disgusting, overrated, pointless

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Sarah (Jaime King), her husband, Jason, and their six year old son, Sammy, go to Vancouver for Jason's Uncle Raymond's funeral. During their stay at Aunt Mei's house, Sammy starts seeing ghosts. He ends up in a coma at the hospital after nosing around the basement of Uncle Raymond's warehouse. Soon, Sarah sees them, too. Desperate for answers, she visits a local pharmacist who shows her a sketch of the spirit with Sammy - her skeletal hand reaching for his exposed heart - that he drew a year ago. He tells her the spirit has imprisoned her son's soul and Sarah has until dawn on the last day of Ghost Month to find out what the spirit's motives are or Sammy will be lost forever. The R rating has me baffled. There are some disturbing images but not near as gory as The Grudge and that's rated PG-13. There is no sex or nudity, not even a side boob. I don't even recall a single swear word. This is more mystery & suspense than it is horror, in my opinion. The scares are good but the acting is terrible. Pei-pei Cheng as Aunt Mei and the adorable Henry O as Sammy are very believable but King is a whiny mess and Chen doesn't understand the use of facial expressions. I'm Asian, my husband is Caucasian, and we have two Amerasian daughters. I'm rating this on the low side because the movie was a letdown and only partially entertaining, not because I have an issue with inter-racial couples.

I have reviewed this under another name. I saw it again today and am as impressed with it now as I was on first viewing. Jamie King and family return to North America after living in China. Her young son falls ill and apparently is possessed by a vengeful spirit. As she seeks to find a way to save him, King begins to unravel an unspeakable mystery involving Asians working in a nearby sweatshop. To say more would be to give it away. This is a terrific little ghost movie/crime flick with plenty of scary images and some moments that will make you jump right out of your seat. Some Chinese folklore is woven into the plot, although I do not know if is the real thing or not. Highly recommended. It pops up on cable once in awhile.

I'm having a hard time actually figuring out why this just wasn't a very good movie, because the component parts were not that bad individually. Acting was OK, but not great. The plot was reasonable although nothing special. The Asian elements to the story were interesting but hardly compelling. Special effects average. Cinematography a bit weak but not horrible.Hmmm. I'm beginning to see a pattern here. Everything is just... average at best. There's no spark, no pizazz, nothing to make you really get scared, excited, thrilled, grab the edge of your seat. It's just -- meh.

A young Canadian, mixed-race family (he's Asian, she's Euro, and they have a westernized 11-year-old) have their prosperous life in go-go modernday Shanghai interrupted by a mysterious family death back home. This takes them back to Vancouver's Chinatown, where they experience culture shock in reverse. The couple find themselves at odds over the very cultural pressures they once fled, while their little boy, a born psychic like his denying mother, finds himself the innocent target of malevolent spirits. From there the terror mounts.An extremely well mounted and well written supernatural thriller, both quietly eerie and scream-inducing horrific. Believable characters (nothing "Cleavers" about this troubled but loving couple) and no cheap thrills -- any horror moments are clearly explained in this one, as part of its intricate plot. Sometimes to a fault -- the odd snatch of dialogue is a bit too explanatory -- but it feels like a great horror director hit-and-missing at a great skill, in his movies to come.Another great treat of this film is spotting those wonderful older Chinese character actors, whom I've seen around for years, doing their "Rosemary's Baby" turn as fabulously diabolical oldtimers.