Reviewed by: Chinoco Date: 07/27/2006 Curse of Lola is a movie that didn't get a lot of attention. It's really a hard film to rate. It excels in some areas, and is just average in others. This is not really a horror movie as the poster would indicate. It's actually more of a mystery/suspense film. The story is set around a stage production in mainland China. "Lola" is the main part in the play and the one part that all of the female performers are after. Xiao Mei (Sui Jun-Bo) wins the role, but soon after she is fatally poisoned. The part is then given out to Tian Yuan, who along with Francis Ng shares the lead in the movie. Ng plays the stage manager Zhen Yu, whose primary job is the play's lighting. The problem is that he has ties to several females in the production- especially Tian Yuan who is his current girlfriend. He quickly becomes the lead suspect in the murder case, and Tian Yuan starts to become suspicious of him. The plot is really nothing new here. It has a slow moving pace, but it did hold my attention. There are a few twists thrown in there; which did just save the movie from being too predictable. Francis Ng, one of my favorites, just sort of went along with the plot here and turned in an average performance. What this film really has going for it however, is the cinematography. The music, settings, directing, and editing, are all top notch. Combined they added a dark, gloomy mood that really added a needed touch. I do have to point out however, that there is one laughable CGI moment at the end of the movie. It was one of the worst I have ever seen; and it severely hurt the emotional impact of the scene. As I said, this is a hard movie to score. The story and acting are average, but the overall "feel" of the movie kind of works for me! Marginally Recommended. Reviewer Score: 6