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Futago
Chinese: 雙子


Hisako Shirata

Year:

2005

Director: Fung Yuen-Man
Producer:

Sam Leung Tak-Sum

Cast: Hisako Shirata, Tony Ho Wah-Chiu, Emily Kwan Bo-Wai, Samuel Pang King-Chi
The Skinny: For low budget stuff, Futago is decently paced and shot, and qualifies as a better-than-average calling card for new director Fung Yuen-Man. Still, the story, acting, and originality of Futago fall well short of the average mark. A valiant, but unnecessary attempt at Asian Horror.
 
Review
by Kozo:

Asian Horror gets another entry with the underwhelming Futago. Hisako Shirata turns in a frightfully average performance as twin sisters Asa and Mio Uchida, a pair of Japanese girls with vastly different reasons to be in Hong Kong. Asa came over to become a popstar, but during her stay at a Tsimshatsui motel, she suddenly disappeared. Enter sister Mio, whose sudden appearance at the motel freaks out everyone else staying there. Their overdone fright at Mio's appearance is because A) something obviously happened to Asa and everyone is acting guilty, and B) Mio walks slowly and in a bizarre, zoned-out state, just like every creepy Asian girl since The Ring. Everyone should be afraid; soon after Mio appears, people begin dying left and right. You'd think people dying would cause a mass exodus from the hotel, but nobody leaves. The room rates must be good.

Mio's appearance could mean many things. Is she a vengeful spirit out to avenge her sister? A tourist just checking up on her sister at the wrong time? Or a cheap knock-off of every other creepy female in an Asian Horror movie?  The answer: a combination of the above. For a period of time, the film does hold some intrigue. This is mostly due to first-time director Fung Yuen-Man, who reveals the ins-and-outs of Futago with a slow, patient style that's surprising for a Hong Kong filmmaker. The film also has effective cinematography and art direction, and manages some tense and even effectively violent moments. Futago doesn't reveal too much too soon, so those who find the mystery of Asa and Mio Uchida interesting should be on the edge of their seats.

Unfortunately, the mystery of the twin sisters isn't really that interesting, so whatever goodwill the film engenders is soon lost. After a while, the film's tension gives way to unintentional silliness. Actors start to overact, characters and situations grow inconsistent, and an obvious costume change occurs. Hisako Shirata ditches her white dress and shows up in a red one, which is a dead giveaway in any Chinese horror film that you should run away as soon as possible. However, nobody takes the obvious hint, and continues to let Mio Uchida have her way. Making matters worse is investigating cop Ching (Tony Ho), who qualifies as possibly the worst cop in all of Hong Kong. Ching is tortured by bad memories and a disintegrating marriage, so he could be excused for being sloppy. However, Ching doesn't seem to have any idea how to run an investigation except show up after people are dead. As Ching, Tony Ho makes a decent burnt-out cop, but he loses all credibility when he begins to overact comically. But even before then, Futago has already ceased to become anything more than an unnecessary entry into an overcrowded genre. (Kozo 2005)

 
Availability: DVD (Hong Kong)
Region 0 NTSC
Era Home Entertainment
Widescreen
Cantonese and Mandarin Language Tracks
Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Removable English and Chinese Subtitles
 

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