Inner Senses (2002)
Tai Seng Video Marketing
Cast: Leslie Cheung, Karena Lam, Waise Lee, Valerie Chow
Extras: Featurette, Filmographies, Trailer
Rating:

’Inner Senses’ is Leslie Cheung’s last film, and the actor’s untimely passing is still a shock to me and I’m sure many of his fans. The eeriest part of it is how closely related his death is to the events in the film. There are countless moments where you feel as if maybe he could never shake loose the specters of this particular movie – at least, I did.

’Inner Senses’ is a blend between ’The Sixth Sense’ and ’The Ring’ in many ways but always has its own character. The film is very eerie and especially towards the end it becomes outright creepy – once again, Cheung’s death overshadowing the events may add tremendous spookiness to the film’s atmosphere.

The movie is presented in a widescreen aspect ratio on this DVD and although it is not 16×9 enhanced, the image has a good level of detail and sharpness. Colors are strong and vibrant, nicely reproducing the natural look of the film, as well as the shots that were lit for atmosphere. Blacks are extremely deep creating brooding shadows that certainly nurture the creepiness and desolation of the story. No notable edge-enhancement or compression artifacts are evident in the presentation.

The audio on the release is presented as Dolby Digital 5.1 EX track in Cantonese, as well as a DTS ES track in Cantonese. A Mandarin Dolby Digital track is also provided, all of them with optional English subtitles. Subtitles are clean and clear and well translated, presented without typos.

A few extras are included as well, such as a making of featurette, which has a very different touch than Hollywood featurettes in form and editing. It uses some footage from the film but also a lot of interview footage with many of the cast and crew members, including the late Leslie Cheung. The film’s trailer, and filmographies are also included.

’Inner Senses’ is sadly Leslie Cheung’s swan song, and the resemblance to his own passing is giving me the chills every time I think about it. It is a good film, though, very spooky and with a few great plot twists that you just don’t see coming. If you like dark psychological horror, this film is definitely for you!