Nu guiqiao 2: Yuan gui lou

I didn't realise that this was a sequel until I got to the end credits. I don't think I missed much in the first film and I don't think anyone will miss anything if you don't see this one. It really is a generic demon ghost zombie terrorising teeangers with an unimaginative story, unoriginal production design, forgettable music and sound design and worst of all a really unengaging cast. The acting is perfectly adequate but the characters are not interesting. The best bit about the film are the 'games' but there are only like 2 of these and a lot of filler. It's really not worth watching and not even good enough at being bad.

From the very beginning, it becomes painfully clear that this film is an exercise in frustration. The plot-or what passes for one-attempts to be complex and engaging but instead spirals into an incoherent mess that leaves the audience confused and irritated. It's like being strapped into a rollercoaster that never stops spinning, a ride you can't escape from no matter how much you want to. Every time you think the film might be on the verge of redeeming itself, it takes another wild turn into absurdity, leaving you more baffled than before.

One of the biggest problems with this film is its sheer lack of direction. The narrative is so disjointed that it's impossible to follow any semblance of a coherent storyline. Characters are introduced and discarded with little to no explanation, subplots are started and then abandoned without resolution, and the pacing is so erratic that you're never quite sure what's happening or why you should care. It's as if the filmmakers threw every idea they had into a blender, hit "puree," and served the resulting mess to the audience without any consideration for logic or structure.

The film also suffers from an identity crisis. It seems to be unsure of what it wants to be-a thriller? A drama? A psychological horror? It tries to be all these things at once but fails spectacularly in each attempt. The tonal shifts are jarring and poorly executed, making it impossible to invest in the story or the characters. One minute, the film is trying to be dark and edgy, and the next, it's attempting (and failing) to inject humor into the proceedings. The result is a muddled, confused mess that doesn't know what it's trying to say or why.

The characters are another major issue. They're poorly written, flat, and unlikable. Not one of them is relatable or worth rooting for, and their motivations are either unclear or nonsensical. Watching them stumble through the plot is like watching puppets with their strings tangled-it's a frustrating, cringe-worthy experience. The actors do their best with what they're given, but even the most talented performers would struggle to bring life to these one-dimensional characters.

Visually, the film is a nightmare. The cinematography is bland and uninspired, with scenes that are either too dark to see what's happening or so overexposed that they hurt your eyes. The special effects, if you can call them that, are laughably bad-more suited to a low-budget student film than a professional production. The editing is choppy and inconsistent, adding to the overall sense of disorientation and confusion. It's as if every aspect of the film was designed to be as unpleasant and disorienting as possible.

The Bridge Curse: Ritual: Taiwanese horror film. Set in 2019 this is more of a prequel rather than a remake. The bridge and it's angry ghosts feature but these are mostly in relation to one character. The action centres around the university's buildings and again is largely composed of found footage. In 2016 a student tries to beta test a Role Playing Game he is creating, to see if it will also arouse the interest of reputed ghosts. Things go horribly wrong as he is attacked by invisible forces and ends up in a coma. 2019, his sister along with other students try to finish creating his game. She beta rests it in the same building and despite being twice attacked, apparently by ghosts she is intent on continuing as are her student friends. Have this lot never watched a horror film? Some effective jump scares and convincing ghosts along with an in-between dimension which has to be traversed. Time slips are also involved. Things do get a bit confusing as the film chops back and forward betwixt the timelines. There are some very angry ghosts and warped Feng Shui at work here. A ten minute cut it's running time might have improved things as well, still it's worth watching. Directed by Lester Hsi, Writers Keng-Ming Chang, Po-Hsiang Hao and Shih-yuan Lu. On Netflix. 6/10.

TIME WASTING...KHANKI MAGI MOVIE.... "Khankir Chele" (translating roughly to "The Whore's Son") is not a movie that tiptoes around sensitive issues. Directed by emerging filmmaker Shafiq Rahman, this intense social drama dives headfirst into the underbelly of society, exploring themes of identity, shame, stigma, and self-discovery. With a name as provocative as its premise, "Khankir Chele" sets out to disturb, engage, and ultimately challenge viewers to rethink the way we judge and marginalize others.

The story follows Rakib, a young man growing up in the slums of Dhaka, known mostly as "Khankir Chele" due to his mother's occupation as a sex worker. From his earliest days, Rakib is ridiculed, beaten, and ostracized, not for anything he has done, but simply because of who his mother is. Society stamps him as dirty, criminal, and unwanted before he ever gets a chance to speak for himself.

The film, from horror powerhouse Taiwan, starts with an interesting angle: students are working on an Augmented Reality video game based on a haunted, er, university. Said students (who are as dim-witted as most characters in this type of story) test out their game on location (why they need to test out the game when it's nearing completion rather than early on in the development process is unclear). The actual ghosts soon start layering with the AR gaming, which is an original approach and fairly interesting (what is really there and where??). We get a number of point of view shots from CCTV cameras and the gamers' equipment, and when handled well such subjective shots are always a great strategy to immerse viewers and turn up the horror quotient. Yet the film soon leaves that idea behind to focus on the real ghosts, which is a shame because everything becomes much more pedestrian at that point. Thankfully the visual dynamic is replaced by narrative ingenuity as a late twist shakes things up and saves the film... until a final revelation that's too rushed to have much impact (and perhaps the fact that I haven't seen the first film doesn't help). In the end the film is ok but clearly had potential for more.