The horror film "Ghost" successfully created a creepy, fast-paced, tense atmosphere right from the beginning of the film, but it was not enough to satisfy the audience.
Directed by Nguyen Huu Hoang, "Ma da" is inspired by Vietnamese folk horror legends in the river region.
The film revolves around Mrs. Le (Viet Huong), a woman who works as a body collector in a small village near the Nam Can mangrove forest. After her husband unfortunately died of drowning, Mrs. Le had to raise her daughter Nhung (Da Chuc) alone.
The incident happened when Mrs. Le recovered the body of Hoang (Hoang Meo), a villager who was good at swimming and had been a fisherman for many years. The strange death caused the villagers to tell each other the story of "Ma da keo gio", related to the "girl in red" who held a grudge and jumped into the river in the past, becoming a ghost to seek out unfortunate targets.
At this time, on the way to school, Nhung accidentally picked up an old doll that was left on the riverbank. From here, a series of strange phenomena and drowning incidents continuously occurred, Nhung and her mother became the subjects chosen by the Ghost to borrow the body to possess.
At the beginning of the film, "Ma da" impresses with a fly-cam shot that captures the beautiful yet dark mangrove forest, full of hidden dangers. Especially in the pitch-black night, the image of people working hard on a small boat with flickering lights becomes even smaller and more lonely in the middle of the vast river.
With his strength in the thriller genre, the director successfully created a creepy, suspenseful atmosphere right from the beginning of the film, making viewers both scared and eagerly awaiting the next details of the story.
Besides the setting, the makeup and character design are also plus points for the film. The work clearly depicts the life of the people in the Mekong Delta, with simple houses, worn-out clothes, dark skin, and hair that has been damaged by the sun and rain.
In terms of acting, Viet Huong is the only bright spot of the film. Escaping the image of a comedian, the female artist successfully transformed into a hard-working woman who has endured and witnessed the pain of separation and death.
Sometimes, the pained look in her eyes when looking into space while searching for her child, or the bewildered, desperate look of Mrs. Le, makes the audience feel both pity and fear.
Along with that, the sound effects are adjusted quite well, creating a creepy rhythm throughout the work, the jump-scares (combining sudden image changes with creepy, shocking sounds) make the audience's heart skip a beat.
But that's all.
As the film progresses, "Ma da" reveals its simple and superficial content, especially in the last third of the film. The overuse of predictable jump-scares makes the audience bored and no longer as scary as before.
The film only includes a few characters. However, apart from Viet Huong, the other characters appear quite vaguely, do not have much screen time and do not leave a strong impression. In particular, Cam Ly and Thanh Loc - which was widely promoted before the film aired - only appeared in a few frames, unable to show his acting ability.
Despite the thin script, the film still has many flaws and plot holes. The effects and cinematography in some scenes are not good, making the audience unable to be satisfied.
Especially in the ending, the confrontation with Ma da is too simple and predictable. The work almost fails to create a climax.
The final "twist" (turning point, turning the story) is disappointing, making the film lose its humanity. Although knowing that this may be the director's intention to pass the censorship, the audience still has to shake their heads in dismay because the ending loses all its haunting quality, making the whole story... like a joke.
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