Interesteg What makes it different from others?

Asad Almond A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.

jadavix In its own small way, "Dream Home" could be one of the stranger Category III movies from Hong Kong.Sure, there's no black magic turning people's heads into penises, nor centipedes crawling in and out of girls' mouths, or men with superhuman strength turning heads into a red spray.There is, however, a strange young woman going on a killing spree because she can't afford to buy an appartment or... something.The movie has a completely pointless contrivance which sees the narrative told on a nonlinear timeline. It jumps back and forward constantly adding nothing but confusion to the proceedings. I was ready to blame that for the fact that I never understood why the protagonist started killing but, you know what? I don't think the movie ever really explains that, and I think the confusing timeline might be there to hide that fact. Perhaps the filmmakers thought that if they made the movie confusing enough, people would assume that there was an adequate explanation for the carnage in there somewhere and they just didn't notice it.The plot is something to do with a young woman who really wants to buy an apartment overlooking the ocean in HK. Meanwhile, her dad dies when she inexplicably decides to not give him oxygen.The lady going back and forth with banks in regard to buying the apartment is intercut with her randomly killing people in shockingly horrible ways. At one point she apparently causes a pregnant lady to miscarriage. These death scenes, sickeningly violent though they may be, are also far too improbable to really take seriously or get invested it. Our intrepid murderess stabs a man repeatedly right through the torso, the blade clearly coming out the other side. Is his body made out of butter? Another scene has her smash a lady's head into a toilet bowl until the bowl shatters from the force. Not bad for a skinny lil Asian lady.The death-by-bong also has to be seen to be believed.The ending does belatedly acknowledge the fact that the protagonist's killings may have had the effect of lowering property value, but I'm not buying it. It seems an... extreme way of tackling negative gearing issues.If the movie had been told in a straight-forward way, this might have been somehow believable. The weird non-linear narrative just takes all power and believability out of the movie.

punishmentpark A second viewing of this slasher / drama. The combination of the two elements aforementioned still don't work perfectly to my taste, but I enjoyed it more than the first time. It helped that the storyline, with all its shifting back and forth in time, became clearer to me this time, and thusly had a greater impact.Josie Ho is a fine actress and knows how to underplay a definite psycho. The background of her character is worked out well, based on true facts of the practice of rich people forcing out home owners in Hong Kong in the '80s. The moment when she lets her grandfather die, partly because he betrayed her trust, is a pivotal moment to somehow stay on her side as a viewer - although it should not be missed that there is a lot of awfully dark humour in here, as well. And that humour makes it so that the gore (very well worked out, but not easy to stomach - pun intended?) has its rightful place here, too. Altogether, this is a weird one, and it will certainly not be for everyone. It may never be a favorite of mine, either, but the ingredients are separately very effective in any case.From 6 to 7 out of 10.

zetes Josie Ho plays a young woman desperate to own her own flat. She makes the perfect deal for her dream home, but then the owners decide that the property is too valuable to part with. Ho decides to take matters into her own hands and lower that property value - by killing the crap out of everyone who lives next door to that place. I've never quite seen anything like this. The structure, which moves back and forth in time, is a bit confusing at first, but it all comes together in the end. The film is most notable for its violence. These are some of the nastiest, most disturbing murders I've seen in a long time. I can't remember the last time I was actually shocked by a movie.

Tabatha Zee "Dream Home" has been a title I've been waiting to watch since it's release. Most reviews I had read pinned it as a "darkly hilarious" satirical horror film with high levels of style and gore. The style and gore are there alright, but as far as humor is concerned, I was a little let down. The film does have it's quirks and witty lines, not to mention a few "so-bad-it's-good" effects, but it didn't quite live up to the reputation that I had known it for. That being said, the film is shot beautifully and uses a wide variety of creative shots and transitions. It plays with the time-line well and develops Cheng's character at a very nice pace. Many of the deaths are drawn out and disturbing, which would make this a difficult film to watch if the effects were done with more care. Some over-the-top gore may be humorous to some, but in using characters that the audience can relate to, it is more easily said to be horrific. All in all, though it fell a little short of the hype I've been hearing, "Dream Home" is a must for any Chinese or Asian horror fans!