“Re-Cycle” – Pang Brothers return with a spectacle.
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The Pang Brothers, Asia’s masters of Horror are loathed by most critics in the West, even though their films have an admirably large, underground fan following among American horror enthusiasts. In the last 10 years or so, Asian horror filmmakers have redefined the genre and pushed the envelope in an attempt to showcase more original concepts. Testimonial accounts of people who have been a part of supernatural experiences have always shown that these experiences are almost always unexplained, and unresolved, but chilling and terrifying. Asian horror film reflects that sense of paranoia. It breaks away from the traditional Hollywood horror mould where clear explanations and concrete resolutions are necessary. Asian horror filmmakers are never bothered about resolutions or explanations, and concentrate their creative energies in showcasing innovative concepts, and scaring their audiences through a sense of confusion, that most of their characters themselves face.
After the critically trashed, but immensely popular “The Eye”, the Pang brothers return to what they do best, following most Asian horror film traditions, and yet, serving up a mysterious film that is visually spellbinding. With spectacular visual effects, and some terrifying, jolting scares, “Re-Cycle” is a thoroughly enjoyable thrill ride. Although weak on its script, which after about an hour in becomes a tad predictable, the film holds its own because of the Pang brothers’ striking visual sense.
A writer immensely popular for her melancholy romantic novels starts writing a horror story. As her treatment begins to take form, she begins experiencing the events that she writes. And before she knows it, she is transported to a tragic, fairly-tale land composed of materials and the dead that have been dumped and forgotten by humans. The dead are after her life, and in her attempt to escape she finds two strangers who seem all to familiar, her tickets to escape back into the real world.
A Hong-Kong-Thai co-production, the film is lavish on its production value. In a mixed crew of exceptionally talented Chinese and Thai artists, “Re-Cycle” and most of the Pang brothers’ previous works exemplify how Asian cinema can exploit its prowess through united efforts.
“Re-Cycle” may not be a pathbreaker, but it is solid popcorn cinema. More significantly, it is a welcome addition to the new Asian revolution that is making its presence felt in world cinema, offering viewers welcome alternatives to oft-repeated Hollywood material.
Tags: Chinese
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Vijay,
Thank’s for this. I am a MAJOR fan of their work – and The Eye is one of my all-time favourite movies.
It is a shame that only those of us who are fans of Asian horror films get to see them when they are here on limited release, and the general American public only gets to see them when they are remade into sub-par remakes. Asia is turning out the most compelling, psychologically thrilling horror movies in the world. While American “horror” films have devolved into slasher flicks, Asian horror films seem to be delving deeper into superstition and the dark places in the human psyche to create some truly creepy and beautiful films….
I am so jealous that you are catching all the great Asian Horror films at AFI, while I am stuck at work all week….
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Asia is definitely the Horror powerhouse in the world. In fact Asia is the creative powerhouse, period. Korean and Chinese cinema has really come of age in the last 10 years. And totally agree, when Hollywood re-makes them, they’re watered down to American sensibilities and despite 10 times the budget of the original, their impact is not even one-tenth as good.
I love AFI Fest. This year they have a program called Dark Horizons, which basically showcases films from around the world with really dark themes. Most of the films in this program are Asian films. I’m catching some Hong Kong movies in the next few days like the gangster flicks “Election” and “Triad Election”, the noir piece “Luxury Car”, and William Friedkin’s return to Hollywood with a film called “Bug” which looks creepy as hell. I’m hoping he reinvents Hollywood horror with this one instead of succumbing to cliches.
While we’re on horror films, I am really looking forward to “The Return”, which releases in the US today (Limited release). It’s directed by Asif Kapadia, who directed the Irffan Khan starrer “The Warrior”. It stars Sara Michelle Gellar (why?). The previews look very interesting. But one initial review of the film trashed it. I have not read any more reviews though.
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I am hoping to drag a couple of people to LA this weekend to catch Election and Triad Election (Sumeet!!!!). I don’t have any interest in Bug, it seems to me that it is miscast (Ashley Judd????).
Actually, I am sad as everything I wanted to see has already played, and Sunday is the only day off I have had for the entire festival. That said, UCI is having its own horror festival this week, and their line up is AMAZING. Hopefully I can catch some of those films, including Cache – another one I missed in the theaters….
If you are a producer and you want to make a profitable horror flick that attracts horny young guys under 30 and the college/teenage girl demographic, than Sarah Michelle Gellar is the ONLY actress you can cast. Personally, I don’t like her face and find her hard to look at, but I understand why she gets cast in everything, she brings in the money. I am the definite minority opinion when it comes to her…
If I had the budget to make a big horror film, I would cast Rose McGowan or Fairuza Balk, someone hot who can act and looks good in dimly lit rooms and can look scared/shocked/pissed when they need to. You know, someone who can act….
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WILL SOMEONE LIVING IN MUMBAI WHO HAS THE PANG BROTHERS’ CINEMA PLEASE STAND UP !!!!!
Am so tired of hearing their names everywhere but not getting a chance to lay my hands on the DVD !!!
:((
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I am not a huge fan of Pang brothers – Eye is their best till date.
Tesseract was good – a la amoros perres – tad metaphysical but immensely confusing. Bangkok Dangerous was a nice story – could have been a great movie. Me thinks, what they lack in substance, they make up with style. Yet to watch re-cycle, but I am guessing it’s some abortion/after-life psychedelica.
KK – Pattiyal is a remake of their BD. Watch it instead – it’s a better version.
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DUDE IM A BIG FAN OF THE PANG BROTHERS ALSO MORE DIRECTORS OF JAPAN. THE EYE 1 AND THE 2 ARE MY FAVORITES IN THE LIST BUT RECYCLE IS ANOTHER STORY. TOTALLY AWESOME GUYS THIS A GOOD CRITIC WELL SEE YOU AROUND. MAKE MORE MOVIES HEHEH.
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