'DREAM HOME'

Dream Home

(2010)

-Ho-Cheung Pang co-wrote (along with Kwok Cheung Tsang and Chi-Man Wan) and directed this Cantonese bloody gore fest which became sort of an underground cult sensation at Tribeca 2010. I remember when I was volunteering there, I was trying to get tickets for it (but unfortunately it was sold out) and all I was hearing from gore hounds was of how violent and disurbing it was. I recently saw this film and yes, it was extremely heavy on the gallons of blood and fake intestines, but something was missing. A focused story line.

For those who have not seen this film, it centers on a young twenty-something woman, Cheng-Lai (played perfectly by Josie Ho), living in Hong Kong during the economy destruction, who all her life has had this unhealthy lifelong obsession with this 'dream home' apartment in the Victoria Harbor that she promised to her dying Grandfather, when she was a little girl, would own some day. Now in her late 20's and working as a professional telemarketer, making a living being hung up on by uninterested buyers. She is already in major debt, working a second job, and quickly watching her dreams of owning the apartment vanish. Which eventually causes this woman (already a little unstable to begin with) to mentally snap. Cheng-Lai begins to wipe out her competition of the rich as well as her would-be neighbors once the deal falls through of her ownership.

The killings are incredibly fulfilling and extremely creative. Makes Hostel almost look like Pee-Wee's Playhouse. I liked as well as disliked how the story was told for this slasher picture.

It's told completely out of sequence, starting with her murdering a security guard in the 'dream home' apartment building, then going back to her late 20's life style before she cracks. Then shifting in flashbacks of her when she was a little girl dealing with her family that are having their own debt issues and having to almost sacrifice her education in order to support her family.

However, what I DIDN'T like about the storytelling was how unfocused and scattered it tended to be. The flashbacks and cross periods worked to a degree, but after a while, they got a little too out of control and I didn't understand what was going on half the time. And then before I know it, BAM! Some chick gets her eyeball poked out and a pregnant woman is suffocated.

It is a very horrific, disturbing picture (Only the Asians...) and definitely deserved all the hype it was receiving at Tribeca last year. For gore fans, I certainly recommend it. For film snobs, maybe. Maybe not (luckily I am in between).

I mean, the cinematography's incredible. The acting's outstanding. It's just the direction and outline that tends to go off the handlebars at times. I found myself just waiting for the next death. But the film still has more of a heart than most slasher films. Most slasher/horror pictures you see nowadays just seem to treat its antagonist like some sick, pathetic individual (which, don't get me wrong, SURELY ARE!) that we can't wait to see dead. Which can work at times, but I found it far more interesting and refreshing for this film, that the main star was the protagonist and the antagonist. It's almost sort of sweet. How she made this promise to her Grandfather. And with the economy crashing down on her so badly, you sympathize with her and in a sick way, understand her motives.

But I gotta tell ya, this picture truly made you open your eyes and understand how twisted the world is nowadays and how competitive people can be, that they could actually stoop to murdering people to get a house to live in. As they always say... times are tough.

SINCERELY,

FILMBOY

ENTRY QUOTE:

"My films are the stories of people who place the blame for their actions on others because they refuse to take on the blame themselves." - Chan-wook Park