Ghost Rituals (2014)

After incurring debts from his failed business venture in China, Zong Hua returns to Malaysia after a decade hiatus. The demoralized Zong Hua faces problem finding a job and tries hard to ... See full summary »

Director:

Nick Cheung

Writers:

Adrian Teh (screenplay), Nick Cheung (screenplay) (co-writer)

Stars:

Nick Cheung, Annie Liu, Carrie Ng

Cast

Cast overview:
Nick Cheung
Annie Liu
Carrie Ng
Lam Wai
Cathryn Lee
Ruby Faye	...	Ah Man (as Ruby Yap)

Storyline

After incurring debts from his failed business venture in China, Zong Hua returns to Malaysia after a decade hiatus. The demoralized Zong Hua faces problem finding a job and tries hard to get use to things at home, including his estranged relationship with his step-father, Xiaotian, who runs a Cantonese opera troupe and half-sister, Jing Jing. Jing Jing is hostile towards Zong Hua as she always has this impression that the death of their mother is caused by the excessive fights between Zong Hua and his step-father.

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Plot Keywords:

hong kong giallo | malaysian giallo | giallo | 

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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User Reviews

So much potential here...

I never even heard about "Ghost Rituals" (aka "Yu lan shen gong") before now in 2019 when I was presented with the chance to sit down and watch it. Needless to say that I jumped at the chance, given my fascination and interest with the Asian cinema.

First of all, let me just say that the atmosphere in this 2014 movie was quite good, and director Nick Cheung was good at constructing the scenes and building the movie. And there definitely was a lot of untapped potential to "Ghost Rituals". Just a shame that they didn't fully utilize what they had readily available here.

For me, the movie ended up being mediocre, because the storyline lost me along the way. It just took a turn for a more ludicrous and less than interesting turn for me somewhere along the way. Now, I did manage to sit through the movie to the end, but it went from being interesting to becoming mediocre.

It should be said that there are some really impressive scenes in the movie, and I was more than genuinely impressed with the possession scenes. They were quite exquisite and brutal, unlike anything I've seen in Asian horror before. That was definitely a good thing.

As for the acting, well they had some nice talents on the cast list, and people were doing good jobs with their given characters and roles, just a shame that they were held back by the script and storyline. Annie Liu and Carrie Ng were quite good in the movie.

"Ghost Rituals" is a watchable movie, for sure. But it is hardly an outstanding movie, or a movie that will impress you or blow you away. And it is definitely not a movie that you will watch more than once.

My rating of "Ghost Rituals" ultimately lands on a very flaccid and mediocre five out of ten stars.

Details

Country:

Hong Kong Malaysia

Language:

Mandarin Cantonese

Release Date:

10 July 2014 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Ghost Rituals

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,653,042

Company Credits

Production Co:

Asia Tropical Films, Imaginex Studios, Sundream Motion Pictures

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1