Recent Reviews
DVD Review: The Maid
By John Marrone
Sep 15, 2006, 23:53

Directed by:  Kelvin Tong
Running Time:  87 minutes
Body Count:  5

- trailer (windows media)

During the Chinese seventh month, the gates of hell are opened and angry spirits are let loose for 30 days to wreck havoc.  It comes in the form of bad luck, ghostly visions, and sometimes death.  Young 18 year Rosa is just setting out into the world for the first time.  Arriving in Singapore from the Philippines, she takes on a job as a maid to the Teo family.  They warned her about the Chinese seventh month.  She should have listened.

As NightWatch was spawned from Russia, The Maid arrives with the distiction of being the first horror film to come out of Singapore - breaking some box-office records along the way.  Im not a big fan of what some call J-horror - Ju-On, The Grudge - any of it really.  I dont knock it, I just dont identify with it.  However, after reading The Maid's synopsis on this week's DVD release page, I became curious and decided to buck the trend and give this baby a shot.

18 year old Rosa arrives at Mr and Mrs Teo's home in Singapore and assumes the maid position, in hopes of making some money in the big city.  She intends to send the money home to her sick younger brother.  A good girl, they accept her with warmth, introduce her to friends, and treat her like part of the family.  With no delay, Rosa is taught about the Chinese seventh month, when angry spirits escape hell and walk among the living.  There are certain ritual precautions that are taken - the offerings of burning money and leaving the ashes on the doorstep, along with food and other sacrificed gifts.  Never look over your shoulder if you hear you name whispered on the street at night, and the like.  Rosa, like every other young skeptic in the world, disregards the old superstitions, and unwittingly becomes a lure for some very unsettled ghosts and one restless spirit in particular.

Soon another young woman on the street catches Rosa's eye.  This stranger follows and watches closely from afar.  Her name is Wati, and soon they sit on a bench and talk.  She tells Rosa that she looks almost exactly like the maid before her - a young girl named Esther.  She even wears her clothes.  What's goin on?  What started as a confusing whirlwind of previously senseless visions and hauntings starts to slowly come together and make sense.  And its at this point that Wari tells Rosa to ask Mrs. Teo who Esther is.  Unfortunately for Rosa, she does.  Explanations to all the visions solidify, walls come crashing down, and all of this comes together and gels into a realistically creepy and satisfying climax.

Young Rosa is played by a beautiful and wonderful actress, Alessandra de Rossi.  This young actress carried this film from beginning to end.  Her look of naivity and curiousity just seemed natural and realistic.  She was as pretty as she was professionally dramatic and sensitive in her performance.  This isnt some hard to watch, dry monontous crap - Alessandra delivered the impression that this was all pretty much real and going on.

Lucas Jodoigne's cinematography is vivid and eye catching, with odd angles and cultural scenery.  Plotwise, what unravels is a familiar ghost story everyone can identify with.  It is, however, partially guilty of tying in the typical J-horror long black hair dark eyed dead faced spectres and the now stereotypical children, which is starting to get a little played.  Some of the jolts are surprising, others get monotonous and predictable, but the majority of it is weird and ghostly with screeching string sections and loud outbursts to try and make you jump.

Final analysis:  Its not bad.  You dont have to be an Asian horror buff or even a fan of foreign films to like this movie.  In fact, Id recommend The Maid with confidence that most of you will enjoy it if you can get to the ending.  It is mostly spoken in English while being subtitled, so watching it is easier on the senses than a film like NightWatch.  The effort allows you to take your eyes off the words so you can soak in some of the interesting scenery and environment.  Joe Ng puts together a grinding score with chilling sound effects.  Very light on the gore and injury facet, The Maid is a well spun ghost story that comes together before your eyes as an apparition would down the hall - in vague pieces at first, coming to form in the end.

CLICK HERE to purchase The Maid from Amazon.com

DVD Feature include:
Available Subtitles: English
Available Audio Tracks: Mandarin (Dolby Digital 5.1), Mandarin (DTS 5.1)
"The Making of The Maid" featurette
Trailer