A gif on Tumblr reminded me that I’ve had this Chinese movie in my Netflix queue for a long time now – a little “look at how beautifully scary this is, don’t you want to watch me?”  Okay, I’m in!

As with many Asian horror movies, the plot left me a little lost.  Basically a dude rents an apartment (number 2442) and in the process of dying from hanging himself, is rescued by supernatural forces.  Seems like there are a shit-ton of ghosts in this particular apartment building, and dude is now part of some supernatural battle as the ghosts attempt to take over bodies.  This leads to the movie being a mash-up of horror and action, with the ending of course being about how love will save us all from the monsters.

Visually, this film was really quite beautiful (despite a lot of CGI).  Rigor Mortis one-ups the “creepy kid” trope by having an albino creepy kid.  And there’s the Chinese equivalent of The Shining twins:

What should you watch next?

• Constantine (2005) – The plot of this movie reminded me of Constantine, who also attempts suicide and returns to fight supernatural forces.
• Ju-On: The Grudge (2002) – For more creepy kids and demons.  The American remake is fairly equivalent in terms of scariness but has slightly better special effects.
• Suicide Club (2001) – This is the ultimate mash-up of genres.  If I’m remembering right, there’s a musical number in a bowling alley in this one?  And also a roll of skin.
• A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) – For more creepy sisters (to be fair, the parents are far scarier in this one).