Ceticultsot
Beautiful, moving film.
ChicDragon
It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.
Marva-nova
Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
Sabalon
I was not sure what to expect going into this one. I adore Angelica Lee, so it was worth it, even if it were to be garbage. The premise is pretty simple and setups up the movie - Kidney thief on the loose, whose next? Or so you think. The movie goes much deeper than that. One could almost cut all that out (forgive the pun) and substitute other problems and the movie would still stand. Other than a few curses a friend taught me in college, I don't speak or understand Chinese, however the writing (if the subtitles are accurate) and the emotion in the delivery make you really feel for Ling and Ching. I think I felt more empathy for them than half the English movies I've seen lately.There is nothing supernatural in this movie and it is very believable, which actually makes it a little scarier. There are a couple scenes where they try to make you jump, but you can see those coming from a mile away. Some of the plot twists were pretty transparent, however, some were unseen. It is not a convoluted or hard to follow story at all. But the acting and direction more than make up for any implied simpleness of the plot.Really, it is that decent of a film.
MaximumMadness
Traditionally, Asian films have been sticking more to the classic horror styles and elements. What I'm saying is that in general, they are deeper, more frightening, and overall much better than American horror films. But I found something odd about "Koma." It seemed to be a combination of a slasher film, a psychological horror film, and a family drama. True, this has worked before, in much better films such as "The Silence of the Lambs", but there is something different about "Koma." It almost seems as if the filmmakers wanted to make an "American slasher flick" rather than an "Asian horror film", and to be blunt, they found something in-between.It is hard not to notice some American influence in the film. There are several shots ripped straight out of "Fight Club" and "The Evil Dead", and the musical score is taken directly from M. Night Shyamalan's "Signs" (Though it is a computerized version of the music, not the original studio recording), with only minimal original music.But still, it manages to tell a rather absorbing (If not genre-confused) story about friendship, betrayal, and redemption, all revolving around the idea of kidney-theft. (Yum!) Unfortunately, the movie is only 88 minutes long, and all of the interesting ideas are condensed into lesser versions of what they could be. Perhaps if the movie was longer, and took more time to explore it's characters and stories, it would have been better. Hey, it might have even become a modern classic... But because of uneven direction (Zooming cameras and quick cutting in the beginning become long, steady shots as the movie progresses) and a compressed story, what we get is marginal.Sure it is memorable, but that is only because of it's odd vagueness in what it wants to be, transforming it into a mish-mash "referential" horror film. Overall, even though it is only "pretty good", and there are much better films out there, but be sure to at least give this one a shot, you might like it.
bensonmum2
Koma starts with a bang - an unknown girl awakens in a tub full of ice. Written on the wall above her head, she reads the words "Call the police or you'll die". As she steps from the tub, there is an obvious pain in her side. When she examines the area with her hand, she discovers that she is bleeding from a 9 inch gash. What's not so obvious is that one of her kidneys has been stolen.Unfortunately, the movie has trouble maintaining the momentum of the fantastic start. Koma quickly becomes an all too familiar thriller. Plot points and twists become so obvious they slap you in the face. It's too easy to see where the story is headed.Don't misunderstand, I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. Like several of the other recent Asian films I've seen, Koma is very well made. The cinematography, set design, art direction, and most every other technical aspect is near flawless. And, while much of the story is predictable, I still found a lot of entertainment and I never found myself getting bored. Instead, I was looking forward to what was coming next. But Koma's biggest asset is the cast. The two female leads are exceptional. Both looked and played their parts to perfection. So, I wasn't at all surprised to read that Karena Lam received a Hong Kong Film Award nomination for her work in Koma. I'm just surprised she didn't win.Finally, Koma taught me a lesson that I've passed on to my wife - If you're going to get into an Axe vs. Scalpel fight, wear sensible shoes.
catalina666
I saw this film on cable in a hotel room while I was in Taiwan. It had subtitles in both Traditional Chinese and English. The ads for this film made it look like it was going to be a horror film in the Japanese style that is so popular nowadays. It turned out to be a stylish and slick thriller instead. The production values were quite high, and the plot was interesting enough to keep one's attention. Basically, the plot has been expanded from the common urban myth about waking up in a bathtub full of ice cubes, with one's kidney removed. (Well, I hope it's an urban myth!) I would certainly recommend this film. Well acted and entertaining.
