Ab-Normal Beauty (Sei mong se jun) - 2004 Hong Kong Horror From the Pang Brothers
Ab-Normal Beauty Synopsis
After witnessing a horrific car accident and photographing the aftermath, a student (Jiney) becomes dangerously preoccupied with both witnessing and capturing death on film. Plagued with flashbacks of the abuse she suffered as a child, Jiney becomes further embroiled in a disturbing sub culture as she begins a rapid descent into madness. Pulled back from the edge by her friend, no sooner has Jiney excorcised her demons when she is confronted by a tape depicting a savage murder.
From Oxide Pang, the director of The Eye, comes a disturbing yet thrilling movie that has been described as an Asian blend of Michel Powell's Peeping Tom and David Cronenberg's Videdrome
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Ab-Normal Beauty Movie Review
Ab-Normal Beauty is a twisted look at beauty through the eyes of Jiney, a disturbed student who was abused as a child. This movie is not the supernatural horror demonstrated by Oxide Pang in movies such as “The Eye” and more recently “The Messengers” but is a more dark and cynical look at society and the frailty of the human mind.
Jiney is a young photography student who is feeling uninspired by her work. After photographing the aftermath of a terrible car accident she feels re-inspired by the images that she has captured and soon becomes obsessed with capturing death on film. As her obsession becomes more intense she goes to greater lengths to witness more spectacular deaths and constantly hunted by flashbacks of her troubled childhood her fascination with death becomes sexual.
After feeling a tremendous sense of satisfaction after witnessing a suicide she realise that her allure to death is wrong and must be stopped. With the help of a close friend she just about gets her fetish under control when she receives a snuff-video from an anonymous person who shares her obsession. She must now face her demons head on.
This movie is quite a twisted concept, as I have now come to expect from many Asian horror-thrillers. The atmosphere of the movie is very unsettling throughout and creates a very dark and ominous experience due to the unexpected gore and the overall bizarre storyline. The ending is quite intense although quite predictable once it gets going. Definately more a thriller than a full-on horror movie although personally I believe this movie could have ended up in a much more twisted place... it's a shame it didn't!