Dream Home is a bloody Chinese slasher, that broke completely the stereotype of the “wise” Chinese cinema that I had, but which didn’t disappoint me concerning the attractiveness and really graphic photography; starting with the whole intro, hypnotically showing the geometrical and similar buildings of Hong-Kong, traducing a robotic and severe world.
Pang Ho-cheung chose a despicable main character, Cheng Lai-sheung (played by Josie Ho) a emotionless woman who absolutely wants to rent an apartment with a sea view. And despite the multiple jobs she’s having, the inflation, which keeps growing higher, made the life of average worker harder in Hong-Kong. To remedy this, Cheng Lai-Sheung chose blood violence.
However, I couldn’t say, if the director said “ok I’m going to make this slasher movie, but I need some background story” or “okay I have this social and economical issue, how am I suppose to denunciate it?”. It doesn’t really matter, I think most of the slasher film fans, watched and will watch Dream Home, hoping for some gore. Especially because the basis of the movie, which is about the main character’s earlier life, as a child, and her promise to one day have a sea view apartment, isn’t very printed in the script and just reminded by a few dated flashbacks. Indeed, the whole film is more about how Cheng Lai-sheung decides to keep this promise, and about the workings of her plan. Not to mention the great plot twist at the end, and how, from confused and lost about our antiheroine’s behavior, we understood everything and realized we had been manipulated by a vicious script.
And what is catching and interesting about this, is how she seems programmed, like a robot, without any feelings, to achieve a mission, and when an obstacle appears, she falls into madness, just like a machine would be having a bug, and do some weird, uncontrollable things. It is all about this conditioned population, ran by social, economical and political tough regulations.
Although an important point has to be mentioned: the one about the satirical side of Dream Home. The original and elaborate deaths, and the way the women took care of her problem, or at least, to how far the country’s situation had pushed her to act the way she did.
It is grotesque to watch her reaching this extreme extent, but also amusing.
The more Hong-Kong is rising, the more its population is falling into despair. This paradox is discussed in Pang Ho-cheung’s movie, and he showed the absurdity of this phenomenon and the social impact it’s having on some people.
Now except some negative points, such as a little script neglect, the movie is enjoyable and a really malicious bloody slasher.
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