Horoscope 1: The Voice from Hell (1999)
Reviewed by: danton on 2002-01-03
I'm not the biggest fan of HK horror movies, but I enjoyed this one. Athena Chu Yan plays a psychology student who volunteers as a social worker looking after an old woman played by Helena Law. The old woman is a psychic, and although Athena is sceptical at first, she agrees to a reading. This sets in motion a series of events that involve a mother/child who died in an apartment fire, their mourning triad husband, and a number of other characters. People start being haunted by ghosts, the lights turn spooky, eerie sounds are heard, and everyone has to scramble to unravel the mystery and save their lives in what turns out to be a case of revenge from the grave.

The movie is very atmospheric, in particular the scenes set in spooky looking apartment building corridors. While not strictly scary, the movie is not played for laughs either. Athena gives a good performance, and Helen Law is fun to watch as Auntie Szeto, the psychic. I found it quite entertaining.