They Wait Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: A mother must rescue her son from the clutches of evil spirits during Ghost Month.

Review: "They Wait" is somewhat reminiscent of an East meets West production, however, it's more of a Western take on a traditional, Chinese ghost tale. Unfortunately, the general premise is severely lacking in depth, and the story is flimsy and loaded with cliches. In one respect, the filmmakers are trying to tell a captivating mystery while simultaneously presenting this undying mother/son bond...both of which come off as weak. This doesn't mean the film is inherently bad as much as it's simply mediocre in every single regard. There is nothing unique whatsoever, and the characters are presented as complete idiots often times. For example, we are to believe that a woman living in Shanghai and married to a Chinese guy for years doesn't know what Ghost Month is?!

To put things succinctly, this film plays out like "Stir of Echoes" set in Chinatown. There is a wannabe, creepy ghost running around that wants her murder solved, yet, figures the best way of doing this is to capture the soul of the main chick's son. I get that they wanted stakes--what with Ghost Month's ending resulting in the kid dying--but, come on, this isn't a sympathetic ghost. On top of that, the cheap levels of production don't offer up anything interesting in the way of a ghost world or demons. In fact, the events of the story wrap up fairly quickly with little action or scares along the way. Of course, the realization that many of the background characters are evil and covering up a murder is beyond predictable. There is simply this vibe of pointlessness to the movie. It's not that the filmmakers really screwed things up as much as they couldn't do anything worthwhile. The ghost is not even scary looking when she could have been played up more.

Overall, "They Wait" is a missed opportunity. The primary mystery is generic and by the books, and the resolution is achieved too easily. The difficulty of rescuing the son should have been the film's top priority and took the time to depict a true world of ghosts. Maybe playing it safe with a Kayako-clone might have had a better impact as well. However, my biggest gripe with the film is the cliches. A random old guy who knows everything, family members who can see ghosts but don't realize it, ghosts that can't just be upfront with what they want, lazy writing with family members covering up the sins of the past, etc. It's just one, big cliche-fest. I can't really recommend something like this despite my appreciation for the effort.

Notable Moment: The whopping two scenes with Michael Biehn. Dude, what the fuck are you doing? How do you go from Reese and Hicks to this?!

Final Rating: 5/10