Dream Home (Wai dor lei ah yut ho) (2010)
My favorite slasher films have always been the ones that are rooted in a grain of truth. Sure, supernatural slashers like Jason and Freddy are a great time, but they don't scare me. But a woman who would murder random tenants of a building to drive down the property value so she can afford a beautiful apartment? That's not only terrifying... it's about as believable as a slasher plot can be, given the housing market in Hong Kong.
So join me for a film that draws no lines in the sand in regards to who it's willing to kill, features one of the most unassuming slashers since Norman Bates, and will inevitably leave you feeling a little worse for wear: Ho-Cheung Pang's Dream Home!
The Story: Cheng Lai-sheung (Josie Ho) has always dreamed of living in one of Hong Kong's many high rise apartments, ever since she was a little girl living in the slums, and intent on moving her ailing father into a nicer place. But when the deal falls through due to a hike in price, Cheng refuses to be deterred. In order to lower the property value of the building, she goes on a random murder spree, taking out whoever she has to in order to move into her dream home.
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If you can handle this shot, then you can probably handle Dream Home... |
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Eh... |
Ho-Cheung Pang could not have picked a better actress to play Cheng, as Josie Ho is everything he needed to make this part equal portions sweet, detestable, and sympathetic. Her delicate face and sparkling eyes make you believe she is a woman only driven to her limits by circumstance. But then a sly smile, a vicious stab, and blank stare, all combine to alter those assumptions in an instant. Just who is Cheng really, and was this the person she was meant to be all along?
Dream Home is not the kind of movie you watch for fun. When it's over, you're going to feel like you ran a marathon. But hopefully, you'll also look around wherever it is you live, and appreciate you don't live in a country where people are willing to murder you to lower their rent...
Yet.
Revenge Honey Rating: 4 dead douchebros out of 5
Dream Home is available via Shudder, iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Google Play,
& blu-ray/DVD
Would you kill for the perfect apartment?
Tell me on Twitter: @linnieloowho
Tell me on Twitter: @linnieloowho