7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 3.7 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.3 |
Re-Cycle, a romance novelist announces the title of her next project - Land of the Dead. After running out of ideas, she deletes all drafts from her computer. Then she starts seeing a strange woman over and over again and stories described in her drafts all come alive. She decides to follow the woman, who leads her to an unknown land.
Starring: Angelica Lee, Siu-Ming Lau, Qi Qi Zeng, Choi-Wah 'Rain' Lee, Lawrence ChouForeign | 100% |
Horror | 93% |
Supernatural | 41% |
Mystery | 26% |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Cantonese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
While the recent fallout from the Asian horror boom has been radioactive—don’t put me near One Missed Call 2—the initial explosion of titles familiarized Western viewers with a whole new set of terror tropes. Harkening back to 1964’s Kwaidan, both Ringu and Juon introduced international audiences to the longhaired and vengeful female ghost. The lush claustrophobia of A Tale of Two Sisters added a dark, psychological element, and films like Pulse gave us cause to fear the spiritual unknowns of new technology. Whereas domestic horror films of the time were bloated with action and filled with too-clean teenage faces, J- horror—and its Korean and Chinese cousins—dwelt in an atmosphere of lingering dread. When the Pang brothers made The Eye back in 2002, however, the movement was beginning to lose some of its luster. By the time the remakes and sequels started rolling out, all those terrifying new tropes started to look tired and cliché. Ah, a spooky little girl with long black hair! Oh no, this text message says I’m gonna die! In 2006, the Pang brothers joined creative forces again for Re-Cycle, an aptly-named horror/fantasy hybrid that tries commendably to make something new out of the well-worn staples of its genre, but ultimately only cobbles from a number of better films.
No, this is not a still from The Eye.
Sometimes stunning, frequently underwhelming, and occasionally puzzling, Re-Cycle's 1080p, AVC-encoded transfer is difficult to judge. Color is a major part of the film, but it's used inconsistently and frequently to ill effect. Each section of Re-Cycle's abandoned world has a different color cast—from the sickly greens of the bridge sequence, to the vivid reds of the forgotten womb—and the directors have claimed they wanted the locales to feel like "levels" of a video game. They certainly make their point, but the selective saturation and desaturation often looks amateurish and hokey, like those cheesy wedding portraits where the bouquet is in color but the rest of the image is black and white. (My apologies to anyone who has one of those—it was a fad for awhile.) Skin tones, then, are literally all over the color map, sometimes flush with warmth and other times pulled back into a deathly pallor. Black levels are wildly inconsistent, usually veering into a washed-out, charcoal look, I noticed a few instances of contrast wavering, and the image in general is flat and lacks pop. On the plus side, facial details and clothing textures look sharp and I didn't notice any edge enhancement, compression artifacts, banding, or blocking.
In contrast to the video quality, Re-Cycle's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is consistent and engaging. While it may not provide the non-stop shocks, thrills, and stabs of other, more sound- centric horror films, Re-Cycle has its share of clever audio design. Loud footsteps thud from left to right, creepy metallic scrapings sound off in the rears, and the sound field is filled with strange creaks and unnatural swooshes. Dynamics too are solid. The opening piano score incorporates clear, high-end tinkling keys with deep, coherent bass notes that fill out the bottom. Orchestral strings reverberate over the low throbbings of an LFE pulse, and sound effects are crisp and directional. While vocal work is mostly clear and intelligible, I noticed that the lines of Ting-Yin's ex-boyfriend seemed mostly—if not entirely—dubbed in post-production. Whether this was a language issue—perhaps he was speaking Mandarin, while the rest of the cast used Cantonese—or for some other reason, I'm not sure, but it's worth noting.
The Making of Re-Cycle (SD, 15:41)
This behind-the-scenes featurette, which includes interviews with the Pang brothers and star
Angelica Lee, examines the CGI and sets, but spends most of its running time in discussion about
the film's thematic content. The documentary isn't put together very well, though, several bits of
interviews are used more than once, and the initial intro sequence is re-played several times for
some odd reason.
Deleted Scenes (SD, 8:42)
These aren't so much whole scenes, but rather little clips that were cut from the film. The only
one of real interest is the last, which is set in a stunning golden forest with photographs lodged
between the leaves of trees.
CG Renderings: Before and After (SD, 1:34)
This brief segment shows some of the green screen work compared with the finished
film.
Cast and Crew Q&A Session (SD, 8:25)
This interview was conducted after a screening of the film, and features Angelica Lee and the
Pang brothers fielding questions from the audience. There's nothing too interesting here, but the
directors do talk a little about the film's somewhat scattershot use of color. Apparently, they
intended the film to come across as a series of "levels," almost like a video game, each with its
own tonal feeling.
Gala Premiere, Interviews and Celebration Party (SD, 16:13)
Like the previous segment, there's not much substance to this footage, and the two presenters
seem way too overenthusiastic about the film, even making the cast and crew look bewildered at
times. There aren't really any interviews here, just isolated questions. Was it difficult to act
against a green screen? What was your biggest difficulty making this movie? What do you hope
audiences will take away from the film? It's fairly fluffy stuff, and I didn't really find it worth
watching.
Theatrical Trailer (SD, 1:30)
If you're looking for a scare, turn your attentions elsewhere, as Re-Cycle never really brings the goods. It's an imaginative ride—it would make a great attraction at some hypothetical anti- Disney—but it has a serious lack of tension and motivation. This one's for hardcore Asian horror fans only.
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