Dream Home (2010)
"Wai dor lei ah yut ho" (original title)

Cheng Li-sheung is a young, upwardly mobile professional finally ready to invest in her first home. But when the deal falls through, she is forced to keep her dream alive - even if it means keeping her would-be neighbors dead.

Director:

Ho-Cheung Pang

Writers:

Ho-Cheung Pang (story), Ho-Cheung Pang (screenplay),

Stars:

Josie Ho, Kwok Cheung Tsang, Eason Chan

2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Josie Ho	...	Cheng Lai - Sheung
Kwok Cheung Tsang	...	Cheung Jai
Eason Chan	...	Siu To
Michelle Ye	...	Flat 8A Female Owner
Norman Chu	...	Sheung's Father
Juno Mak	...	Cop Fat
Hee Ching Paw	...	Sheung's Mother
Lawrence Chou	...	On Jai
Chu-chu Zhou	...	Woman B
Hoi-Pang Lo	...	Sheung's Grandpa
Lap-Man Sin	...	Flat 8A Male Owner
Ying Kwan Lok	...	Cop Man
Ching Wong	...	Security Guard
Wai Hung Chan
Juan Song

Storyline

Cheng Li-sheung is a young, upwardly mobile professional finally ready to invest in her first home. But when the deal falls through, she is forced to keep her dream alive - even if it means keeping her would-be neighbors dead.

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Plot Keywords:

home | mercy killing | stabbed in the throat | homicide | stabbing | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [jp]

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Release Date:

13 May 2010 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Dream Home

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company Credits

Production Co:

852 Films, Making Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

a high rise with a killer view

This film is a fresh, entertaining, stylish and beautifully staged gore fest. The bloody mainframe of the film's structure is accompanied by an interesting side-story that serves to justify all the bloodshed and also to provide some social commentary, but all this is secondary to the rivers of blood. And God saw it was good.

Ho-Cheung Pang's "Dream Home" proves that well-made genre pictures satisfy a basic human need: they can focus our attention, for a while, to a sequence of events that entertains because we know, roughly speaking, what to expect, what kind of experiences are in store for us. Well, Dream House is an honest splatter. Victims are lined up to be slaughtered in the most inventive ways for our viewing pleasure. But the film also has elements of human drama, and these two aspects - gore and drama - play each other in and out very well. The overall result is an impeccably paced, brutal but surprisingly uplifting story, beautifully shot against the backdrop of Hong Kong's endless arrays of high-rises and apartment blocks.

The main character, played by an air of focused innocence by Josie Ho, has been saving up to buy an apartment with a nice seaside view, and she is working very hard to realize her dreams. Then things don't go exactly as planned. Lots of drama ensues. People die. Blood is spilled.

There is nothing much more to the plot than a general arch to justify the gore, but it all works out very well, and doesn't feel dragged out or phony or needlessly second-rate; in fact, the acting in this film is actually quite good for the most part, with the exception of the actress who plays the main heroine: she is VERY good. In addition to the action, there is some merit to the drama itself. It carries some weight, or, at any rate, enough to make the film seem interesting all the while. None of the social commentary is especially realistic or intelligent, but the splatter format can function as a kind of primal scream therapy, and thus bring some aspects of our repressed social anxieties to the bloody daylight.

Finally, one aspect of the film deserves special attention: the cinematography, editing and directing. The shots are beautiful, symmetrical, rich in detail. Whether inside or outside, the camera captures some beautiful scenes (and, let us not kid ourselves here, some beautiful people). Each frame could almost work as a photograph; each outdoors vignette of Hong Kong cityscape is hauntingly beautiful; each spewing of blood is swiftly and surgically captured on the screen.

The script is tight and the acting is sufficient. The editing is inventive and the staging rich in detail. Even the drama succeeds in never becoming boring and no single scene, or theme, overstays its welcome. The director-writer Pang has given us a good splatter film which is also a good film even outside its (criminally under-appreciated and depreciated) genre. I was pleasantly surprised by the craft involved. Did I mention it's also funny? Just wait for the moment when the... oh, never mind, just go see this bloody film already.

Snap judgment: Rivers of blood make for bloody good entertainment.