In the remake of A CHINESE GHOST STORY, Taoist warrior Yin Chek-ha is ordered to do away with fox demon Siu-sin...
If you are getting the feeling you’ve seen director/writer/co- producer Andrew Traucki’s THE REEF before... well, you have, sort of. Similarities to OPEN WA- TER are ripe for picking. But since the gray reef sharks and bull sharks of OPEN WATER have been replaced by the most feared of all oceanic predators, the white pointer, this high-quality Austra- lian survival thriller also harkens back to JAWS and its ilk. And, without question, THE REEF is about 100 notches above the many recent “bad” shark movies. (SHARKS IN VENICE, anyone?) THE REEF is not without frus- trating clichés, during which the principals annoyingly do things unhelpful to their situation (ie., separating from the group, pro- longed screaming, wild thrashing about), though it’s generally a fine addition to the recent glut of shark attack films. The filmmak- ers wisely stick to the Val Lewton construct that what we do not see can be more frightening than whatever is shown overtly. Some of the film’s most suspenseful moments do not feature any shark at all—as when a school of small fish appears to beat a hasty retreat with no immediate
reason offered. Frequent first- person perspective shots draw us underwater to see what Luke sees (or does not see) through his goggles. Naturally, it turns out all creatures in the area have good reason to worry and, when evi- dence is presented as to why, it is mostly in the form of actual shark footage—not CG—just as footage of real crocs character- ized Traucki’s prior film, BLACK WATER (2007). In part due to viewer familiarity with the many shark documentaries that have aired on television over the years, not all of the sequences built around actual shark footage gen- erate as much fear as intended, but moments of abrupt attack are genuinely scary.
Framed at the original the- atrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, this 1080p Blu-ray rendition of THE REEF looks fantastic, with cinematographer Daniel Ardilley (PLANET OF THE APES [2001]) taking full advantage of locations in Bowen, Hervey Bay, and Lady Elliot Island in Queensland, Aus- tralia to create a captivating sce- nic environment. From the outset, the powerful DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack supports the fear factor well
without being overbearing. In the featurette “THE REEF: Shooting with Sharks” (23m 55s), Traucki confirms the steep challenge associated with compiling foot- age together from three differ- ent locations. Also on board are optional English SDH or Spanish subtitles and a trailer.
Imports
A CHINESE GHOST STORY
Sin nui yau wan (Cantonese) Qin nu you bun (Mandarin) “Sin, the Female Ghost” aka A CHINESE FAIRY TALE 2011, Panorama, HK$139.00 (SD) HK$239.00 (BR), 100m 37s, DVD-3 By John Charles
Ching Siu-tung’s A CHINESE GHOST STORY (1987, VW 48:54) was one of the touchstone Hong Kong productions of its decade and a prime example of the style and innovation that pro- ducer Tsui Hark used to trans- form local cinema. In this day and age, a remake was inevitable
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