The Bridge Curse Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: Zany antics ensue after college kids test to see if a local ghost story is true.

Review: This is by the numbers Asian horror. I'm not saying it's bad necessarily, however, there is virtually nothing of merit worth mentioning here. Oh, sure, there is a twist that you could never possibly predict, but that's more on the stupid and deceptive side rather than creative. The main issues are the drawn-out pacing and underdeveloped premise. To the film's credit, the action kicks off right away and starts killing off the kids quickly. Unfortunately, the story feels like it's coming to a wrap around the 45 minute mark with way more shenanigans left in the tank. The material simply doesn't have enough oomph to carry a full-length experience.

So what exactly is the bridge curse? Every leap year, if you count up some stairwell near a bridge then a bonus step will appear and a ghost girl will appear behind you or whatever the hell was happening here. Honestly, it's so damn contrived and impossible to stumble upon naturally that only people testing the urban legend would ever fall victim to this curse. Which begs the question, how the hell did anyone ever know about this in the first place?! Yeah, we get your standard, long-haired ghost girl, and she looks decent in all fairness. There are two origin stories for the ghost with both sounding sketchy by the characters as if to imply the truth was never completely revealed; I mean, it's not like any of the characters have any connection to the ghost whatsoever. Although maybe they were going to have a connection? The framing device of the story revolves around a journalist making a documentary of the events so maybe she would discover the truth about the ghost? The ending of this film not only sequel-baits but is so bold as to include a mid and post-credit scene. This ain't a Marvel movie here.

The big twist of this movie felt so cheap. Oh, the characters that you thought were all interacting together were actually two different groups from different time periods dying to the curse. DUN DUN DUN!!! What's the point? So that we can reveal the camera guy of the documentary crew is actually one of the kids possessed-ish by the ghost? Weak. It turns out the ghost will let someone live if they arrange for more victims every 4 years. Look, "February 29" already tackled this better and throwing in "The Wishing Stairs" to the mix doesn't add anything.

On some level, this movie could have worked if the story was tweaked. As it stands, you get a 30 minute TV show episode stretched paper thin across 90 minutes. Everything with the twist and documentary crew is aimless and used as padding. I would have more to say if this movie were actually plain bad, but, in some ways, it's worse being this bland. There is still casual fun to have from this flick--it just felt as though the creators weren't trying and half-assed the entire thing.

Notable Moment: When the ghost appears in the makeup room, or whatever it was, with the wigs. This is a prime example of what I'm discussing. You have this cool set piece that is squandered outright. This could have been a scary segment, but, instead, nothing creative or cool happens.

Final Rating: 5/10