Review of They Wait (2007) by Zarinah H — 22 Sep 2008

I am a fan of supernatural movies and had begun to despair of watching well-made ones. Even the J-horror movies have become too formulaic of date. Yet "They Wait" was a refreshing change and a well-made horror movie. Though it is a Canadian made movie, the premise is based on Chinese folklore, that of the Seventh Month of the Lunar Calendar, i.e. the Hungry Ghost Festival. It is believed in Chinese tradition that during this month, the veil between the living and the dead ceases to exist, and hence offerings are placed by descendants of the dead to honor their ancestors, and appease the spirits.

It is during this month that a certain Raymond Tsai dies during a hunting expedition. His nephew Jason [Terry Chen] and his American wife Sarah [Jaime King] fly back to the States from Shanghai for the funeral, accompanied by their six-year-old son, Sam [Regan Oey]. Soon after the funeral, Sam begins to see disturbing apparations and believes they are spirits. He falls very ill, and his mother Sarah begins to have similar visions. She decides to ask the help of a traditional Chinese herbalist, [Henry O] who had volunteered his help. Turns out that Sam is in the grip of a restless spirit that is devouring his very soul and if Sarah doesn't find out what the spirit is seeking before sunrise [when the Hungry Ghost month ends], her son's soul may be lost forever. Thus begins a desperate race-against-time on Sarah's part [her husband is away on business] to solve the mystery, and she literally unearths some very disturbing 'skeletons in the family clost'.

The acting is excellent all-around - the little boy Sam [Regan Oey] convincingly carries off the role of a little kid who also happens to be able to see ghosts [ala Haley Joel Osment's character in the Sixth Sense]. Jaime King is great as the distraught mom who will do anything to save her son. The other notable performances are Jason's sinister Aunt[Pei-pei Cheng], the herbalist [Henry O], and yes, the ghost Shen [Vicky Huang].

The effects are well-done - not over-the-top but very subtle with a few scenes that truly did have the jump-out-of-your-seat effects. The score is effectively creepy and kind of played on in my mind long after the credits rolled! The sets are simple yet credible and on the whole, this was just a really well-made horror flick.

The story here is supposed to be based on true events and I'm glad someone thought to bring it to the big screen. Also, there is a story in the series, Poltergeist: The Legacy [a Showtime offering many years ago] titled "Fox Spirit" that also has a vengeful Chinese spirit seeking revenge, and another movie that is based on the Chinese Hungry Ghost month is "The Maid", an Asian horror movie set in Singapore, where I'm originally from.

It's high time makers of horror movie started mining their stories from other sources rather than the same old haunted house, slasher killers premise, and Eastern folklore has much to offer in terms of that. Final verdict: "They Wait" is a highly watchable supernatural movie!