Silk (2006)

Why so much hype?

Memorable, crazy movie

A Disappointing Continuation

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Wow..., what a beautiful and sophisticated supernatural movie about life and death. Acting is superb, plot very interesting, music amazing. Very atmospheric, scary but also touching story about the ghost of a little boy who has a special bond with his mother, where love and hatred are synonyms of life and death. The direction is a real ART - innovative and unpredictable. Only one silly car crash scene (unnecessary and fake) but who cares! Definitely one of the best supernatural movies in a long long time. Can't wait to watch it again! Highly recommended. Enjoy!

I have conflicted feelings about Silk. One the one hand, the first hour of the film is easily one of the best, and most original Horror premises to come out of Asia in a while. The only problem with the film is the second half, which degenerates into a Ju-on rip-off with one of the worst death scenes and car crashes in cinema history.Silk tells the story of paranormal investigation team headed by a crippled man named Hasimoto (Yosuke Eguchi). One day, Hasimoto is able to trap a young ghost boy in a apartment room using a new scientific invention called the Manger Sponge; A material that is able to trap the energy of entities. Hasimoto only has one problem, he needs a man with sharp eyes, who can read the lips of the ghost boy he has trapped. Thus enters, Tung (Chen Cheng) a police sharpshooter, who reluctantly takes the job with Hasimoto. Together the two seek to uncover the secrets of the supernatural.I don't know what Director Chao-Bin Su was thinking when he made Silk. As mentioned above, the first hour of Silk is a tight and concise supernatural/detective thriller. One of the things that made the film work (in the first hour) was how all the characters could actively see the ghost, forcing the Director to come up with different ways of scaring the audience, without the usual clichés of the randomly appearing ghost. And in the first half of the film, Chao is very successful with his scares. In the last 30 minutes, the film introduces a long-haired woman ghost (think Ju-On) and then the film catapults off the rails.I really wish the Director would have stuck to the original premise, which was deliciously frightening and creepy, instead of taking the film in the direction he did, which was formulaic and predictable. It's frustrating because Silk should have been another masterpiece of Asian Horror. As it stands now, it's just another copycat with great, but wasted potential. The acting was good, the plot interesting, cinematography and score was nice... it's just the ending that needs a major fix.In particular, two scenes helped ruin this film for me; The ghost coming from the soup bowl, and the ridiculously bad cg of a car crash depicted towards the end of the film. I actually had to back it up because I couldn't believe what I was seeing.Bottom Line- Director Chao-Bin Su could have had a masterpiece. The first hour is a great Supernatural/Detective story, the last 30 minutes is a clichéd, and ridiculous.My Score: 6/10 (The beginning elevates this film to a slightly better than average ghost story)

This movie successfully combines science fiction,drama and horror! The pace of "Silk" is just right! From the start you want to know what is going on! There are certainly enough scares and surprises! There is a subplot involving Chen Chang (Tung) to deepen his character but falls a bit short at the end! The horror elements of the story are subtle but scary when it needs to be! There aren't many characters involved! That is a good thing so you know where to put the focus! There are some matters that are not explained in the story! Like the cube they are using in the movie! It is not necessary for the outcome of the main story,but it would have been nice! The actors are great! Chen Chang really carries the movie! The actor who plays Hashimoto also is wonderful! You can see in his eyes that he is too obsessed with the case! It could be that some scares remind people of other Asian horror movies! Honestly,I don't have a problem with that! They are very effective in this movie! So who cares that it is not totally original! "Silk" is full of suspense and is very entertaining on different fronts! Definitely a must see!!!

This is not the best movie that I have ever seen, but it comes very close. In fact, I haven't had the experience of being at the edge of my seat for a long time now, but for this movie, I was constantly at the edge of my seat. And that's saying something.The idea is effectively new, and interestingly captivating. The story itself is cohesive and very sophisticated, something that recent movies lack. The writer uses science to explain supernatural phenomenons like ghosts (no, it is not the Matrix assimilating a program that is doing what it is not supposed to do). And it's no simple science we are talking about here. Although I could understand the story, my friend who is a college IT lecturer couldn't. On top of that, the writer can even anticipates what the audience will ask. Every time I came up with a question, one of the characters on-screen asks that very same question. As can be expected from the writer who wrote Double Vision (although I didn't really understand that movie as a whole - but it was a good story nevertheless). Characters developments were immensely heart-wrenching, although it was only focused on two characters. There was a scene where I actually closed my eyes and turned away from the screen, and I was crying.The editing and plot were superbly done. For a movie that could have bored the audience easily, this movie interlaced long explanation sequences with actions and scare scenes. This is the main reason why I was at the edge of my seat. I kept waiting for the answers but at the same time being caught in the action on-screen. Brilliant! The acting was the next commendable area of the movie. Chang Chen gave a very solid performance as both a cop and a son in distraught. Karena Lam also gave a memorable performance here as a woman who is willing to sacrifice for love. Yosuke Eguchi's performance reminds me of Tadanobu Asano's performance in Ichi The Killer. Although less masochistic, Hashimoto's character gave you the sense of someone who has a strong hold on his own believes, and he is willing to go further than most people to get what he wants. Yosuke Eguchi was brilliant as Hashimoto, being able to bring out that pain and stubbornness within the character. The casting director should get an award for this alone.Art direction was very good. The building of the set was not only believable, but also gave out the correct atmosphere to compliment every aspect of the movie. There are no overkills like those you see in Pulse. The backgrounds were nicely done, and house decorations are kept to a realistic level. No unnecessary marks on the walls, no abundance of abandoned furniture, and definitely no worms squirming on leftover food or unwashed dishes. An abandoned apartment looks like an abandoned apartment. Just look closely on the beginning sequence and you will see what I mean.Camera works were good and innovative, but more importantly, there were effective. The lighting was perfectly done. I got goosebumps just from the atmosphere alone.With those said, let's look at the negative side of the movie. Directing was not very strong here. No fatal mistakes were made by Su Chao-Bin, but there were nothing much to impress either. My only major complain is the scare scenes. They were by far the worst ideas I have ever seen. It was still good in the beginning, but towards the end, they were downright funny and unimaginative. Those who came up with the ideas, and those who approved them, should be shot in the kneecap. This movie can be really scary if only the scenes were done right. What an unfortunately and unnecessary weakness.The music was insignificant. I can't recall really, if there were any background music to accompany the movie. They just don't register. It didn't help the movie, but at least it didn't ruin it. Also, I don't really like the multi-lingual dialogs. More often than not, I find myself switching between listening to the dialogs and reading the subtitles, which in this movie where many explanations were essentials (and often very long), it can be easy to get lost. Why? Because the characters often switch languages right in the middle of a conversation! Also, I don't care much about the politics portrayed in the movie.It could work just as well with only one country being involved in the case. How many Japanese can speak perfect Mandarin, and vice versa? Overall, the movie was good, very good, but it could have been great. Maybe if I directed the movie...