Blood Ties

If you're expecting a movie that will freak your date on a night out, skip Blood Ties. But if you're looking forward to a good, down-to-earth film with a twisted plot, then you're in for a treat.

Being the first and one of the nine films to be support by the Singapore Film Commission (SFC), Blood Ties is a brutal yet heart-wrenching story on love, kinship and sacrifices.

To be honest, I was surprised when I found out that most of the characters in the movie were Narcotics Officer (that's if you know it in my context)! And oh, they make the Central Narcotics Bureau looks shabby, like a dark, dingy hole that's more suitable for a murder scene than workplace. Haha.


That aside, I thought all the shots were excellently directed and executed, the scenes nicely arranged and well-edited too. At least it's not another one of those mindfuck films that leaves you guessing what happened next/in the end (geddit?)!

I was also pleased to be a guest to attend the gala premiere of Blood Ties at Vivo City last week. Initially my companion and I thought it was a film about gangs and killings, but it turned out to be quite different yet refreshing at the same time. You got to watch till the end to find out. We were still contemplating whether or not we should go ahead because we both don't watch horror films! Luckily we did. 


Anyway was really thrilled because almost all the cast members were present! Yes, even Cheng Pei Pei flew over from Hong Kong to catch it for the first time. A pity I didn't get to meet my idol, Kenneth Tseng (aka Zeng Jiang)...

This film stars David Leong and chio/cutebu newcomer Joey Leong. They were all good but I would give extra credit to AhBeng (okay I can't seem to Google his name but he's the one who looked for the prostitute) and veteran actor Vincent Tee for their accurate portrayal of the individual characters.

Besides that, I'm glad Royston Tan (err, 15? Becoming Royston? Err, Cut? 881?) and Jian Wen (UFM 1003) could still recognize me, albeit not by my name (sadly!!); And my Secondary school senior, Brillyn, who have since transformed so much!

Despite the scary-looking poster that feature Qin  in her blood-drenched lilac pyjamas, holding on to a knife while her long black hair hang untidily in front of her face, all these with the vengeful look, nothing will still make you scream in youe seat. In fact, there were even some humour injected in the film. I would say this movie is one with local flavour - what with its usage of 5 different language/dialect and combination of Chinese tradition where the spirit comes back on the 7th night after he/she passes away.

Last but not least, satisfy your bloodlust and morbidity with scenes like slicing the penis off, necrophilia and scarring of faces etc!


So, enjoy!


Blood Ties 还魂 is directed by Singaporean Chai Yee-Wei and will be out in the wide screens from tomorrow, 10 September 2009 onwards.