Review of Dream Home (2010) by Graham W — 01 Dec 2011

Not to be confused with this year's 'Dream House' which I have yet to take on, this little Hong Kong sleeper was a messed up ending to my already-crazy night. Dream Home wasn't afraid to go far; the BRUTAL murders that took place had me by the balls on many occasions and it wasn't afraid to show the splat when it came to them either.

Am talking nasty neck wounds, 2x4's jammed into a mouth, one EXTREME suffocation scene, cut off dick, eye stabbing and more! That being said, this wasn't strictly about gross-outs. It had a story here to it (or so I'm guessing.

.. more on that later) and a very likeable lead in the guise of Josie Ho. She pulled it all off here; a sweetie, a vigilante, a psycho and beyond. She pulled it all off here and her character (and issues) were my main reel into this.

The second biggest attraction for me was Ho-Cheung Pang's kinetic directing. The camera went through insane angles (a lot of moving crane and static shots) and the cinematography was amazing. Yes, another 'prettier than the content' style picture! Nothing wrong with those! I dig! I also appreciated how it didn't stick to one specific tone.

One minute I was engaged in the lead, the next I was laughing at the black/satirical humor, the next I was wincing at the graphic violence. with that many cards to deal, it'd be tough to keep the audience engaged.

Dream Home must have done it right because I stayed that way for most of it! On the lower apartment end, Dream Home decided to pull a "Ju-On: The Grudge" sort of storytelling and tell its tale in a non-linear fashion.

I really don't know if that was necessary in this case. In one sense, it definitely had me paying more attention to the flick than the amount I should have been giving. In the other, it totally confused me in parts and had me giving up on trying to stick to its story.

One other thing; cops cannot be that stupid in Hong Kong. You get tons of murders in one building and you don't start raiding the place? Kind of convenient. I don't normally stride for logic in movies but I never understood why cops are treated as the biggest idiots in horror flicks.

It doesn't always happen but in most movies of late, I've been noticing it a lot more often than not. All in all, Dream Home was a bleak, energetic, humorous and VIOLENT flick. Far from the best thing I've seen all year but was definitely worth my time at least once.

Try it out!