The Maid

Sometimes they got it, while other times they sink. That's how I feel about some of the modern ghost features coming out of Asia. 'The Maid' mostly falls in with the former. Yeah it's formulaic by your usual standards, but the low-budgeted slow-burn Singapore entry is sleekly directed with a strong enough platform for the story to open up upon and add some refreshing details to the predictable mixture.

A young maid arrives in Singapore to help out the Teo family, who own an Opera troupe. Her arrival goes hand-to-hand with that of the seventh month known as the hungry ghost month. Soon she's seeing ghosts, and the Teo's are worried she's done something to upset them for this to happen. However she learns that she has a striking resemblance to the previous maid who worked with the family, before she disappeared.

The execution of the premise isn't as good, as it sounds on paper. The concept behind the plot is actually more curious than that of the linear background story about a family with a secret, which when let out is intensely harrowing if customary. The Chinese customs and believes about the gates of hell opening up for vengeful, hungry spirits to wander among the living seeking closure or revenge in the seventh month of the lunar calendar is ideally enthralling and creepy.

Director Kelvin Tong compositional work and placement is a stand-out. Cold, gloomy and haunting imagery is beautifully catered for and Lucas Jodogne's presentable cinematography streamlines the rundown, sapping urban backdrop. The darkness lurking within every alienating corner is shared in the characters' state of minds. Heart-ache, denial and just like the protagonist (wholesomely acted by Alessandra De Rossi) we're left plunged in the dark and distressed by the revelations. The evocative music is skin crawling, as the sound effects have quite a chilling imprint when they break up the silence and terse script with sudden pitches. Some high-strung shocks are foreseeable and shadowy figures flashing by can only do so much. Chen Shu-cheng and Hong Hui-fang deliver rewardingly strong performances.

I liked the premise and from what I read on the box it sounded like it would be interesting, and I love a good ghost story. However, I was a bit disappointed by this movie. Not entirely mind you, it had a rather good cast and there was some good ghost moments. Still it was so thoroughly predictable...anyone who has seen say "The Sixth Sense" or "A Tale of Two Sisters" will have no problem with the shocking ending seen here. Other than it might be a bit more graphic than those two movies. The movie of a Phillipine girl who goes to work as a maid for a Singapore couple and starts her job during the time of the year when the locals must observe many customs relating to the dead or experience their wrath. Lots of burning paper and other very nice visuals during this part of the film. The job is quite easy from what I see too as the gal who was hired as a maid only does a little of this and that and when she does try to sweep up she gets in trouble with her employer. At least this gives or gal plenty of time to look after her employer's mildly retarded son and see all sorts of creepy stuff. My favorite was the play where she sat in the front row. So all in all a typical ghost flick with nothing really new to add to the mix except for a mysterious girl who dies by leaping from a food court. Didn't quite understand that one. So if you like this type of movie you may think it is an okay flick if you are looking for something new, this is not it.

"Every year, for thirty days during the lunar seventh month, the Chinese believe that the gates of hell are thrown open. Vengeful spirits or hungry ghosts wander among the living, seeking revenge and justice before the gates of hell are closed again for another year." The eighteen years old Rosa Dimaano (Alessandra de Rossi) arrives in Singapore from Philippines to give support to her family working as a maid in the house of the artists of a Chinese opera troupe Mr. and Mrs. Teo (Huifang Hong & Shucheng Chen) on the first day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. She is welcomed by the family and introduced to their friends and their retarded son Ah-Soon (Benny Soh). Later, Mrs. Teo advises her about their beliefs and how the dead should be respected and honored along the seventh month. However, Rosa sweeps their offer on the sidewalk breaking a basic rule and offending the spirits, and she is haunted by ghosts everywhere. When Ah-Soon calls her Esther Santos and she finds some belongings of the unknown Esther in the house, she discloses a dark and scary secret about the past of her masters.

"The Maid" is an original, scary and very-well constructed ghost story based on a Chinese superstition. The screenplay introduces with an explanation about the seventh month of the lunar calendar, and Mrs. Teo explains the rules to be accomplished to Rosa, giving the big picture about the theme to the viewers like me that are not familiarized with this tradition. I startled many times with the creepy ghosts, and the scene when Rosa is watching the presentation of the troupe sat in the middle of the spirits is really frightening. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Sétimo Mês" ("The Seventh Month")

A new maid is hired to do random chores around a residence in the Philippines. She is not familiar with the local customs, and learns that she has begun working during the month reserved for dead spirits to be honored. Innocently disturbing one of the ghosts, she begins to learn of a terrifying secret.

The cover of this movie compared it to "Sixth Sense" and "The Grudge", which I think does this film a terrible disservice. Yes, there are aspects of "The Sixth Sense" (seeing ghosts) and I can understand the "Grudge" similarities, to a point. But I don't think a viewer should think of this movie in terms of these other films because there is something unique here that really allows it to stand out from other Asian horror films.

The lead character is interesting because she is both trying to solve a mystery and is herself a mystery: what does the ghost want from her? But also, why has she been summoned to be the maid for this new family (if you're like me, you'll quickly discover she never has to clean anything or watch any children). They're both interesting questions, and I think the viewer will like how they play out -- hints are dropped along the way, but I don't think you'll catch them all on the first watch.

What might be a drawback for the film is the use of loud noises to startle the audience (doors creaking and such) and a few times where a ghost jumps into the frame completely unexpectedly. In some ways this was a cheap trick to get a scare out of the audience, but as someone who doesn't scare easily (I've seen more horror films already this year than you'll probably ever see in your life) I have to admit I was a bit jumpy and had to grip the blanket a little tighter.

A strength of the film was the creator's obvious awareness that Americans (and other non-Filipinos) would be watching this. The religious observances are explained in a way that is understandable but doesn't treat the viewer like a child or an idiot. I have no idea if the holiday observed here is real, but even if it's not I was convinced. The culture is very well captured.

Give this one a chance -- I found it to be so much more than I expected. After I was starting to think all Asian horror followed such similar patterns (which is not to say American horror doesn't), this was so refreshing. Solid plot, great characters... and a puzzle piece ending that will leave you feeling this one comes complete.

A horror story about a maid in Singapore? We've heard quite a few, but in this one instead of a horrified Ma'am, it is the maid who is standing at the gates of hell. And unfortunately they are wide open.

Rosa Dimaano (Alessandra De Rossi) is a trusting, pretty Filipina orphan who comes to Singapore to see the world. But it is the start of the lunar seventh month, Hungry Ghost time, and the world is a place of confusing and jarring chaos. Ignorance is no protection and Rosa inevitably offends "something" and soon she is seeing ghosts and having nightmares. Her only happiness is playing with her employers' simple son, Ah Soon (Benny Soh), but to be honest this is hardly a relief as he is also really spooky.

Rosa's employers - a solitary chain smoking artist (Chen Shu Cheng) and an unpredictably tempered dressmaker (Hong Hui Fang) - live in a near derelict shophouse, cluttered with Wayang costumes, creaking cupboards and glowering pictures of the ancestors. Add a failing electricity supply, no telephone or TV and Rosa is absolutely alone in her misery. Or is she? From "The" Title to the twisting joints and/or heads of creepy kids, crawling long-haired wide-eyed zombies, blurring of identities, burnt photos, unprovoked suicides, the proliferation of grabbing-stalking-glaring-weeping-hanging ghosts and even the scorpions, this is a tribute to Asian horror. All the traditional, requisite and much loved scares are here and impossible to miss thanks to a heavy hand on the violin (think amplified Hitchcock).

Though regularly repetitive (especially by the nth explanation of the state of things during the seventh month) and disjointed, The Maid does not suffer from a lack of substance. No doubt this year we will all be more careful about kicking along the ash-ridden pavement and sitting in the front row of the Chinese opera.