Writer: Elaine Ewe

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Watch this if you liked: Raymond Lam

"Baby Blues" starts off with married couple - Snowy (Janelle Sing), a blogger and Tao (Raymond Lam), a songwriter - checking out a house. Finding it to their liking, the two decide to move in, and Snowy also gets a doll left by the previous owner. However, when they move into the house, a homeless man (Lo Hoi-pang) warns them that the house bodes evil and asks them to move out. Soon, Snowy is pregnant with twins, but unfortunately, during childbirth, one of them dies.

Director Leong Po-Chih makes it seem like making a horror movie requires no effort on anyone's part, as long as all the rudimentary elements are there - an atmospheric soundtrack, sudden but irrelevant shocks and a spine-chilling character. The movie boasts all of the aforementioned features, but in a story filled with more holes than cheese, cheap CGI and campy acting that the only aspect that horrifies is how the film got approved for release in the first place.

Raymond Lam and newcomer Janelle Sing make their horror movie debut here, and while the chemistry between the two is palpable, their expressions and actions are less so. Raymond's Tao is obsessed with death, and wants to make it his next big hit, but when accidents begin happening to the people to listen to his song, he becomes afraid, yet wants to continue recording his song. The performances get hilariously bad whenever said accidents happen, because a lot of CGI is involved, forcing the actors to act beyond their limited range. At one point, a car spins in slow motion while the girl inside screams and crash lands upright on the street. Then there is Karena Ng, who plays Snowy's tough biker sister who provides the voice of logic in this indiscernible mess, but her role was so unnecessary that they decided to stop trying and leave her out of the final scene instead.

These kinds of campy touches would be welcome except Leong Po-Chih doesn't seem to be able to stop once he's started. The movie wants to revel in the horror movie cliche of having a mysterious outside party warning the couple off the house, but it is less of the house's problem than it is with the creepy doll that Snowy takes a liking to. Similarly, it is unsettling how much the characters of the movie like the doll, despite the fact that the doll looking like it could give Chucky a run for his money. Leong Po-Chih makes the effort to create backgrounds for each of his characters, however, in spite of all the blogging that Snowy does, we never actually see the effect they have on the world outside, so Snowy could have easily been a chef or a writer.

The foundation for "Baby Blues" is definitely there but beyond that, Leong Po-Chih has no idea how to build his horror film and opts instead to throw in every genre appropriate cliche he can think of. As a result, the film ends up becoming increasingly hilarious and ridiculous, albeit unintentionally, as it speeds towards the climax. Raymond Lam and Janelle Sing give it their all, but the true star of the film is the creepy death song that plays throughout the film, because it adds to the chill factor a hundredfold and provokes the non-Chinese speaking audience into wanting to know the lyrics.

Cinema Online, 31 October 2013