In the past two months, several Hong Kong movies opened suddenly. They were either released in a sub-circuit or in a few cinemas. For example, in the Newport-Empire circuit, we had 'Indecent Woman' in mid-September. Now we have Bosco LAM's 'House of the Damned'.

'House of the Damned' is a vampire-related movie. The movie starts in the days near the Ghost Festival when ghosts can -- come out from the damn. Aunt Nan (Helena LAW Lan) owns a house with a room available for rent only for women. May, a hooker, rents the room. One night she is raped and killed by a ghost in the room while Aunt Nan is singing 'Twilight Zone'. The day after May is killed, two girls -- Kiki (Teresa MAK Ka-kei) and 'Big Bust' (Lonely) -- rent the same haunted room. One night, Big Bust's clothes are suddenly torn. They feel there is a ghost sleeping on them. Big Bust is so scared that she seeks help aggressively. On the other hand, Kiki is unconcerned. They try to find CHOW Tung who boasts that he is an anti-ghost specialist, but he is killed terribly by a car that seems to be driven by no one. Kiki's colleague Chiu (WAN Tin-chiu), a low profile guy who has anti-ghost skills, advises them to move out of the house as he finds that the real truth behind the ghosts is more horrible than they thought ......

'House of the Damned' seems like a typical vampire movie. As such, it could have been developed in lots of ways. For example, filmmakers could have made it sentimental by emphasizing the love and feelings of Aunt Nan and her son. They could have made it erotic by focusing on the girls with torn clothing. They could also have made it horrifying by emphasizing the terror of the characters.

Unfortunately, 'House of the Damned' is too ambitious to pull off all of them. As a result, the filmmakers achieve none of their goals. They seem to lack both skill and confidence in their plot. For example, to show the existence of the ghost, you see that the girls' clothes are torn and that they look like they are being raped. Unfortunately, the effect isn't erotic enough, and it's repeated many times throughout the movie which makes the audience feel bored and annoyed.

The first 15 minutes of the movie could make audiences give up watching. The filmmakers want to make it horrifying but they make it boring instead. Audience are exhausted by seeing May bathing for two minutes.

The role of Helena LAW Lan is very important in explaining the whole movie. However, her role is too shallow to explain her character. As the mother of a dead son, she should have a deep love for him. The movie fails to show this point. This makes the whole plot development nonsense.

WAN Tin-chiu, who worked on ATV and who started his film career after his success in the TV Drama 'I Have a Date with the Vampires', has done three movies -- 'Horoscope I: The Voice from Hell', 'Erotic Nightmare' and 'House of the Damned'. WAN's role is very similar to his character in 'Erotic Nightmare'. Once again, he is an anti-ghost master. Audience could start feeling bored by his similar roles in films.

The roles of the girls in the movie are also questionable. Their function in the movie is only for their screaming and nudity. The plot does give Kiki a romantic story line, but her acting is not strong enough to make audiences feel for her.

'House of the Damned' is a traditional vampire type movie. Unfortunately, due to the plot's lack of focus and the filmmakers' lack of skill, it is annoying to watch. WAN is repeating his roles, and ruining his career.