Customer Reviews

Koma

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"Koma" is a surprisingly suspenseful film. While there is enough gore to certainly warrant horror flick categorization, director Chi-Leung Law delivers a very old school Hitchcock suspense tale. Close-ups on objects like a foot dragging across the floor leaving a bloodstained trail heighten the suspense and move the story. Angelica Lee as Fung Chi-Ching, a girl who needs a new kidney and has inhibitions that keep her from fully embracing her boyfriend, does a good job and hits many levels from hysteria to jealousy to drunken delirium. Andy Hui who plays her boyfriend, Dr. Tsui Wai-man, hits a number of levels also from the guy in love to the man whose hormones outpace his common sense. As researcher Suen Ling, Karena Lam projects a person who has had a difficult upbringing and as frequently as not walks on the shady side of the street. The twists of plot that trace a kidney thief who black-markets organs for $60,000 a pop never leaves you quite settled until the final frame. Subtitled with Chinese dialog the often sparsely verbal picture translates well to an international audience. "Koma" turns out to be a pleasant, often intelligent, surprise. Enjoy!

Having seen so many Asian horror films recently with a supernatural bent, I feared "Koma" might be more of the same. I have nothing against supernatural horror, per se, I was just in the mood for some variety. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised by the very real, yet delightfully over-the-top, world of "Koma" by Hong Kong filmmaker Chi-Leung Law. This lurid revenge film about illegal organ harvesting may not qualify as "art," but it embraces its delirious plot and brings a classic urban legend to life. And while I loved the macabre silliness of the film's central plot, its gruesome treats are somewhat hampered by inconsistent pacing and far-fetched story twists.

"Koma" begins innocently enough with Kar Yan Lam, as the film's meek heroine, attending a wedding reception. Stumbling drunkenly through a hotel, she happens upon a grisly scene. A young woman, bleeding profusely, has just awoken in a tub of ice with her kidney removed. While the victim is flailing on the floor for help, Lam herself narrowly escapes being murdered. We flash forward to the police station, Lam identifies another woman who she saw suspiciously lurking around the scene of the crime. This lady, played by Angelica Lee, may or may not be involved in the amateur surgery--but one thing is for sure, she has had an affair with Lam's fiance. This coincidence propels the remainder of the film as the ladies engage in some psychological headgames.

Without spoiling too much of the plot, it does evolve in rather unexpected ways. The relationship between the women (and the fiance, for that matter) is complicated. It changes in ways that I will not mention as the film does attempt some level of clever character development. The women may have more in common than it first appears. However, the film's "clever" revelations sometimes strain credibility. This is not an insurmountable problem for a briskly paced thriller, though--but "Koma," while always interesting, is not what I'd call fast paced. Therefore, the plot inconsistencies can be glaringly apparent. For example, there is a dream within a dream sequence that results in a real life tooth extraction--but it doesn't pan out logically and nor is it ever mentioned again. Our heroine is also in the stages of renal failure, but that doesn't stop her from partaking in excessive drink (a medical improbability).

Anyway, I enjoyed seeing this particular urban legend come to life. The more graphic scenes are well staged, and the actors are appropriately malleable to the largely unbelievable plot twists. "Koma" is still a lot of fun and I'd recommend it to fans of the genre. Ultimately, though, the film asks you to suspend disbelief and stick with it--even, when at times, I don't think it earns it. Not a total failure, "Koma" is an interesting film worth a look--but maybe not repeated viewing. KGHarris, 03/07.

Once again, Asian cinema shows Hollywood how a truly great thriller is made. Koma plays on the well-known kidney thief legend, but it turns into a white knuckle psychological thriller. Wealthy but ill socialite Chi Ching (Angelica Lee) witnesses the horrifying aftermath of a kidney theft while attending a friend's wedding. Now determined to prove that the quiet yet eerie Suen Ling (Kar Yan Lam) is the culprit, Ching finds herself pulled into tense game of cat-and-mouse. Koma benefits from stunning production, spot-on acting, and great writing. If you love Asian cinema, especially horror and thriller genres, then Koma is definitely a must-have.

Well I was once again duped by customers rating a product to high. There is no possible way this was a 5 star movie, the plot is just not believable, especially near the end. Parts of it are quite suspenseful and the sound is very good I just had a hard time buying into the story.

spoiler: This movie is taken from the Urban legend of waking up in a tub filled with ice and a note telling you to call the police or hospital or you will die (because your kidney has been removed for sale on the black market). Well throw in a girl with a bad kidney her frustrated lover, a girl trying to raise money for her sick mother (these 3 characters create a twisted love triangle) and some guy who sets up the victims for the girl trying to raise the money for her mom. Girl A meets frustrated guy(Guy A), they have sex, Girl A meets frustrated guy's girl friend (Girl B), Girl A and Girl B become best of friends after Girl B finds out Girl A had sex with her man(Guy A). Girl A's business parter (guy B) try's to get Girl B's kidney but finds out it is bad. Girl B try's to buy kidney on black market with Girl A's help and police show up and kill Guy B. Girl A finds out Girl B tipped off the police and so she attacks Guy A because he only uses her for sex and she then removes Girl B's bad kidney and then removes her own kidney and puts it in the tub of ice with girl b as a gift. Girl A calls the police then dies. The police arrive and place Girl A 's kidney in Girl B. Girl B finds out she is ok because they put back her kidney, but it is not her kidney it is her friends (Girl A ). So she wants it removed because they are not friends anymore.

*Subtle Spoilers May Reside Within - Travel Carefully*

I always worry when I read a film-description involving the words "serpentine thriller." "Serpentine" like Miike's "Koroshiya 1" (Ichi the Killer)? Between the non-linear plot and reading the subtitles, a "fun film" turned into a gargantuan mental-exercise (this is not the film's fault, but mine). Or maybe it would be "serpentine" like Kim Ji-Woon's "Janghwa, Hongryeon" (A Tale of Two Sisters)? That film was two steps ahead of me throughout (again, this is my shame). So when I ordered Law Chi-Leung's "Jiu Ming" ("Koma"), I was worried ... needlessly.

The plot is linear and effortless to follow: think a combination of Blanks' Urban Legend (but featuring adults) with a dash of Lyne's Fatal Attraction (but sans the bunny-boiling). The main thrust of the film is the infamous "kidney heist" myth (including ice-baths and the "Call 911 or You Will Die" scrawl). But, twists abound. (Better add a pinch of novice-Hitchcock).

The cinematography is above-average. The use color is clever: Chi Ching's (Angelica Lee's) renal-disease is emphasized by her yellow wardrobe while Suen Ling's (Kar Yan Lam's) red wardrobe is used to foreshadow. Nicely done. Furthermore, the acting is both convincing and engaging ... but not enough to boost this film to stellar status. The film's flaw is the writing ... it was a bit transparent (especially the conclusion). Moreover, a head-on collision with a semi that results in no injury ... tooth extractions that go unnoticed until a mirror becomes convenient ... these moments challenge our suspension of disbelief. And thus, three stars for the great idea, but only adequate writing.

Nonetheless, if you are seeking a less-demanding but still interesting film (and can be patient with slow exposition), you may find this work worth your time.

This movie is remarkably engaging. Some lunatic is stealing people's kidneys bringing terror to a young girl in particular. She suspects her boyfriend's former fling is behind all these gruesome mutilations.Some kind of personal vendetta theory that proves to be wrong in the end.
Filled with twists and surprises, the storyline is entertaining and original to the eye.
Nevertheless, Tartan made a poor transfer of this movie.White speckles are ever present throughout the picture and a lot of the scenes present shaky and jumpy images.it becomes annoying and you would expect these flaws from older movies, not movies made recently.Tartan needs to do better transfers if they wish to be considered a serious studio,the same transfer problems are present in Wishing Stairs for instance.

"Koma" is one of them Hong Kong movies that not only shock us with gore and brutality but manage to surprise us with an intelligent plot, really good acting and unexpected twists. Those twists will keep coming till the very end so don't think to relax.

The film starts really paranoic with some strange images, intense atmosphere and a girl waking up in a bathtub full of ice with one of her kidneys removed. Little by little this moody evil atmosphere dissolves and we are taken to a seemingly other kind of a movie - psychological thriller. The major part looks like a cat and mouse game between two girls who have this kind of love-hate relationships. We are mastefully dragged into this game and are kept wondering all the time if there's anyone else involved. The ending will make you gasp in surprise - it's rather unlooked-for and smart.

"Koma" is definately a film to enjoy, it's pretty I'd say. Asian cinema industry makes good and beautiful movies lately, they are stunning and very well crafted, they are utterly artistic and picturesque. Apart from being an intense thriller "Koma" seemed a rather comfortable movie to me. Don't know exactly how to explain it but it doesn't keep you on the edge of your seat (in a good way). It's not mean and uneasy. It's more like old thrillers which are pretty entertaining to watch nowdays with mixed feelings of fear and fun. "Koma" is rather old-fashioned I'd say, but also in a good way. You won't regret it if you spend an evening in the company of this wonderful movie.

Everyone know the urban legend about the woman who wakes up in a tub of ice to find her kidneys have been stolen. "Koma" takes that urban myth and expands it into a 90 minute movie. A kidney thief is on the lose in Hong Kong. Following a friend's wedding reception, Ching, who is in need of a kidney transplant, almost encounters this killer and only narrowly escapes. From this point, the film could easily have turned into a standard serial-killer-chasing-screaming-teenagers type movie, which is what you would expect if it was made by Hollywood. However, instead of going down that path, the film becomes a case study of the actions and emotions of the three central character: Ching; Ching's boyfriend Wai; and Ling, a girl whom Wai is sleeping with, who Ching becomes friends with and who may or may not be the kidney thief. The fact that this film focusses on the actions of these three characters makes it more interesting that if it were just made up of a series of bloody crimes, and in fact, I found myself constantly wondering what the next plot development would be (something which rarely happens in most horror films).

Having said all of that, "Koma" is less than perfect. It took me about half an hour to figure out what was actually going on in the movie, and the motives of some of the characters actions are now always clear (even after reaching the end of the movie, I still found that the only way that some of Ling's actions could be explained is if she were clinically insane). Furthermore, I found the ending to be both predictible and completely ludicrous.

If you're looking for a teenage hack-and-slash along the lines of "Scream" or "Friday the 13th", then you will probably find this film to be slow moving and unsatisfying. However, if you are looking for a more intelligent horror movie that is different from what you have seen in the past, then it is worth giving this film a try.

Directed by Chi-Leung Law, "Koma" boasts a fine supporting cast. The film begins with a wedding party, and one of the brides' friends Ching (Angelica Lee) discovering the bleeding body of a woman who has had her kidney removed. Angelica Lee gave a wonderful performance in the horror film, "The Eye," which is highly recommended. Also starring in this film, is the antagonist and sometimes protagonist (Kar Yan Lam) whose character Ling, is not all that she seems. Kar Yan Lam gave wonderful performances in the horror films "Inner Senses" and "Silk," which are also highly recommended. The film basically is a long drawn out drama, in which the police are trying to find the person or persons responsible for the theft of kidneys.

Moreover, caught in the midst of this drama, is Wai, who is the boyfriend of Ching---yet he also has a connection to Ling. I did not find this to be a very satisfying film. The drama was stretched out way too long, and the police who are investigating these organ thefts are left in the background. This film seemed more like a drama than a thriller or a suspense film. Almost tame in nature. I am not into gore, so for me that was a plus in the film. I thought the film could have used a lot more suspenseful moments and what little there was did not appeal to me. That is not to say that some viewers will not like this film. It will appeal to some viewers and not to others.

Although not suspenseful enough for me, this is how the film is presented, therefore, I must take it for what it is. It's not that it is a bad film, it just isn't that good either. The focus of the film is for the most part the interaction between Ching (Angelica Lee) and Ling (Kar Yan Lam). Both of these actresses are great performers, and with such talent you expect the film to be much better than what it was. Once again, I am not into gore, and that is one of the positive points of the film. However, I also like good suspense which this film lacks. I own the film, and would not discourage others from viewing it, just don't expect too much, and you will not be disappointed. Rent it first.

Koma is the most mentally disturbing movies i have ever seen. While the graphic violence is kept to a low (by todays standards) and the gore level in the movie is barely enough to warrant a "horror" movie label and is not really scary. What Koma does better than any other movie i have ever seen in the "horror/physiological thriller" category is it truly picks away at your mind and you will be left thinking about it for days. Read the above review for direct details of the story, but trust me when i say that the description tells you nothing about the true nature of this movie.

When you buy this movie don't start thinking about movies like American physco, identity, silence of the lambs, and so many American movies out there. All those listed are good movies, they left you thinking and played a few tricks on you. But the difference between koma and the above listed is that Koma will actually leave a forever mark in your brain. Leaving you wondering if the author of the movie is actually a psychiatrist who studied the human psyche for 60 years and decided to write this movie just to screw with anyone who watches it.


To finish i can only say that its a one of a kind and anyone who enjoys the genre will absolutely love it.