It stars Shu Qi, Sam Lee ("Alien" from Gen-X Cops), Eason Chan (who hasn't been in too much), and Anthony Wong (briefly). It's a ghost story somewhat. Chinese ghost story films seem to differ substantially from US ghost stories. We seem to have a different take on ghosts in general. If you're used to US ghost movies - it might take a little time to adjust to the Chinese "rules" for ghosts as they are a bit differet. It's hard to explain the differences because most of them are so subtle, but they add up and it's a completely different experience.

If I had to sum it up, I'd say that the Chinese versions of ghosts are much more theatrical while ours are much more etherial (if that makes any sense)... Also - their ghosts seem to behave more like zombies while ours seem to be much more emotional and ... well... ghostly. Heck, I've seen a chinese film with ghosts and vampires in which the ghost was a guy in a gorilla suit and a space helmet who was in love with this flying female ghost dressed in a tattered white flowing gown. Another example of how things differ is that their vampires can be frozen by placing a "laundry ticket" on their forhead and when they chase after you, they are much like zombies as well and they hop around instead of walk or run with their arms forward like frankenstein's monster. Ok - that may not be the case for all chinese films, but the few that I've seen

In any case, this film seems to have that take on ghosts... they are zombies that walk among us and most people can't see them. They also have some sort of reason why they are sticking around. They posess the living and make them do strange things. You can make them go away if you get them to feel that the thing they've been hanging around for has taken place.

This film had many things going for it. Shu Qi is always a good thing (as far as I'm concerned - others feel quite the opposite) and she turns out a very nice (and fully clothed) performance in this film. She plays a quirky and emotional love interest for our hero/main character (sound familiar?) played by Eason Chan who also turned out a decent performance. In all fairness, this is one of Shu Qi's better roles (that I've seen) and it gives her more range than other films have. I don't want to give anything away, but I'll just say that she plays a person who seems to have a bit of a dual personality. This film also has a nice creepy musical score - which is important in a horror film as it sets the tone. In addition, this film has a great story, a good supporting cast, some good special effects and I felt the characters were well developed.

So what went wrong? This film came pretty close to actually being scary, but never achieved this for me. I like being scared when I see a horror flick. This one isn't a gore fest (although there are a few scenes of nice gore), so it should rely on creeping the audience out. This didn't creep me out much if at all. Part of it could be due to the cinematography which was somewhat flat. There were a few moments of stylish and creative camera sweeps and tricks, but for the most part the camera wasn't used to their advantage - it was as if they had never done a horror film before.

I certainly feel that this film could've been 100X better with a bit of creative camera work and just a few minor changes here and there. It just didn't have much impact. There were a few Hitchcock moments and some interesting visuals, but then for most of the film, the camera doesn't move - it doesn't pan much, it rarely tracks and it made me feel like I was sitting still watching a play. The movie went to the trouble of presenting these creepy things and yet it didn't try to "sell" any of it with the camera. That's one thing US filmmakers are good at - selling creepy scenes with the camera. I just think this movie would've worked better had it been more stylish.

Ann Hui directed this picture and it wasn't her first - It seems like most of her films are romance/drama, but she's done some other horror films as well. So I don't understand why this one didn't quite work. I haven't seen any of her other films, so I couldn't say how skilled she is. It looks like she's directed about 15 films over the last 22 years, so she's not the busiest director in HK.

I don't like to give away information about plots when doing reviews... I think it's best to discover it yourself as you watch. So I won't say anything about the plot except that it's a love story with ghosts.

The DVD:
I watched the new Mega Star Region 0 DVD. It's really nice. It has a beautiful, clean transfer in 16X9 Anamorphic Widescreen. The subtitles are clear and easy to read - they appear over the film and not in the bottom bar, but that doesn't bother me. Only a few grammar and spelling mistakes and a few instances of things not being translated and I only noticed the timing being off in a few spots. Nothing major or distracting. The audio was Cantonese DD5.1 or Mandarin DD5.1. I listened to the Cantonese audio which was very nice. The surrounds were put to good use and there were even some good scenes for my subwoofer. Only problem with the sound is that the levels weren't very balanced - The sub and the rears were a bit high and the center was a bit quiet - one adjustment should be fine for the whole film and even if you don't adjust it, it should be fine.

The disc also includes a Trailer, a Teaser and a Making Of documentary (10 - 20 minutes I guess? forgot to look) - none of which is subtitled. It's still interesting anyway. There is also a comic version of the story included (but might be too small to see on a TV smaller than 40". A very nice disc indeed - especially for $83HKD (roughly $10 - $11 US).

I'd say it's certainly worth asking price. I wouldn't pay more than that for this film because I didn't feel it was strong enough to warrant the twenty bucks DVDs tend to cost in the US. I'll probably watch it again at some point for Shu Qi, but it was a little bit of a let-down for a creepy horror film.

The film:
6.1/10

The DVD:
8.5/10

A reluctant thumbs up.

P.S. Also worth noting - The subway scenes that are seen on the poster and in the trailer were cut from the film. A reviewer on HKMDB noted this in his review and speculated that this was so as not to scare subway commuters. I believe these scenes were cut before it was released in the theater, so the version on DVD is most likely the theatrical cut. I'll bet the addition of those scenes could've made a difference in this film, but not saved it completely. I was wondering where that scene went. Perhaps a Director's Cut in the future, but I doubt it.

*Originally written in August of 2001 and appeared on DVDTalk. (also, I realize that Eason Chan has been in dozens of movies)

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*bonus review: This film had a sequel... although epinions doesn't have a listing for it, I've decided to post my review of it here. This review of VS2 was originally written in August of 2002.
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Visible Secret II - After the end credits started rolling, I thought I had liked it. It wasn't the best movie ever, and it wasn't what I was hoping it would be - but it was good I thought. Then after thinking about it some more, I realized that I didn't really like it as much as I thought I did.

The movie has very little to do with the first one - in fact it has pretty much nothing to do with it as far as I can remember. The creepy white-face woman that was cut from the original plays a major role in this film, but apart from that I don't see any connections... unless I'm just totally forgetting everything from the first film which is possible. This is more of a traditional Chinese ghost story rather than a horror film. Ghost stories in HK film tend to be not scary. This one isn't scary either... there's a few creepy moments, but nothing too special.

Traditional HK ghost stories are usually about someone who meets a ghost and doesn't realize the person is a ghost until later and it's supposed to be a really impactful moment or else there is a ghost that's trying to 'get' the main character and all because the ghost wants that person to do something for them so they can go rest in peace or something. Blah blah blah... yawn. I mean, it's fresh if you haven't seen it a hundred times, but I mean after so many movies that are all pretty much the same it gets tedious. Most ghost movies actually - even US ones - are about a ghost that wants a living person to do something for them before they can leave them alone... it's just that Chinese ones have a distinctive flair to them.

The thing that bothered me about this particular film was that they set up some great moments and then never bothered to pay them off. Basic rule of theater - if you put a gun on a table on stage, then it has to become a part of the story in some way. Well, this movie had some really interesting visual set-ups that were never dealt with later or explained... once the story shifted where it's revealing to the audience what's been going on, they just forget those other things ever happened. I didn't find it annoying until a few minutes after the film had ended and I was thinking about what I'd say about it.

I wish the film was scarier and I wish the plot was tighter, but for a Chinese ghost story it was pretty decent. Seeing the first one is not a pre-requisite. I'd say this film barely gets a 7 and a hesitant thumbs up. Don't expect too much. For sure don't expect to be scared.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age