Playing as part of the Reel Asian Film Fest as well as the Rome International Film Festival, Tales From the Dark 1 is an anthology film dealing with one of life’s inevitables, death and what comes after. Three stories, three ghosts, three chances at scaring you. Does it succeed?

Tales From the Dark 1 is an anthology, the three stories deal with wildly different characters and events, with the same central theme: revenge from beyond the grave. The first, Stolen Goods, starring and directed by Simon Yam, deals with grave robbing and poverty. The second, A Word in the Palm (Lee Chi-ngai) is a horror/comedy. Tony Leung Ka Fi and Cherry Ngan tell the tale of the last case of a fortune teller and a ghost hunter which has a broken heart and lost love at its core. And finally we have Jing Zhe (Fruit Chan) a genuinely unsettling story with Dada Chan as a very vengeful spirit hunting the men who killed her and the woman who let it happen.

Stolen Goods is easily the weakest and strangest of the three, with little explained and too much left to speculation. There is the occasional scare, but it’s weak. A Word in the Palm can be a little too wacky (at times more Scooby Doo than Supernatural), but it has a rock solid emotional core that wins you over. Jing Zhe is spooky as hell, with a dead-eyed performance by Dada Chan that will linger long after the credits finish rolling.

Recommended, despite the weak start.

Donal O’Connor

@reelasian @romacinemafest