Title: Ab-Normal BeautyRelease Date: 12/26/2005
Label/Distributor: Tartan Video
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Prebook DVD: 11/22/2005
Retail Price: $24.99
Genre: Horror Cast: Race Wong, Anson Leung, Ekin Cheng
Director: Oxide Pang
Running Time: 98
DVD Video Options: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, anamorphic widescreen
DVD Audio Options: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and DTS Surround Sound 5.1
DVD Extras: Deleted scenes; “Making of” featurette; photo gallery; original theatrical trailer; and trailers of Tartan Asia Extreme’s upcoming releases
UPC Code: 842498030257
Jiney is a beautiful and talented photography student. One day she witnesses a gruesome car accident but instead of being horrified she finds herself aroused. Overcome with an excitement and satisfaction, she becomes obsessed with photographing death. Her obsession with death may just get her killed. Cantonese with English subtitles.
Ab-Normal Beauty
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By Ed Hulse -- Video Business, 11/7/2005
Color, R (mature themes, disturbing images, nudity, violence), 97 min., DVD only $24.99, Cantonese with English subtitles
DVD: no extras
Street: Dec. 27, Prebook: Nov. 22
First Run: L Int'l., Nov. 2004, NA
Cast: Race Wong (The Colour of Sound), Anson Leung (One Night in Mongkok), Ekin Cheng (Heroic Duo), Michelle Mee (Moving Targets)
Director: Oxide Pang
TARTAN/TLA
Story Line: When art student Jiney (Wong) stumbles onto the scene of a car accident and photographs the grisly aftermath, she becomes obsessed with taking pictures of death. Eventually, she falls victim to another with the same preoccupation—a masked killer who videotapes his victims as they die.
Bottom Line: This Chinese-made shudder show reflects the influences of such English-language films as Se7en, 8MM, Saw and even Michael Powell's groundbreaking 1960 thriller Peeping Tom. Beauty is directed in a low-key fashion, dispassionately parading its disturbing tableaus while subtly depicting the emotional and spiritual degeneration of a protagonist who gradually finds herself becoming aroused by the sight of death. Pang's directorial restraint really pays off in the third act, when the captured Jiney seems to encourage her masked tormentor to brutalize her. It's a genuinely shocking moment that crystallizes everything that has gone before and is all the more effective for being presented so casually. Wong rates kudos for her understated performance, which complements Beauty's rather subdued visual style. It uses muted colors and diffused lighting to foster a vaguely dreamlike appearance. Chalk up another winner for Tartan, which is importing some very interesting movies from the Pacific rim.
