Forest of Death (2007)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Don't listen to the negative reviews

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

In a mysterious forest in Thailand, many suicidal youths disappear and rescue teams can not find the way out even with compass. The ambitious reporter May (Rain Li) is making sensationalist journalism exploring the deaths in the forest. Her boyfriend and botanist Shun Shu-hoi (Ekin Cheng) is developing a means of communication with plants. Meanwhile, Detective C. C. Ha (Qi Shu) is investigating the rape and death of a woman and the main suspect is Patrick Wong (Tsun-wai Chou). Detective Ha contacts Shu- hoi requesting his support trying to communicate with the trees around the area where the woman was murdered. They resolve the case and Shu-hoi becomes famous; when May vanishes in the forest, Shu-hoi and Detective Ha seek her out."Sum Yuen" is a deceptive and boring movie of Danny Pang. The terrible and laughable story is so ridiculous and absurd that does not deserve any comment. My advice: do not spend your time and money watching this awful flick. My vote is two.Title (Brazil): "Natureza do Mal" ("Nature of the Evil")

...and I don't mean nuclear!! This movie is proof that the Chinese are not the greatest filmmakers by a long shot. A slow convoluted plot--something about trees that have consciousness, are witness to a rape and murder. Man, I didn't know whether to laugh or just curse out RedBox once again for duping me. Doesn't anyone at RedBox actually watch the movies first? What I wound up doing, was conducting my own experiment-- by peeing on a bush, while making abusive comments. Nothing happened for a day or two, then suddenly I got a horrific rash on my johnson. Do plants actually react to trauma? Not sure if the rash was coincidental or not. You be the judge. This movie deserves to be buried in a forest, where it will never be found.

For the very first time, I find myself indifferent about a Pang brothers film. It happens: pin high hopes on anyone, in any field of endeavor, and, sooner or later, you're bound to find yourself wishing you were somewhere else ("Anywhere but here."). Ms. Qi, a strikingly beautiful actress I've always thought of as a Tai Angelina Jolie, can make almost anything worth sitting through. Almost anything. While FOREST OF DEATH has its moments (and a sometimes kinda interesting premise), those moments are rare and far between. The movie LOOKS great, as usual for a Pang production, but the total lack of depth of character cripples this one. Had just a little time been spent on letting the viewer get to know some of these characters, the ghostly goings-on might've had some impact; as things stand, one is left with only hunger Pangs...

The hypnotically beautiful Shu Qi (the main reason I was drawn to this film) plays police detective Ha, who is assigned to a case of rape-and-murder that occurred in a local forest. A lot of people have committed suicide in the same forest lately (some traveling a long distance for that purpose), and the place is considered by many to be haunted. Detective Ha asks for the help of a botanist (Ekin Cheng), who has developed a device that can receive "messages" from plants and trees, drawing him away from his girlfriend (Rain Li), a successful TV reporter who regularly interviews people who have had "near death experiences" in the same forest. The script tries to combine two different main story lines (one involving Shu Qi's investigation and Ekin Cheng's efforts to use the trees as "witnesses", the other involving the suicides and disappearances in the forest and what is causing them), and ultimately comes across a bit muddled. The film has some striking images and riveting scenes, but the resolution is not fully satisfying. Shu Qi's and Ekin Cheng's characters don't have much depth: all we really learn about them is that they are consumed by their jobs and determined to do them right. Rain Li not only gives Shu Qi some serious competition in the looks department, but also creates what is easily the most human and sympathetic character in the film. (**1/2)