PopHorror Let's Get Scared
It’s been awhile since the world has seen a really terrifying ghost story coming out of the East. Not since 2004’s The Grudge – a remake of the Japanese horror film Ju-on (2002) – have mainstream horror addicts been petrified by vengeful yurei. Sure, some of us were a bit apprehensive about visiting the Sea of Trees in 2016’s The Forest, but that particular film barely made a mark, and is certainly not known for its emaciated, hollow-eyed revenants the way The Grudge and The Ring (2002) are. Would the release of IFC Midnight’s The Housemaid (originally titled Cô H?u Gái) reintroduce horror fans to the art of the Asian ghost story? Or would we have to, once again, fall back on previous classics already over a decade old?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0p5tRnRHUk
Synopsis for The Housemaid:
A forbidden passion awakens vengeful spirits within a haunted mansion in this bloodcurdling, erotic tour-de-force. Vietnam, 1953: Linh, a poor, orphaned young woman, finds employment as a housemaid in a crumbling rubber plantation presided over by the emotionally fragile French officer Sebastien Laurent. Soon, a torrid love affair develops between the two – a taboo romance that rouses the ghost of Laurent’s dead wife, who won’t rest until blood flows.
I was initially intrigued by the synopsis of The Housemaid. Debut Writer/Director Derek Nguyen (read our interview with him here) chose 1953, a highly unstable era in the history of Vietnam – which was under the tenuous rule of France at the time – and used the resulting political climate to add an even higher tension to an already high strung story. This was also a period when the ancient conventions of the East were bombarded by the ways of Western civilization, and many of the old world ideas of vengeful spirits, herbal medicine and familial tradition had gone to the wayside in lieu of things like automobiles and penicillin. Unfortunately for the characters in The Housemaid, neither the old nor the new had prepared them for what was happening at the Sa Cat Plantation.
The film starts out at the end of the story – housemaid Linh (Kate Nhung) stumbles upon her master, French landowner Captain Sebastien Laurent (Jean-Michel Richaud), slaughtered in his own bed – and then goes back to the day Linh arrived and begged for this very job outside the heavy iron gates of Sa Cat, a Vietnamese plantation. Her beauty attracts the attention of Sebastien, who welcomes her into his bed as well as his heart. This rattles the other residents of the sprawling homestead, both living and deceased, making for uncomfortable living arrangements for all involved.
There’s quite a bit going on in The Housemaid. On one hand, the film is a slow burn supernatural horror film, a tale of the incorporeal plantation residents of the past that have nothing but revenge to drive them. There’s also the love story between Linh, a Vietnamese Cinderella, and her rich, foreign Prince Charming in Captain Laurent. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the history lesson told here as well. These three aspects make for a rich, genre fluid tale that hit upon every mark it strove to reach.
I was impressed with Nguyen’s storytelling technique as well as his sepia-toned camerawork. Using not only the history but also the film style of the 1950s was genius; see the ghostly car chase about an hour and ten minutes into the film for a perfect example. I also loved the way he chose to put the ghosts in the woods at a distance, making them seem almost a part of the forest itself, rather than having them jumping out from behind every low branch for cheap jump scares. Both of these aspects drew me in and made The Housemaid stand out among other Asian films of this caliber, dropping it firmly at the top of my most beloved ghost stories list.
My only complaint with The Housemaid is the fact that some parts could have used a firmer hand in the editing room. There were a few scenes that were a bit too slow moving and drawn out, cutting my suspension of disbelief and dropping me back onto my living room couch like a lead weight. Others were chopped at too harshly, jostling the story and forcing me to make assumptions on how the characters arrived at the conclusion that they had come by. These are very small grievances, however.
Final Thoughts
The Housemaid is a supernatural love story with a twist you won’t see coming for miles. Fans of many different genres will find something to love in this spooky slow burn. Once again, IFC Midnight has delivered an outstanding piece of cinematography. This film had a limited theatrical release and became available on VOD on February 16th, so be sure to hunt this one down soon.
