I recently stated in a recent review how much all of these Asian horror films that have been unleashed on the American market have really not been living up to my standards as good films. I now seem to stand corrected, as I have found a diamond in the ruff. Alright, well this film was not made overseas, in fact it was made in Canada, and yes the majority of the dialogue the actors speak is in English. However it’s based on an ancient Chinese Festival known as Ghost Month. So it does get it’s roots from an Asian culture.
THEY WAIT stars Jamie King (Sin City, The Tripper) as Sarah, who’s husband is Chinese with roots back in China. Together they have a young son named Sam. Sam begins to see ghosts during the month of the festival, and some of them become attached to him. While staying with his father’s Aunt and Uncle, Sam begins to experience a horror of events involving the ghost of a women who seems to have been killed by a hatchet to head. Soon Sam becomes ill and needs to be hospitalized. However Sarah begins to see the ghosts herself and begins to unravel the truth behind why they are haunting her son and making him sick. Sarah soon realizes that her husbands family may also be involved with what’s going on.
The script for THEY WAIT is very well written. However, the film does take it’s angles of surprise and suspense from films such as PSYCHO, EVIL DEAD, A TALE OF TWO SISTERS, THE RING and many other suspense and horror films that are notable to fans of the genre. But although many of the scenes may seem to have a subtext that was derived from a film we may have seen, this script uses that familiarity in it’s own original way. The dialogue and character development were all pretty good and overall I found the script for this film to be very well written.
As far as the acting goes, I honestly think that this is one of Jamie King’s best performances. I thought she did great in SIN CITY but I really enjoyed her more in the lead role of Sarah in this film. Sure she looks a bit to young to be the mother of a child who has to be about seven or eight years old in this film, but she pulled off the performance in a very professional manner. The rest of the cast did well also, but I felt that King deserved the mention here and most of the credit being that she has most of the screen time.
The films production value is decent as well. While it mainly takes place in places that don’t really require much set design, such as the streets, inside homes and in a hospital, but there is a shop where most of the bad things in this film take place and the set design for this particular place was set up really well giving it a very creepy and effective look that is meant to make the audience feel uncomfortable. There is one scene however that I know many people complained about and that is the shower scene. There is a shot where you can see the body wrap across Jamie King’s breast, I’ve read about it in other people’s reviews and on the IMDB message boards that it seems many people are basing their opinions on this scene. Sure it’s a big continuity error, but is it really worth bashing the movie over? I don’t think so, in fact I thought with all the commotion going on that she actually put a towel around her before she put her bath robe on. It was only when I went back to watch that scene again that I realized it was bad marking by the crew for the actor to use, and that the camera man and director should of been aware of the shot. Other than that though, the film has great visual effects and it’s share of blood and gore.
Overall, THEY WAIT is a very well put together film with a good story. The film was paced out very well, and despite it’s little flaws, it’s a great movie with a good storyline. I for one found the film to be very enjoyable and it does have a few scares and jumps here and there. With it’s heavy Asian influence I for one think that it should of had a wider theatrical release than did. I for one liked it better than THE GRUDGE and PULSE remakes. Well worth checking out.
– Horror Bob
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- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
