The Heirloom (DVD)

While debut-director Leste Chen does lean on some A-horror clichés pretty heavily (raven-haired, sinister little girls; leaky plumbing; and death in the public toilet), The Heirloom is a pleasant surprise for fans of ghostly scares steeped in mystery, old, dark houses, and family secrets. Me, I'm a sucker for that stuff. While The Heirloom doesn't do it was well as the Korean neo-classic Two Sisters, it's got a similar vibe — however, in this case, it's the house, not the sisters, who emerges as the most memorable character.

The movie hits the ground running — or hanging, anyway — with a mass-suicide by noose. Creepy camera angles play with a low-to-the-ground view as lifeless feet sway just above. Then, we see a distraught woman crawling along the ground. Is she trying to get out of the death-room? Is she headed for the door? No… she's looking for that one, last, empty noose.

Flash-forward 20-some years to modern day Taiwan, when the sole living relative of the suicidal Yang family line, James (Jason Chang), has inherited the massive, crumbling mansion. It's a gorgeous relic, complete with a sweeping, grand staircase, an immense library, carved mouldings, vaulted ceilings, hardwood floors… and one very mysterious, very locked, little room at the top of a stray stairway.

Despite the obvious nervousness of the realtor, who keeps suggesting he sell the place quick, James moves in and invites his girlfriend, Yo (Terri Kwan) to share his new digs. They invite a couple of their friends over, and that's when the real trouble begins. No matter where they go to sleep, anyone who's been touched by the house wakes up there. One smarty-pants even handcuffs himself to chair before he nods off… only to wake up in the house, sans hands! Ouch!

The Heirloom relies heavily of Gothic imagery — shadowy stairwells, ticking clocks striking midnight, old black and white family portraits with nary a smile, and so on. I liked that, but some viewers might find it a bit heavy-handed. Truth be told, if you took away the creepy visuals, you wouldn't have much else to keep you entertained.

The kernel of the curse is interesting — the plot is based on the legend of the black art of Hsiao Guei ("raising child-ghosts"). This is done by placing a dead fetus inside a funerary urn and feeding it with the blood of your family members. In return, the ghost child will bestow your kin with favors. That is, until you're inextricably cursed… then, all bets are off. Since he's the only one left in the Yang clan, guess what's going to happen to James?

The Heirloom boasts beautiful locations and sets, lovely use of color and composition, better-than-average boo-scares, decent suspense during spooky scenes, and good acting. On the downside, the movie drags quite a bit in the middle, and the origins of the curse aren't mined deeply enough to make much of an impression.

The DVD is definitely worth a look and the movie is a cut above several recently-reviewed A-horror titles (Kokkuri, Pray).

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson