23:59

This Singaporean horror has a concept and simply doesn't make best use of it. The movie starts strong but quickly stumbles into mediocrity.

It tells a story set on a military base about a group of young recruits and the supernatural events that transpire on and around the base.

It looks fantastic, considerably better than I would have expected and the writing is well above par as well. Sadly though it manages to be creepy in places the story is a bit of an incoherent mess and by around the half way mark it quickly becomes apparent that it isn't going anywhere good.

The ideas behind it though solid were clearly in the wrong peoples hands and instead of potential being met we have this messy little feature.

Watchable but ultimately fails on most fronts.

The Good:

Couple of nice ideas

Production values

The Bad:

Plot falls apart badly

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

It's not just Japan that likes their muddled inconclusive plots

The movie sets up the basis for the spirits, but in two ways, and then throws in a third. One is that a villager was killed in the past by a recruit, so at 23:59 its spirit comes forth. The other is that if a pregnant woman commits suicide, she and her daughter will come to haunt. And the recruits do see spirits. The movie has a group of recruits in training. There is a suicide, and another one dies under mysterious circumstances, so they are on edge. Their Sgt even provides them with talismans and later a medium is brought in. While all the recruits have similar and short haircuts, the Sgt has a very bushy do, and the officer certainly isn't regulation. That is a detail that should have been trivial to know and fix. The movie is decently done, although if what was shown was reflective of their training, not much of a fighting force. It simply is not that interesting although if one was familiar with the legends, perhaps more so.

I had no expectations going into this one, and was pleasantly surprised.

The film is set on an Army training base in the Seventh Month, when ghosts and spirits are said to roam free. There are all types of rituals to appease and avoid them, which most people take part in even if they don't seem to believe.

A new group of recruits is just about to finish their training there when things begin to go wrong. I won't go into detail because I want people to see this for themselves, but I will say that there are vengeful spirits, wrongful deaths, and lots of creepy atmosphere! The rainy jungle march is one of the best scenes! One of the group is missing, and the instructor has them count off "one...two..three..four..." Something right behind them whispers "fffiiivveee"....

The movie does move a bit slowly at times, but I was never bored. The acting was fine, and the characters were likable enough that I cared about them and what was happening to them. Give this one a chance, you won't be sorry!

The overall look of the film is good, actors are consistent and both sound and photography are better than films with such a small budget usually are. Pace and timing are its main failings but I think the local audiences were probably willing to overlook that.

To understand this show, you have to be a local and must have serve NS to know the plot driving it.

This basically deals with the things that all NS men are told or share around the bunk like in the starting scene. Tales and folklores whispered and shared about what they have been told or have overheard etc.

For myself, the suspense build up is good as I can relate to it partially but the final third bit is a bit of a let down when most of the plot is revealed. I feel it would have been better if it was kept in suspense and with glimpses instead of the director/producer trying to tie everything up.

Other reviewers have commented that there are some loose ends. For me, the most obvious is that how the heck did the Sgt and recruits manage to locate the shack.

But in the end, this movie is definitely worth a watch if nothing more then to reminisce about them good old army days!