Keeper of Darkness

I happened to get a chance to sit down and watch the 2015 movie "Keeper of Darkness" (aka "Tor dei gui mou yan") from writer and director Nick Cheung here in 2020. I had not even heard about the movie prior to getting this chance.

Given my fascination with the Hong Kong cinema, needless to say that I seized the moment and sat down to watch this movie.

Well, first of all I must say that the movie's synopsis sounded interesting, and it sold the movie well, and definitely put me up with some expectations for the movie. Which director Nick Cheung unfortunately failed to deliver upon. The movie's storyline just ended up being very bland and often just monotonous.

As for the effects in "Keeper of Darkness", well overall the special effects and CGI team worked their magic quite well. Expect for two horribly rendered ghost effects; the short, overly muscular ghost, it was just atrocious to look at. And the fact that the main ghost was blown out of proportions, it just looked so poorly made, especially because some of the head wasn't show. It looked like they just added a warped image effect in post production. It was laughable to say the least.

It should be said that they had managed to gather a good ensemble of actors and actresses for the movie. Some familiar faces if you are well-traversed within the Hong Kong cinema.

The movie is labelled as a horror and thriller, well I will say that it is more of a thriller than it is a horror movie, because the horror elements are very, very weak throughout the course of the movie.

"Keeper of Darkness" was mediocre at best, and as such I am rating it five out of ten stars. I must admit that when the movie came to an end, I was left with an overwhelming sensation of 'was that really it?'

Nick Cheung has challenged nearly a myriad of roles that come his way, mostly to a good degree of success. He does perform in "Keeper of Darkness" as the eccentric exorcist, but the over usage of CG and fragmented subplots make it hard for audience to invest on any perspective. While it sometimes looks smooth, the movie jumps too hectically from scene to scene, making the progress more convoluted than it needs to be.

Fatt (Nick Cheung) is a man who possessed the ability to see ghosts. He tries to solve their problems and prevents them from stepping too far to the human side. This set-up, along with his tattooed and white haired visage, gives him a quirky and charismatic presence, almost like Constantine, supernatural detective from other side of the globe.

However, the plot tries to churn too many occurrences in too short of a span. Some of the introductions are done sluggishly, then it speeds up to flashback of the past, the burning malicious ghost and even strange bond with female reporter and ghost. The transition is jarring and can be quite confusing with sporadic editing.

This hurts the horror element as well, since some of the scenes are actually quite chilling, yet they are cut too shortly or done with too much CG. The graphic for setting and effect are admittedly pleasant, yet one would think a couple of horror instances are better off with practical effect. It also tries to fit in some comedic laughs, but these come off as cheesy soap opera from old days.

"Keeper of Darkness" wants to bring more visual finesse to oriental horror, however the focus on narrative is messy and frequent shift of tone can be alarmingly distracting.

Not going to bother with the plot as others have succinctly summed it up for you. In my opinion this was a decent film that one could watch if its a weekend and there's nothing to do. The acting, storyline and special effects will not leave you feeling disappointed. At the very least, if you rented this movie for a couple of bucks, rest easy in knowing you will get your money's worth.

Adorable ghostly specters, I avoided watching at night, who knows... "Do one good deed. One good deed cancels out three bad ones." I liked the plot, the reasonable development, Nick Cheung lost in charm, and won in acting... Great effects, evolving story, satisfying ending...

This show was quite a disappointment for me, as i have high expectations for Nick Cheung's movies. It was not much of a exorcism horror show as many would expect, but more like a mix of horror and romance where the romantic parts became too draggy; This actually have been Nick Cheung's style in his directed films.

In this story line, the main bad guy's(devil) action (kills he made), were not really linked with any reason. There was little gruesomeness or action in the way he performed his kills , which makes the show boring. There was also little explanation for his overpowered status. I do not think anyone would understand the ending of the show

Despite being one of the best actor out there, Nick Cheung, will still have a lot to learn in directing. I will give it a 5 / 10 rating for the beautiful actresses that made up the show 's flaws. A decent movie, but do not expect the best out of this horror flick.