• Mar 21
• RE-CYCLE: DVD review
• Posted by Deljhp - 21/03/12 at 07:21 PM

Director: The Pang Brothers. Review: Adam Wing.

Few filmmakers thrill and frustrate the way The Pang Brothers do. Early collaborations – Bangkok Dangerous and The Eye in particular – were smash hits the world over. Their solo outings have been something of a mixed bag, with Oxide fairing slightly better than Danny. ‘Abnormal Beauty,’ ‘Diary’ and ‘The Detective’ are certainly worth a look, but recent offerings have definitely been more miss than hit. ‘Storm Warriors’ – a sequel to smash hit movie ‘The Storm Riders’ – was a huge disappointment, and over the last few years we have had to endure Hollywood misfire ‘The Messengers,’ as well as 3D infused (should that read infuriating?) features ‘The Childs Eye’ and ‘Sleepwalker.’ Re-cycle was released in 2006, sandwiched between ‘The Eye 2’ and their Hollywood debut; it’s also arguably their greatest achievement.

Angelica Lee (married to Oxide and starring in the second of three collaborations with the siblings) is Ting-yin, a popular author struggling with writers block. Her love life is way past complicated and the waste paper bin is overflowing with discarded themes and ideas. The pressure of writing her latest novel is proving too much, but things get worse when she starts to sense that her apartment is haunted. Horror convention is thrown out the window when she leaves her world behind, opening the door to a mystical plain where characters she rejected live on. An old man (Lau Siu Ming) tells her that she must go to "The Transit" if she hopes to get home, and a little girl (Tsang Nga Kei) joins her on an extraordinary journey from one desolate world to the next. Re-cycle is available for the first time on U.K. shores courtesy of Cine du Monde...Continue review here.

Re-cycle trailer