2022 / 92m - China
Fantasy, Horror
1.5*/5.0*
The Wicked Wife poster

Watches

June 14, 2022

1.5*/5.0*

Pretty disappointing. This film felt like one of those misguided 90s Hong Kong horror films. Even though there is some interesting mood building going on, gross overacting, a complete lack of tension and slightly too familiar folklore make this is rather sad attempt to create easy genre filler. When China tries to crawl out of its comfort zone, it's clear they have some ways to go.

You're getting three supernatural stories for the price of one, a familiar setup for fans of Hong Kong horror. A theater troupe is caught out in between two towns when bad weather hits them. They find shelter where they can spend the night, but the area is known for its fox folklore and when the troupe dredged up the old stories, people start to get frightened.

Building up tension is essential for this type of film, but Chinese horror often seems too focused on merely narrating the lore. The crummy CG and the terrible overacting certainly don't help either, but the problem with films like this feels more structural. I had relatively high hopes for The Wicked Wife, but they simply must do better.