Reviewed by: ewaffle Date: 08/20/2011 Summary: Nicely scary What was that all about? Damned if I know, but I do know that the Pang Brothers “Recycle” is a movie that operates on several levels and works on some of them. Its most obvious messages (and therefore the ones to be trusted the least) are: don’t abort your fetuses, don’t neglect your parents, don’t execute prisoners. There also seems to be admonitions to not give up while doing something worthwhile and to finish what you start. There may be advice regarding cleaning your plate at dinner and crossing the street only at marked intersections. “Recycle” is full of tips on how to live a good life and avoid the pitfalls of self-indulgence and antisocial behavior. So the didactic level is full of preachy moralizing and instructions regarding good intentions. The last 20 minutes of the film could be recut just a bit and run as an anti-abortion polemic for Right to Life organizational recruitment. As things being we become acquainted with Ting Yin an author feeling pressure because her idiot publicist has announced her next book even though she is barely started on it. Her first and only book so far has been a surprise best-seller and has been made into a popular movie but she is having trouble with the second. Her anxiety may stem from fear that she can no longer write; she has writer’s block due to her dread that the creativity and discipline necessary to produce another big novel--we find tangentially that her first was a three volume behemoth. Yin is vulnerable, unsure of herself, fearful of the future, uncomfortable in the present and distrustful of the past. She is a perfect target for either manipulation as in “Gaslight”, mental breakdown as in “Repulsion” or attack by zombies in too many films to mention. “Recycle” isn’t a horror movie as such although it has aspects of the venerable genre: zombies, ghostly apparitions and scary grandmothers. There are a lot of frightening moments for Ting Yin and the audience although they are more of the “what was that noise in an empty apartment” than of the flesh chomping fiend type. One extended sequence begins with Ting Yin washing her face in the bathroom—a bathroom with a translucent wall that reminds one (at least it reminded me) of a shower stall. When she returns to the bathroom after a slow and creepy inspection of her apartment—it is one of these huge apartments that exist mainly in films with lots of room and at least two levels, all for one person) the water in the shower is running and the shower curtain pulled across the bathtub. Here, we think, will be the “Psycho” payoff. When she reached out to pull back the curtain we expected her to find something horrible but there was nothing but running water. Toward the end of the film the shadow of a child flits across the wall behind Ting Yin as she is trying to re-orient herself after waking from a fearsome nightmare. Based on what we had seen it made me think of the heart in the mouth moment in “Repulsion” when Catherine Deneuve closed a closet door that had a mirror hanging from it. As the door swung shut the mirror showed, just for a moment, the figure of a man lurking in the background. The intention of the author/director isn’t important, of course—what counts, in the case of movies, is what makes it onto the screen. We aren’t interested in what the Pangs wanted to do with “Recycle” but what they finally did do. So we will abandon this familiar dead end (knowing that it may come back to haunt us in the same way her abandoned drafts terrorized Angelica Lee) and stick to what we are able to see and hear. Angelica Lee and Zeng Ya-Qi have an amazing chemistry. The scenes with just the two of them, uncluttered by zombies, falling bodies or the forces of disintegration, are done with just the right touch of tear jerking emotion to keep us enthralled. Lee is terrific at looking scared but resolute which is what she is for most of the movie. When Yin tries to explain to a friend what has been happening at her apartment, particularly the discarded ideas and scraps of drafts she had tossed away that took on a life of their own and seemed to predict the future and control the present, the friend (Rain Li) tells Yin that she is scaring her and to stop. This doesn’t help Yin—the friend is only interested in setting Yin up with her cad of a brother who had walked out on her eight years before—and tells the audience that Yin will have to face alone the trails that are in store for her. The script for “Recycle” won’t win any prizes for coherence. While aspects of the jagged, pasted-together quality might be there to show Yin’s uncertain and precarious state of mind but that doesn’t explain the clunky transitions and characters (or creatures) that are in one scene but don’t show up again. One significant problem, which may be the fault of the DVD I was watching, was that important parts of first half of the movie is very, very dark—a sudden noise from the darkness can be a jolt but not seeing anything but indistinct shadows on the screen while the heroine thinks she is in peril is simply annoying. “Recycle” is an easy movie to recommend. Other than the script and lighting quibbles it is good looking, well-acted and properly menacing at the right moments. Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: mrblue Date: 01/08/2010 The Pang Brothers re-team with the star of their breakout film The Eye, Angelica Lee, in Re-Cycle, a release that at first seems to tread the whole familiar "I see dead people" route that has been beaten to death over the last few years, at times with productions from the Pangs themselves, like their flawed American debut The Messengers. But rest easy, dear readers, as Re-Cycle is one of the more unique takes on the supernatural genre that you're going to see from Hong Kong (or, for that matter, anywhere else) and shows why the Pangs, despite some mis-steps, continue to be some of the more exciting Asian film-makers out there. Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: j.crawford Date: 10/09/2008 Summary: creepy, quirky Wherein The Pang Brothers recycle their visual oeuvre around a creepy, quirky scenario, Re-cycle is quite compelling. It’s hard not to like what these guys are up to visually. Heck, I even liked their Hollywood movie. This movie has some genuinely disturbing imagery that sneaks up on you after the film is long over. [Français] Les frères Pang Où recycler leurs visuels oeuvre autour d'une chair de poule, quirky scénario, Re-cycle est tout à fait convaincant. Il est difficile de ne pas aimer ce que ces gars-là sont à visuellement. Heck, j'ai même aimé leur film hollywoodien. Ce film est vraiment troublant quelques images qui catimini sur vous, après le film est plus long. [Deutsch] Worin Die Pang Brothers recyceln ihre visuelle Werk um einen creepy, skurrilen Szenario, Re-Cycle ist recht überzeugend. Es ist schwer, nicht zu mögen, was diese Jungs sind bis zu visuell. Heck, ich auch gern ihre Hollywood-Film. Dieser Film hat einige wirklich störend, dass die Bilder schleicht auf Sie nach dem Film ist lange vorbei. Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: Anticlimacus Date: 02/15/2008 Summary: Huge Disappointment Upon First Viewing, Huge Triumph Upon the Second I blame no one but myself for not loving this movie the first time around, as Re-Cycle is the posterchild for viewer-induced disappointment. For me personally, I expected something that mirrored the Silent Hill videogames – and considering how those Californian simpletons mucked up their attempt at a Silent Hill movie, I was drooling at the mouth to see if Re-Cycle succeeded where they had failed. Obviously, I deluded myself into believing that Re-Cycle was trying to be something it was never meant to be. Needless to say, I was severely disappointed after an initial viewing. Where were all of the incredibly disturbing, blood-soaked images? Where were the detailed puzzles? Where were the violent death scenes? They were nowhere – and I was angry that Re-Cycle turned out to be its own movie with its own themes. Go figure. Months later I started to think of the movie more and more. I thought to myself, "Yeah, that movie was mediocre, but that one scene was really cool." Then I pondered, "Wow, that other scene was sweet too, and that other one was awesome." Eventually, I decided to give it another go. That "other go" happened last night, and I ended up watching one heck of a movie. The fantasy elements kick in at around the 40-minute mark, but Re-Cycle doesn't stoop to boring you during the opening segments with superfluous exposition. From minute one it grabs you with some well-executed (albeit conventional) horror elements that become much less conventional during a second viewing when you identify references to the main theme of the film. Once the fantasy elements hit, Re-Cycle becomes a non-stop fantasy adventure. I cannot remember a horror film in recent memory with such relentless pacing. Much of this is owed to its fragmented transport of the lead protagonists. They may escape one danger by going through a door, but on the other side of that door is a completely different environment that is no less perilous. Some have criticized Re-Cycle for being scattershot and unfocused, but I would respectfully disagree considering how almost every single horror element references back to the overarching theme of the film. It's no masterpiece, but it works quite well – especially when you identify the references upon a second viewing. Now, there are flaws here that exist regardless of viewer expectation. There are some moments that get a bit too sappy and melodramatic for their own good (especially near the end), but if you can watch this movie for what it truly is – a fantasy/horror adventure guided by a single, simplistic concept – then you should enjoy it. On a side note, I can't really understand why Oxide Pang is so relentlessly criticized (to the point of unreasonableness) by so many people. It's exceedingly ironic that the people who complain about his scripts are the very same people who shout "masterpiece" when referring to those Japanese horror flicks from the 1960s (which will remain nameless) that have some of the worst scriptwriting in the history of horror cinema. In addition, Oxide's use of camera and sound is exceptional and probably second only to Ryuhei Kitamura. Nothing this guy does is ever good enough for anyone, even though his movies are better than 90% of everyone else's. Diary, The Detective, Abnormal Beauty, and Revenge (from the Bangkok Haunted anthology) combine to form the most impressive recent horror/thriller portfolio outside of Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Compare Oxide Pang to any American horror director and guy becomes an instant legend. Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: evirei Date: 11/26/2006 Summary: Brilliant storyline :) If I could write a short summary before anything, the summary would contain 6 words. “It is not a ghost story”. Okay there you go the spoiler intro (well not that the movie is bad). The chinese word “ghost” in the title got me thinking it was a ghost story. I keep thinking it would be scary and all. But well, I would say I am kinda amazed with the moral of the movie. Ting Yin (Angelica Lee Sin Je) is a novel writer. With the right combination of being lovely and intelligent. She just has it all. Her first novel sell like hot cakes when she writes a beautiful love novel. Which actually writes a lot about her previous love relationship. The media and readers got so connected to novel. To ride on her success, she decided to write a totally new genre. She decided to write about Ghost Land. Yup… of all the genre.. horror! So yes, we are going to Ghost land for a ride. Right after she decides to write about Ghost Land, many weird senarios started to come up. She started to scribble different different stories. Many rejected stories were crumppled and thrown away. She starts to notice weird things happening like seeing strands of very long hair in her house, weird voice coming from the telephone machine and not to mention overflowing waters from the bathroom and shadows coming from here and there. Unaware about the truth that the things that happen to her was exectly what she scribble on the papers. One night, after meeting his ex-boyfriend. She was walking home and she was almost carried away by this strong wind. She quickly return home and continues her story. She then notices the movements from the recycle bin. She picks up the piece of moving paper and uncrumple it only to find out what has been happening to her for the past few days were excetly what she wrote on the piece of paper. She then runs out of the house trying to find out what is going on. As she steps out of her apartment, weird things starts to happen. She reached a weird place where dead bodies fly down. There she saw a woman similar to the fictional character she wrote for the book. A tall, slender, long-haired women is chasing after her and she running deeper in to the unknown land. There she came to talk to this old man (Lau Siu Ming) where she finally knows a little bit about where she is at now. It’s a place where things we discarded, throw away or forgotten go. Right… the interesting part comes when Ting Yin will have to run when eveyrthing in that dimension starts to break apart. If she stays in, she will be gone forever. From the Playground of the Damned, she jumps in to this new dimension called the Forest of Death. Where loads of dead people were seen hanging on the tree. Ting Yin nearly got killed by the zombies if it weren’t for this little girl who saved her riding on this giagantic wooden horse. She brought her to this Toy Ruin dimension and told Ting Yin more about the Ghost Land. She told her everything that she has abandon or forget, she can find it back there. From there they venture more deeply in to the place as Ting Yin needs to ge through a lot of places only to get to The Transit (a place where she can return to reality). The little girl helped Ting Yin to get to the destination. They been through a lot of bad and good stuff. After going throught thick and thin, Ting Yin was being told of the cruel truth. The little girl she wanted to bring with her back to the real world is actually the baby she has aborted. The ending was rather scary and stunning and many does not understand what it means. Right… Ting yin wakes up in bed gasping for air. She then walks out to notice another her talking on the phone. I think it was brilliant how she was put to a position where she is too in to writing about the story that she forgets her ownself which she ended up in the Ghost Land. Another way of looking at it, she is so attached to the character and she seems to make herself as the character in the novel where she created her own fictional character in the Ghost Land. Well, I just think it is a great story where the Pang brother idea came from just looking at the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop. They actually wonder where the stuffs in the recycle bin goes when we click delete. I think it was totally meaningful but the fact that the execution was kinda bad. Not to mention the 3D were sorta fake and the actors and actress were sorta wooden. Not to even mention the obvious lipsing (I hope I get the spelling right) problem. I think it would be a great movie if they could carry in a bigger production and better casts and well better 3D. Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: evirei Date: 08/08/2006 Summary: Something to re-cycle about. If I could write a short summary before anything, the summary would contain 6 words. "It is not a ghost story". Okay there you go the spoiler intro (well not that the movie is bad). The chinese word "ghost" in the title got me thinking it was a ghost story. I keep thinking it would be scary and all. But well, I would say I am kinda amazed with the moral of the movie. Ting Yin (Angelica Lee Sin Je) is a novel writer. With the right combination of being lovely and intelligent. She just has it all. Her first novel sell like hot cakes when she writes a beautiful love novel. Which actually writes a lot about her previous love relationship. The media and readers got so connected to novel. To ride on her success, she decided to write a totally new genre. She decided to write about Ghost Land. Yup, of all the genre.. horror! So yes, we are going to Ghost land for a ride. Right after she decides to write about Ghost Land, many weird senarios started to come up. She started to scribble different different stories. Many rejected stories were crumppled and thrown away. She starts to notice weird things happening like seeing strands of very long hair in her house, weird voice coming from the telephone machine and not to mention overflowing waters from the bathroom and shadows coming from here and there. Unaware about the truth that the things that happen to her was exectly what she scribble on the papers. One night, after meeting his ex-boyfriend. She was walking home and she was almost carried away by this strong wind. She quickly return home and continues her story. She then notices the movements from the recycle bin. She picks up the piece of moving paper and uncrumple it only to find out what has been happening to her for the past few days were excetly what she wrote on the piece of paper. She then runs out of the house trying to find out what is going on. As she steps out of her apartment, weird things starts to happen. She reached a weird place where dead bodies fly down. There she saw a woman similar to the fictional character she wrote for the book. A tall, slender, long-haired women is chasing after her and she running deeper in to the unknown land. There she came to talk to this old man (Lau Siu Ming) where she finally knows a little bit about where she is at now. It's a place where things we discarded, throw away or forgotten go. Right... the interesting part comes when Ting Yin will have to run when eveyrthing in that dimension starts to break apart. If she stays in, she will be gone forever. From the Playground of the Damned, she jumps in to this new dimension called the Forest of Death. Where loads of dead people were seen hanging on the tree. Ting Yin nearly got killed by the zombies if it weren't for this little girl who saved her riding on this giagantic wooden horse. She brought her to this Toy Ruin dimension and told Ting Yin more about the Ghost Land. She told her everything that she has abandon or forget, she can find it back there. From there they venture more deeply in to the place as Ting Yin needs to ge through a lot of places only to get to The Transit (a place where she can return to reality). The little girl helped Ting Yin to get to the destination. They been through a lot of bad and good stuff. After going throught thick and thin, Ting Yin was being told of the cruel truth. The little girl she wanted to bring with her back to the real world is actually the baby she has aborted. The ending was rather scary and stunning and many does not understand what it means. Right... Ting yin wakes up in bed gasping for air. She then walks out to notice another her talking on the phone. I think it was brilliant how she was put to a position where she is too in to writing about the story that she forgets her ownself which she ended up in the Ghost Land. Another way of looking at it, she is so attached to the character and she seems to make herself as the character in the novel where she created her own fictional character in the Ghost Land. Well, I just think it is a great story where the Pang brother idea came from just looking at the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop. They actually wonder where the stuffs in the recycle bin goes when we click delete. I think it was totally meaningful but the fact that the execution was kinda bad. Not to mention the 3D were sorta fake and the actors and actress were sorta wooden. Not to even mention the obvious lipsing (I hope I get the spelling right) problem. I think it would be a great movie if they could carry in a bigger production and better casts and well better 3D. Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: STSH Date: 07/25/2006 Summary: Pretty good Far better than most HK horror films. This one still isn't very scary, though there are a few chills and surprises. The background music and sound design perform a great job of creating a ghostly ambience, and do an effective job at setting up a jittery atmosphere. The visuals are impressive. The construction of the various landscapes and dreamscapes are first class, and gives the appearance of things done on an A-grade scale. The gorgeous sound and vision do overshadow the story somewhat. There are liberal borrowings from The Wizard Of Oz, though presented in a much darker light (hmmm, bit of an oxymoron there). Having said that, the film clips along at a good pace throughout and is involving the whole way. The opening few scenes contain a number of familiar horror devices (e.g. the persistently ringing phone with weird noises the only sound when answered), but predictability goes out the window soon after, and interest never wavers after that. I genuinely couldn't tell what would happen in the next scene, and the trend of the story took quite some time to emerge, creating tension and easily holding interest. Angelica Lee is convincing in her role, which dominates the movie, and apparent newcomer Tsang Nga Kei is excellent as the little girl. No-one else gets much of a look-in, though it is always a pleasure to see Lau Siu Ming get an outing. Overall, surprising and recommended. Reviewer Score: 7