Media Invite
Synopsis
Lan, a detective fiction author could not bear the pain due to her husband’s betrayal and decided to leave home and moved to a rented apartment in an old building with her 5 year-old son, Bi. Among her neighbors, there was Thao, who’s living with her husband and their stubborn teenage daughter, Ngoc. Soon after, Vu – an amateur musician, also moved into the building.
The trauma caused by her husband’s betrayal affected Lan badly and resulted in many nightmares. She consulted a therapist and was put on a medication. One day, Bi was given a music box by Mrs. Chu, the building supervisor, and since then, the nightmares became more rapid.
Lan and her neighbor Vu attempted to solve the mysteries happening in the building, and realized that the strange happenings originate from the music box…
Who is the true owner of the music box? Could it be a malicious spirit seeking revenge or otherwise?
Directors
VAN M.
PHAM - Director
Van Pham
graduated at Washington State University with a BA in TV Broadcast Productions
and received his MFA in Film and Television from Chapman University. As winner
of the ABC-Komo4 Fisher's Broadcasting Scholarship, he went abroad to study
film and production at the University of Wales, where he produced a short
documentary, A Different Corner, which was screened and honored at numerous
film festivals.
He is the director of Beyond the Mat (2013) which
was an official screenplay selection for some film festivals such as Tribeca
Film Festival All-Access Program, Vietnamese International Film Festival, and Asian
American International Film Festival. Beyond the Mat also won "Best Sports Film" at the Canada
International Film Festival.
Van M.
Pham is the co-producer of the
horror thriller "Spirits – Oan Hon".
CONJURING
SPIRIT is the first film of Van M. Pham since he decided to enter the cinema of
Vietnam.
GABRIEL J.
LEWIS - Director of Photography
Gabriel
and Van Pham collaborated
together in the film Beyond the Mat of Van Pham. Gabriel has agreed to give up
some other movies in the United States to cooperate with Van Pham for their
first movie in Vietnam. Gabriel has worked in the photography team of many large movie projects
in Hollywood such as Thor, Inception, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, and
Transformers.
With professional experiences and empathy in
producing film with the director, Gabriel promises to give a combination of
experiences of Hollywood entertainment and features of life in Vietnam for CONJURING
SPIRIT.
Actors
PHUONG MAI
(as Lan)
Been
working in the entertainment industry from a very young age and gained a lot of
success includes Golden Award - Vietnam Super Model 2012, Phuong Mai has made
unforgettable impression on the runway.
Phuong
Mai’s character is Lan, a 30-year-old detective fiction writer who has just
separated from her husband. To overcome this pain, Lan takes her 5-year-old son
Bi away from home and rents an apartment in an old building to start a new
life.
HOANG PHUC
(as XUNG)
As an
actor who has made his name in the 90s, while most of his colleagues have quit
acting, Hoang Phuc still has a position in Vietnamese audience’s heart by his
impressive roles in films such as Clash, Chinatown...
QUANG SU
(as VU)
With a
handsome face and acting skills he learned at Korea National University of
Arts, Quang Su is now considered the first choice for male
leading roles, especially when he has won over many candidates to play along
"the king of the box office" Thai Hoa in Fool For Love 2.
Quang Su's
character is Vu, a 30-year-old talented and humorous musician, son of a rich
family always wants to be independent.
HOAI AN
(as THAO)
Hoai An
has work in the cinema industry from an early age and she has been one of the
audience’s favorite actresses. Since she was young, Hoai An has been assigned
roles that are older than herself, and that "favor" has helped Hoai
An gain a lot of valuable experiences.
CHI PU (as
NGOC)
Known as a
hot girl and a teen model, but now, Chi Pu has gradually made a name for
herself as a talented girl with a large amount of young fans.
Chi Pu’s
character is Ngoc, a 16-year-old stubborn teenage girl.
TIEN PHAM
(as CUONG)
Tien Pham
is a Vietnamese American. He has been participating in a number of television
series and movies in the United States.
Tien
Pham’s character is Cuong, a 35 wealthy architect, amorous, ex-husband of Lan.
He had an affair with his secretary and Lan detected.
Review
This is the first time I am watching a Vietnamese produced horror movie. In fact, I have never watch a Vietnamese produced movie if my memory did not fail me. I do have the same feeling as the others who have watch this show. The feeling is like watching a Thai produced horror movie.
This horror movie borrowed a number of things from other horror movies from Japan, Thailand, Chinese and even from Hollywood movie. Unborn child, ghost crawling, body buried in unnatural location, unsettled Spirit, unexpected ending twist, mysterious musical box, shocked treatment ( although it did not have much effect on me ), mediumship ( bridging the communication gap between the living and dead ), young child ability to communicate with the dead and humour, all brought together to roll out this movie into a reasonably good watchable movie.
The photography and scenes were exceptional impressive given that the Director of Photography, Gabriel, have worked on many famous movies as stated earlier on the profile of Gabriel. One interesting thing is that most of the background scenes are full of texture such as dirty and old wall, interesting wooden bathtub, old but interesting structured building and home decoration. Even the hospital seem to have a lot of texture on the wall and background. Lighting is great since it is a horror movie.
Mysterious settings such as the musical box further enhances the horror theme of the movie. The main character, Lan, somehow I felt, bare a keen resemblance to the pop singer, Rihana. The acting is good especially Lan and Thao. But the 5 years old boy was truly the star of the show whom charm me with his adorable role.
The movie started showing on the 14 May 2015. I shall give the movie a rating of 3/5. If you need some shocks and mysterious moments, grab a ticket and popcorn and enjoy a reasonably good show. If you think you are going to have weak legs after the show, do go with someone who can help you up your seat when the movie ends.
Trailers
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