Gwai wik (2006)

Directors:

Oxide Pang Chun
Danny Pang

Writers:

Cub Chin (written by)
Sam Lung (written by)

Release Date:

1 July 2006 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

The abandoned don't just disappear.

Plot:

After writing three best-sellers about love story based on her own experiences, the successful writer...

Plot Keywords:

Trauma | Family Relationships | Spirituality | Other World | Betrayal

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Angelica Lee	...	Tsui Ting-Yin (as Lee Sinje)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pou-Soi Cheang	...	The director of 'My Love' (as Cheang Pou Soi)
Ekin Cheng
Lawrence Chou	...	Lawrence
Viraiwon Jauwseng	...	Yuk Ling
Siu-Ming Lau	...	Old Man
Rain Li
Zeng Qi Qi
Jetrin Wattanasin
Yaqi Zeng	...	Ting-yu

Also Known As:

Gui yu (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
Re-cycle (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for frightening and disturbing images.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

Thailand | Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin | Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Malaysia:18PL | Singapore:PG | Hong Kong:IIB | Australia:M | Germany:16 | Finland:K-15 | USA:R | Italy:VM14

Company:

Magic Head Film Production Co.

after some mediocre efforts, this is a welcome release

I haven't seen all that many Pang Brothers films, but apart from "The Eye" there haven't been any that were worth bothering with. I was pleasantly surprised by how good "Re-Cycle" was, although it starts out in a rather routine manner....ooh, here we go with the spooky Asian black hair thing again. But it suddenly takes off into another dimension (literally) and is fascinating from that point on.

A writer is having trouble with her new book (called, strangely enough, Re-Cycle) and she begins to experience some rather odd things after a press conference in which she said "she'd never seen a ghost but would like to". She finds herself in a dimension meant only for "the abandoned", which means the forgotten people, promises not kept or just forgotten, old toys, etc., even aborted fetuses. Hmm. She befriends a little girl who has no name and the little girl helps her to find her way back to her world, where she belongs, but of course, not without some difficulties.

There's a rather unexpected twist ending to this too, one which I didn't see coming but it was rather appropriate.

This is more fantasy than horror although despite that, it still manages to be fairly eerie & creepy. I thoroughly enjoyed this & would recommend it. 7 out of 10.