(2002)
Directed by Pang Brothers
Starring Angelica Lee, Lawrence Chou, Candy Lo, Yin Ping Ko

Let me say this right off the bat to avoid confusion. Granted, this is my opinion, so take it for that. This is not a horror film. It is though, a ghost story, and while creepy and having a few jumps in there, I don’t feel the intention of these filmmakers is meant to scare you. Sometimes, depending on your belief, dying is just part of life. Then there are those that get lost in between, that are around us all the time. That could be frightening in itself!

I had seen this film when it first came out on DVD here in the states, and because it was still in the beginnings of the whole J-Horror craze, really started by the incredible Ringu (1998), and sadly, I was using that as the standard. That was a mistake on my part because I was not giving other films a chance to stand on their own merit. Not to mention that I was expecting all films coming out to be a scary horror film, when a lot of them have something more in the plot.

The story is about a young woman named Mun, who has been blind since the age of 2, is now getting a cornea transplant that hopefully allow her to see again. While recovering from the surgery, with her vision still blurry, she sees an older lady in the room across from her get up in the middle of the night and leaves, accompanied by a dark figure. She finds out the next morning the woman had passed away during the night. She also befriends a young girl going through cancer surgery, who is always in a positive mood, even what she’s going through. We can already tell where that side-story is going. But as her vision clears, she still starts to see people that are strange, which makes her question if what she is seeing is real.

When she tries to explain this to the doctor who performed the operation, he quickly responds by trying to set her up to see a psychiatrist, which she immediately resents. When he finally believes her, they start to do research on where exactly her new corneas came from, discovering more to the story, which might explain why she is seeing what she is.

What I did really like about this film is its presentation of death, especially in something really being marketed as a horror film. You don’t have the scary looking Grim Reaper out to get you, but just a shadowy figure coming to take you to the next part of your journey. Sure, it might be a little unsettling for someone seeing that for the first time, especially after having eye surgery and not sure if what you’re seeing is because of that or what.

This has been released in 4K UHD Blu-ray in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) from Arrow Video here in the US for the first time. This new release has a brand-new interview with producer Peter H-Sun Chan and a really nice visual essay by film scholar Heather Wixson. There is also some archival material, such as a making-of featurette that has interviews with actors Angelica Lee and Lawrence Chou, and another featurette on directors Dann and oxide Pang, as well as original trailers, image gallery, and a collector’s booklet.

If you’re in the mood for a creepy ghost story with a really good plot, I would recommend this one. While it was remade in 2008, starring Jessica Alba, and it isn’t a bad version, I always like to stick to the original, especially when compared to American remakes that seem to dumb it down a bit.