed in knowing if there is indeed another side to this life than the one I can see and touch. I don't know, mayhaps my hunger to see something unexplainable is just one of those human natures.

Nah, I just wanna see ghosts play Wii Sports, who am I kidding?


So, this lengthy (and getting to be more so in the nearest furture) rant on how I'm never going to see ghosts segues (SAT word) into my review of a movie called "Spirits" AKA Oan Hon (w/ a lil carrot over the "o" in Hon). My bf recommended it to me in lieu of driving up and down Pacheco Pass hoping for dead indians. Its a Vietnamese ghost story of the traditional persuasion.

By now we've all been there and back with out long haired yurei (garden variety female Japanese spirit, usually in white, occasionally vengeful) terrizing anyone foolish enough to get ten yards within their property. Hell, Asian ghosts have the tendency to follow you home just to be the family's breadwinner (American ghosts, indeed Western ones are quite lazy and content in staying in a single place. That's what my friend told me anyway, before donning his Predator costume for the new AvP movie). Well, this movie has a few. 3 to be exact. And the best part? One's a little girl. YES.


Loc, the movie's main character.

Now, to keep the review chewable, I've decided to kinda spoil but give you highlights as to why this movie was better than most horror movies I've seen as of late. And now, onto my favorite parts of "Spirits".

1)Hoa
This is the first ghost you see in the film, and one that you see (thankfully) precious little of until the climax of the first story. "The Visitor" starts with wandering author Loc, whom will be a central character in all three vignettes ("The Visitor", "Only Child", and "The Diviner"; each arc can stand alone and be a part of the whole movie). Hoa is a pretty and vulnerable girl who lives in a seemingly abandoned house. Yes. A grown man decides to live in a house that not only makes more noise than a collapsing house full of weeping women, but also decides to sleep with its only occupant, whom he sees exclusively at night. I don't know about you, but if I only saw someone at night, I'd either think they were a vampire, ghost, or is playing too much WoW, none of which are good things to look for in a girl you want to sleep with.
And sleep with Hoa Loc does. And in the end, when we do find that she is indeed dead, we get a delicious "hitchhiker ghost" ending, albeit a bit different. Hoa has been dead for a few weeks, and has manipulated Loc into freeing her bound soul, Loc's sanity be damned. While the viewers may have copped to Hoa's deadness from the get go, we do not fathom that a) she is the unnamed narrator that begs to be loved by Loc, or b) has been manipulating the whole situation to free herself, an unusually selfish reason for a ghost to have.
Hoa represents a breed of spirit that has emotions, and can think for itself, and can plan like any living person does. Its a departure from the vengeful, single-track minded ghosts we've seen before; Hoa does more than ensnare people; she USES them. She appears weak, but is, in reality, completely in control of the situation the whole time. The line between the dead and living is that much more blurred in "Spirits".

2) Cinematography
I prefered the original "Ju-On" to "The Grudge" for the simple fact that it had better camera angles. The scene in the elevator where the Toshio appears on multiple floors is so much better with the camera angle in the Japanese version than the American one. On the other hand, the cinematography for "The Ring" was superior to its source "Ringu" (with the exception of the last scene where our ghost comes out the TV, the Japanese version was subtler).
"Spirits" has great shots, despite filming difficulties. My favorite is as follows:
Linh, Loc's new wife, and whom has moved into Hoa's old house, is haunted by noises of giggling and things falling in the house. So she, like any smart horror movie character, looks out her window:

Now, upon first viewing, we see nothing. But having watched this scene more than once, allow me to point out that there is indeed someone out there.

Riiiiiight there. But unless you were looking, you wouldn't see it. Its not until we get our requisite lightning flash:

That we see our ghost. Of course you called it, but holy cow, I still jumped. Best part? She stands there for a considerable amount of time, through multiple flashes until she is faded out, and you barely notice her disappearance.

American horror movies rarely have that kind of effect. That girl is JUST standing there. That's all she's doing. But fuck me if it didn't have me hang sheets over my window because I still don't have curtains despite living in my room for the better part of the year.

3)THE LITTLE GIRL
And what good horror movie doesn't have a little girl ghost? To all you Yellow Fever Lolicons, remember: one day, they just might up and die, and then come after you.

Sure, she LOOKS like your garden variety lil ghost girl. BUt this is hip deep into story 2 ("Only Child"), and Linh has already woken up with blood all over herself. We know that sooner or later, Loli Ghost is gonna rear her ugly head.
And rear it does.

Look at that. LOOK AT IT. Jesus Christ.

JESUS CHRIST.
What's worse? This particular ghost is the product of Linh's many abortions. Karma is a theme in "Spirits", and its all but thrust into your face every 5 minutes. Its the main thread in the whole movie, that the evils you have done before will come back to you. And come back they do. You see, when the ghost is finally exorcized, Linh gets pregnant with Loc's child (they've been trying for the whole second story). However, when she's born, she's a complete invalid, unable to walk, talk, feed herself, or anything. Trying to wash her hands of the previous ghost and her abortions, Linh is punished by having a burden instead of the child she and Loc so desperately wanted.
And you know what else else? After begging to her child that she's tired, the little girl turns to her and tells her "Then why don't you throw me into the river like you did those other times?"
Yes. The ghost of her aborted baby(ies) has come back to haunt her in the living. If she could not be acknowledged in death, then she will be acknowledged in life.


JESUS CHRIST.

There's more (like a great scene of Linh and her daughter in the final chapter "The Diviner"), but I've already given over the better parts. For an Asian horror flick, it rolls with the conventions you're used to, but also pulls some fast ones. I'm unfamiliar with Vietnamese ghost stories, but I find the whole karma and reincarnation themes refreshing. I also have come to the conclusion of never crossing a Vietnamese woman in my entire life. But I'm glad to have gotten to experience this particular culture's ghost culture. Its new. Its fresh. And its scary as all get out.
I recommend "Spirits" to anyone who likes a good ghost story. Its got a little Konami horror effects (The Silent Hill Twitch, anyone), but its got a whole lotta emotion and creativity.