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Shaw-Tian's
family was killed in an accident and she has
just been adopted by a troubled couple thinking that a
child will save their marriage. As Shaw-Tian struggles
to adapt to her new life, her favourite doll makes sure
that no one will cause her any harm...
Chinese and Taiwanese horror films are really tame for
most of the time due to strong censorship rules in
China (officially, horror movies are even banned in
China but you can get away with it if you call it a
thriller). Good Will Evil is far from as tame as other
recent Chinese horrors such as The Deserted Inn, Help
and The Closet which is perhaps why this hasn't been
released in China yet. Home in Taiwan however it was
released in cinemas in November to dismal numbers.
Taiwan's censorship rules aren't quite as strong but it
still didn't even manage to make 5,000 dollars at the
local box-office. Having now seen Good Will Evil I can
see why. See, while Chinese horror films are still
standing still, Taiwan has been progressing lately with
movies such as "Silk" and "Invitation Only". Good Will
Evil however is a huge step back.
Feeling like a late 90's Hong Kong horror, Good Will
Evil is pretty much an incoherent mess for the first
twenty minutes. Everything adds up in the end though
but getting the viewer interested is something this
movie fails at. Once we get past the 20 minute mark
the real movie begins. A troubled couple decides to
adopt orphaned girl Shaw-Tian. Shaw-Tian only has one
item in her possession which she holds very dearly - an
ugly-looking clown doll. It doesn't take long before
the doll start to make creepy things happen around
Shaw-Tian. We really have a lot going on in Good Will
Evil. An evil doll with glowing green eyes, the ability
to move from one place to another in one second, and
with evil yarn growing out of its neck. Evil yarn people.
This time we don't get a red ball slowly bouncing down
the stairs, this time we get red yarn. Creepy red yarn.
Seriously, who came up with this idea? Demonic yarn?!
For crying out loud people. We also have an old woman
who has premonitions every time she has hiccups,
a slimy green ghost-boy and naturally the new mother
of Shaw-Tian was raped and abused as a child to top
it all off. It's all a bit much to swallow if you ask
me. This is cheesy horror at its best though because
no matter how campy Good Will Evil may be, it's pretty
entertaining. More so than most recent Asian horror
flicks. Since there's always something going on you're
never bored and that's something I don't take for granted
with Chinese and Taiwanese horror films.
I will give them kudos for the effort because Good Will
Evil (don't even get me started on the title) is good
fun but it's not a movie to be taken seriously... at all.
It's no wonder that the movie flopped because it really
does feel like something we could expect to get from
Hong Kong a couple of years ago (which is not a good
thing). Don't waste too much time tracking this one down
but if it's on TV, I'd give it a go if campy ghost
stories are your thing.
No.
Twinkle twinkle little star...
Good Will Evil is almost so bad that it's good and it
certainly is cheesy fun. I'm probably being way too
nice on it but it just brings me back to when I started
reviewing horror films. It's a terrible movie but it
is amusing. Only for hardcore fans of Asian horrors.
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