MOVIE #06: THE MAID 2005 (ENGLISH)

During the Chinese Seventh Month, the gates of hell open and spirits are let loose upon an unsuspecting world. For 30 days, the dead walk among the living. To protect themselves, mortals devise rules: Do not swim during the Seventh Month; do not turn your back at night when someone calls out your name; do not talk to strangers on a deserted stretch of road and do not sweep away any offerings to the dead. Be careful, be very careful....

The Maid is a 2005 English-Singaporean horror film (written and directed by Kelvin Teoh) centred on a Filipino maid Rosa, who arrives from the Philippines to work for a Chinese opera musician family, the Teos. She arrives during the Taoist seventh month of the “Hungry Ghost Celebrations”, where she has to quickly familiarise herself to the customs and taboos connected to the Hungry Ghost month and superstitions of her new ‘family’. See the article on Wikipedia HERE for a summation on the Chinese Hungry Ghost Month.

Her employers, the middle age and gentle Mr and Mrs Teo care for her well and their mentally-handicapped son Ah Soon also takes to Rosa. However unbeknown to her, she had unwittingly broken many rules on the first few days of the Hungry Ghost Month. Weird things begin to happen to Rosa. She sees horrific images and senses that someone is watching her. It is another maid who lives across from her and when Rosa tries to speak to her, she always avoids a meeting with Rosa.

Rosa soon corners the girl and finds out that Rosa had a predecessor that used to work for the Teos, Ester, who mysteriously disappeared. The story now takes an interesting turn. From the weird, things begin to get sinister. To find out what happened to Ester and Ester’s connection to Rosa and the Teos, I urge you to watch ‘The Maid’.

Note: The Maid broke the box office record in Singapore for the horror genre, making S$700,000 on its opening weekend.

It won the European Fantastic Film Festival Federation (EFFFF) Asian Film Award at the 10th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan). The EFFFF Asian Film Award is a prize awarded to the best Asian film of the year by the federation, of which PiFan is a supporting member.

The movie stars Filipino superstar Alessandra de Rossi (Rosa), Hong Huifang (Mrs Teo), Chen Shucheng (Mr Teo) and newcomer Benny Soh (Ah Soon).

My verdict: 4 star.

PS: Just thought I'd better remind you, it's Friday the 13th today!