I think this was actually the first Singaporean movie that I have had the chance to watch. And with that being said, I must admit that I am not off to a good start. "23:59" turned out to be a really boring and uneventful horror movie.
The story takes place on an isolated island on a military base and in a small rural community around the military base. There are local tales and legends being told about gruesome murders having taken place on the island, where bad things happen at exactly 23:59.
Right, well I will say that the story must have worked out quite well on paper, because I must admit that there was potential, and there were some good aspects to the story and the ideas behind it all.
However, it was just butchered at the hands of director Gilbert Chan, as the movie ended up being a grimy mess of a scrambled storyline filled with characters that you didn't care one bit for. And it was perhaps because the characters were either devoid of personalities and had the appeal of wet cardboard, or they were grossly caricatures of bullies or pranksters.
And it didn't really help much that the build ups for scary moments throughout the entire movie never climaxes in any kind of satisfying way for the audience - especially if you are accustomed to Asian horror. There were so many moments where the scares were being served on a silver platter to the director, but he just failed to pick up on it and deliver something worthwhile to the audience.
As for the acting in the movie, well some of the cast were doing good jobs with the limitations of the script and story, while others were abysmal, and lead you to wonder how they got cast in the first place.
The movie is slow-paced and it literally takes forever (read one hour and eighteen minutes) to take you nowhere. I was hoping that the movie would pick up pace all throughout the entire course of the movie, but that just didn't happen.
When there was something scary on the screen, it just wasn't scary. Perhaps I am too seasoned to horror and Asian horror, but it just wasn't scary at any point throughout the entire movie.
There are some really good and memorable horror movies on the Asian movie market, "23:59" just wasn't one of them. I managed to sit through the entire movie, but can in all honesty say that I will not be watching it a second time around.
The story takes place on an isolated island on a military base and in a small rural community around the military base. There are local tales and legends being told about gruesome murders having taken place on the island, where bad things happen at exactly 23:59.
Right, well I will say that the story must have worked out quite well on paper, because I must admit that there was potential, and there were some good aspects to the story and the ideas behind it all.
However, it was just butchered at the hands of director Gilbert Chan, as the movie ended up being a grimy mess of a scrambled storyline filled with characters that you didn't care one bit for. And it was perhaps because the characters were either devoid of personalities and had the appeal of wet cardboard, or they were grossly caricatures of bullies or pranksters.
And it didn't really help much that the build ups for scary moments throughout the entire movie never climaxes in any kind of satisfying way for the audience - especially if you are accustomed to Asian horror. There were so many moments where the scares were being served on a silver platter to the director, but he just failed to pick up on it and deliver something worthwhile to the audience.
As for the acting in the movie, well some of the cast were doing good jobs with the limitations of the script and story, while others were abysmal, and lead you to wonder how they got cast in the first place.
The movie is slow-paced and it literally takes forever (read one hour and eighteen minutes) to take you nowhere. I was hoping that the movie would pick up pace all throughout the entire course of the movie, but that just didn't happen.
When there was something scary on the screen, it just wasn't scary. Perhaps I am too seasoned to horror and Asian horror, but it just wasn't scary at any point throughout the entire movie.
There are some really good and memorable horror movies on the Asian movie market, "23:59" just wasn't one of them. I managed to sit through the entire movie, but can in all honesty say that I will not be watching it a second time around.