Film Review: The Bridge Curse 2: Ritual 女鬼橋2:怨鬼樓 (2023) Taiwan 🇹🇼
Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia 🇦🇺)
Having not seen the prequel, I treated the Taiwanese horror thriller sequel “The Bridge Curse 2: Ritual” directed by Lester Hsi as a standalone experience. That being said, for most of the duration, the film remains rather bland, poor special effects and non interesting characters to boot. Adding to the mess is the totally non-coherent script, making this an unnecessary genre experience that does not precisely warrant a sequel.
Wang Yu-xuan leads to the ensemble casting as the flower vase in distress, whilst she is capable, the character she plays remains paper thin, with an unbelievable back story that neither engages or emotes. Similarity the rest of the ensemble cast (played by Patrick Shih, JC Lin and Summer Meng) lacks crucial chemistry as the audience fails to care about the characters and their ultimate fate.
All in all, “The Bridge Curse 2: Ritual” ultimately fails in the basic of horror filmmaking, the mood is important, sound track to build the tension and camera angles create the moments. Here, we are filled with cliches moments that do not even excite, let alone be thrilled or horrified. Adding to the problem is the lack of character depths for the audience to really care what is actually happening on screen. Definitely does not warrant the sequel.
I rated it 5/10