Puerile stupidity

Rating: 1/10 (9 September 2002)

You can't SPOIL anything that is already rotten. This movie is blindingly stupid, inane, and disgusting. Yes, it's got shock appeal for those who like gore. But now that we've seen people French kissing with razor blades in their mouths, people slicing each other open to expose muscle tissue and spinal columns, Hollywood has done nothing more than animate what those in my generation saw growing up in "Tales from the Crypt" comic books (now there's a misnomer!).
The kung fu sequences in this film are predictable, repetitive, and the computerized elements are glaringly apparent in the DVD version. And when one hackneyed story element is enough, they throw in a slow-mo rap sequence, as if to make everything okay.
The story that amounts to about two pages of dialog is mildly interesting at first, but one quickly loses interest, just as the filmmakers show they were disinterested in the plot and devote most of their time on the blood, gore, and fight scenes (YAWN!).
Scarey? NAH! The modern re-make of "Nosferatu" is better, even down to the makeup. Hey, Hollywood, more guts doesn't make anything scarier. Hitchcock knew that (unfortunately he was wrong on the technicolor issue). Movies like "Psycho," "The Innocents," "The Others," "Sixth Sense," show how to involve the audience in a story and thrill them at the same time.