Ab-normal Beauty Review

Ab-normal Beauty
Photographer Jiney finds herself more and more inspired by capturing moments of violent death which attracts the unwelcome attentions of a serial killer who thinks he's found a kindred spirit

by Kim Newman |
Published on
Release Date:

23 Sep 2005

Running Time:

101 minutes

Certificate:

18

Original Title:

Ab-normal Beauty

Student photographer Jiney (Race Wong) is unsatisfied with everyday subjects, but finds her artistic juices flow when she snaps car accidents and suicide scenes.  As she copes with these psychic quirks, she is beloved by her longtime best-friend (Rosanne Wong) and a serial killer who thinks she shares his kinks and enters into a horrific courtship by sending her home-made, surprisingly well-edited snuff videos he thinks she will find stimulating.

Like The Eye, this Oxide Brothers chiller is about a woman shocked into seeing the world in a different way – it also takes a detour into standard horror in a last act that comes after an artier, edgier opening hour.  Beautifully shot and played, it might have been happier as a female crack-up movie a la Repulsion without the 8MM cliches.

Two parts thanatophilic art movie to one part serial killer stalker, this isn’t as focused as the Pang Brothers’ The Eye but does have its intrigues.
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