Customer Reviews

They Wait

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I saw this at the film festival and the story, images and horror has stayed with me. With minimal gore and maximum story, this based-on-true-events film is gripping from start to finish. The child actor Regan Oey is exceptional and Jaime King never looked more believeably as a mother fighting for her son's life. Terry Chen as the dad, whose family woes sets the story in motion, is outstanding. This is a very rewatchable movie and goes on my list of top ten ghost stories.

In a society that considers gore and torture porn to be horror, it is really refreshing to see a modern movie featuring a well done ghost story. It's horror with a heart that doesn't get too sweet, never gets too gory, and it's overall a decent movie.

The story is innovative and definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat. I thought I had the twist figured out a quarter into the movie... but that wasn't the case. It's a straight forward but well plotted tale about a mother racing against the clock to save her son from vengeful ghosts, which leads to revelations about her family's past that might be the key to her son's dire situation. It's definitely not a horror masterpiece--I mean, the final shot of the movie was totally unnecessary--but it's a good story with characters that you can easily get invested in and care about.

7/10

I am a fan of supernatural movies and had begun to despair of watching well-made ones. Even the J-horror movies have become too formulaic of date. Yet "They Wait" was a refreshing change and a well-made horror movie. Though it is a Canadian made movie, the premise is based on Chinese folklore, that of the Seventh Month of the Lunar Calendar, i.e. the Hungry Ghost Festival. It is believed in Chinese tradition that during this month, the veil between the living and the dead ceases to exist, and hence offerings are placed by descendants of the dead to honor their ancestors, and appease the spirits.

It is during this month that a certain Raymond Tsai dies during a hunting expedition. His nephew Jason [Terry Chen] and his American wife Sarah [Jaime King] fly back to the States from Shanghai for the funeral, accompanied by their six-year-old son, Sam [Regan Oey]. Soon after the funeral, Sam begins to see disturbing apparations and believes they are spirits. He falls very ill, and his mother Sarah begins to have similar visions. She decides to ask the help of a traditional Chinese herbalist, [Henry O] who had volunteered his help. Turns out that Sam is in the grip of a restless spirit that is devouring his very soul and if Sarah doesn't find out what the spirit is seeking before sunrise [when the Hungry Ghost month ends], her son's soul may be lost forever. Thus begins a desperate race-against-time on Sarah's part [her husband is away on business] to solve the mystery, and she literally unearths some very disturbing 'skeletons in the family clost'.

The acting is excellent all-around - the little boy Sam [Regan Oey] convincingly carries off the role of a little kid who also happens to be able to see ghosts [ala Haley Joel Osment's character in the Sixth Sense]. Jaime King is great as the distraught mom who will do anything to save her son. The other notable performances are Jason's sinister Aunt[Pei-pei Cheng], the herbalist [Henry O], and yes, the ghost Shen [Vicky Huang].

The effects are well-done - not over-the-top but very subtle with a few scenes that truly did have the jump-out-of-your-seat effects. The score is effectively creepy and kind of played on in my mind long after the credits rolled! The sets are simple yet credible and on the whole, this was just a really well-made horror flick.

The story here is supposed to be based on true events and I'm glad someone thought to bring it to the big screen. Also, there is a story in the series, Poltergeist: The Legacy [a Showtime offering many years ago] titled "Fox Spirit" that also has a vengeful Chinese spirit seeking revenge, and another movie that is based on the Chinese Hungry Ghost month is "The Maid", an Asian horror movie set in Singapore, where I'm originally from.

It's high time makers of horror movie started mining their stories from other sources rather than the same old haunted house, slasher killers premise, and Eastern folklore has much to offer in terms of that. Final verdict: "They Wait" is a highly watchable supernatural movie!

They Wait is a Japanese-style horror film produced by, among other people, Uwe Boll. If you're wondering, They Wait is not based on a video game. It is, however, supposedly based on Chinese true events.

Those true events involve American Sarah (Jamie King), Chinese husband (Terry Chen) and their psychic sensitive son Sam (Regan Oey). They have been called to Vancouver from Shanghai for Uncle Raymond's (Colin Foo) funeral. Seems he was killed by a...well, something. A ghost, possibly that of a bear.

Sam's perceptive abilities become a liability when restless spirit Shen (Vicky Huang) takes a liking to him. What does Shen have to do with Uncle Raymond, and why does her spirit appear with only one eye and blackened arms? If Sarah can answer those questions she might just be able to save her son before Ghost Month ends and Sam is lost forever.

What ensues is a standard ghost story. Girl meets wise man, wise man provides magic talismans, girl braves ghost world to save child. What's interesting is how They Wait is steeped in Chinese ghost mythology. Although there are elements of J-Horror, the ghost-as-virus concept is nowhere in evidence. Chinese ghosts have rigid rules, from the food they eat to the people they can haunt; Sarah's challenge isn't in defeating the ghosts but learning how they work.

King is something of a poor woman's Naomi Watts, but she does an excellent job as a terrified mother. All the actors are believable, although not every character is fleshed out enough for us to care; the villains, in particular, are ciphers until the end.

In that regard They Wait is fairly predictable. The ghosts occasionally try to trick Sarah into violating a rule, but most of her survival technique revolves around not being an idiot. There aren't any surprises - in that regard The Ring spoiled me. Unlike that movie, everyone in They Wait gets exactly what they deserve.

In comparison to the gorier, faster-paced, and weirder horror movie landscape it may seem a little tame, but don't let the producing credit fool you -- They Wait is a perfectly serviceable ghost story.

Sure this movie is treading the well trodden road of an Asian supernatural ghost story - however, the good casting and acting, the tense script, the sense of suspense, the abrupt ghost appearances and disappearances, and above all, the superb music soundtrack accompanying the excellent cinematography, in my opinion do place this movie a cut above it's genre contemporaries (The Grudge, The Ring, etc.). Jamie King as Sarah, the mom willing to do anything to keep from losing her little boy to malevolent spirits, was was really convincing. Regan Oey as Sam, the young possessed boy was just darling, and so real. The strong supporting roles by Pei-Pei Cheng as Aunt Mei, who clearly had deep secrets that were keys to the story, and Henry O as the benevolent Pharmacist who helps Sarah solve the ghost's riddle, added a lot to the movie's impact. If you just see one movie in this genre, then I recommend this DVD for viewing.
ONLY let down is , wish was release on BLU-RAY so i could purchase it :(

This movie rates, in my opinion, as on of the best made ghost stories to date. Not only does it pack some good thrills along the ride, but it is easy to follow. The flash backs are interlaced with the modern day characters so it is very clear as to who was who in both the flash abck scene and the current scene.

The main ghost with her blackened arms is quite chilling.

Just sit back and enjoy this well crafted horror film!

There are still residual chills registering in my body each time I recall certain scenes of this incredibly well done ghost story. I have not been this impressed with any ghost story let alone one with the recently overused and fatigued Asian themes. There is a scene which is so genuinely surprising that I screamed out loud when it happened as I didn't suspect it coming. That's great movie-making, when you can so successfully elicit such a high level of response in the viewer. Typical horror movie jolts, they are there. Great mystery that slowly and realistically unfolds, you bet. Eerie location for the ghosts to reside, check. Characters that you care about, abundant. Now you might say that these are the expected offerings of a good ghost story, but we are not usually treated to such a terrific example that falls short in no way. This one was worth waiting for, (no pun intended) and hopefully, we'll be treated to more of this caliber of horror from these gifted filmmakers. 5+++ stars

They Wait (Ernie Barbarash, 2007)

Why is it that, when westerners attempt to make Asian-style ghost stories, they routinely fail? Part of the reason is because the American film industry focuses on the flash and the glitter as the reason for the films' worldwide success, instead of understanding that the movies are such hits because they give us solid, realistic characters with whom we can identify. Another part of the reason is that, in the west, we get people like Ernie Barbarash to direct them. Ernie Barbarash's resume previous to this included execrable sequels to two excellent films, Cube and Stir of Echoes; what in the world caused someone to tab him for this? I expected it to be awful as soon as I saw the director's name. It wasn't quite as bad as I expected, but it certainly doesn't qualify as good.

The scene: an unnamed city in the Pacific Northwest. (I'm sure someone more versed in architecture could pinpoint the city, but that person is not me.) It's October, or "hungry ghost month", when the Chinese believe that the spirits of the restless dead come back to haunt the living. When one of his beloved uncles dies, Jason (Bottom Feeders' Terry Chen) returns from Shanghai for the funeral, bringing his wife Sarah (My Bloody Valentine's Jaime King) and son Sam (Kickin It Old Skool's Regan Oey) with him. Jason's aunt Mei (Shanghai Baby's Pei Pei Cheng) is not at all fond of Jason's wife, and thinks they've been neglecting Sam's education, so things are a bit tense on the home front. Worse, Sam seems to be seeing things. When Sarah and Sam run across a Chinese pharmacist who is also capable of seeing the hungry ghosts, he remarks that Sam obviously inherited the gift from his mother (who had assumed that a ghost was the pharmacist's assistant). Suddenly, a lot of weirdness in Sarah's life (as well as what she had dismissed her entire life as migraine-induced hallucinations) is explained, but she's not quite ready to buy this ghost thing--until a ghost named Chen Lu (88 Minutes' Vicky Huang) finds Sam to her liking. In order to keep him in the land of the living, Sarah will need to figure out what Chen Lu wants from her, and how to go about getting it.

The plot is a pretty standard Asian ghost story theme (after all, it was the plot of Ring), but there are a million possible variations on the theme. Trevor Markwart (The Outer Limits, at least the 1995 vintage)'s script doesn't take all that many chances, though it emphasizes the mystery angle more than most movies of this sort. Where it fails is, as I expected, in the almost complete lack of characterization. Compared to even more mediocre Asian ghost offerings like Forbidden Floor and Apartment 1303, the characters here are flat, rather than simply shallow. No care or time is spent on making these characters into anything more than glorified vessels for plot points. Still, the plot is pretty nicely executed (if predictable), and some of the acting is decent (Oey is fine, and Jaime King shows, in a few places, why she was thought of as the Next Big Thing briefly a few years back); it's not in any way the best Asian-style ghost story made in the west you'll ever see, but it's certainly not the worst, either. **

GReat movie, highly recommended to believers and even non-believers of spirits and ghosts! I heard movie is based on true events. Well-developed plot and characters makes this a believable and not so typical scary movie. Watched this movie yesterday, when it premiered on Sci-fi channel. Recorded it on my DVR so to get my family to watch this also. (I watched it twice!). Now I'm looking for the the special features DVD/ making of the movie. If you enjoyed "sixth sense", you should like this one. :)

I first saw this movie on Sci-fi Channel and the acting and plot really was great! Jaime King was superb in her role as the mother! She is really great in this movie. I hope I see more of her in films. I ordered the dvd from Amazon. I don't usually like spooky films but this one had a really great story to it.