Not a horror film as much as an endurance test, this film might appear to be one of those sinister Thai movies about the dead returning to haunt those who have wronged them, but A House of Mad Souls is far from it. A pretty doctor (who looks American, funny considering she's the lead in a Thai film from 2003) leaves behind a promising career because of a whiny bitch of a boyfriend who was offended because she left his mom's birthday party to help in the Emergency Room due to a crisis. He rethinks this but she is now moved on. So he, drunk and angry, finds where she lives, tries to sex her up, is denied his advances, punches her in the stomach, and sees multiple versions of a ghost child (a really poor special effect with a kid that couldn't be less frightening). Frightened away, the boyfriend is now gone and she can address the long-term memories of a sick child (the kid who split into three and scared away the boyfriend) she bonded with while he stayed in the hospital she interned (the same hospital she returns to work). He died and now she goes back over his case. Most the film shows a scene that it is repeated in flashback, the photography is cheap and ugly, the material melodramatic and sappy (unless you like Lifetime stories about a young woman bonding with a sick child and breaking up with her demanding crybaby beau), and the pace a slog. The greatest sin is that the title and synopsis promises thrills that never happen. Cindy Burbridge is easy on the eyes but that can't salvage a movie with a syrupy score that had me on the verge of slitting my wrists. Thanks netflix, for once again suckering me into a rotten movie.
1 out of 1 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
