Sometimes when you’re being derivative good things transpire, and that in itself can deliver a more shocking revelation than all the cheesy FX and predictable chillers put together.

This is what happens with The Diary, a foray once more into the Pang Brothers breech with their entourage of Thai filmmakers and knack for intelligent gore. After the disappointing Recycle set the prolific siblings back a bit, it’s pleasant to see them back in moderately satisfying form with a short yet titillating release timed nicely for the Halloween season.

On the surface, The Diary seems like it’s bound for also-ran perdition, hinting just a slight too much at working that tired old The Eye magic one time too many. Even its main star, Charlene Choi, puts on a spectacular Angelica Lee imitation to the point where at the onset of proceedings wary viewers will be tempted to give up and call it a write off.

Do not: perseverance here is a bona fide virtue, and The Diary has going for it more than meets, well, the eye. Ironically, those very fears of this effort descending into a realm of rip-off fiascoes save it from a fate worse than celluloid death. As soon as one thinks they’ve seen it before, which they have in many ways, The Diary comes charging through to twist those well-worn elements and throw our own jaded sights right back at us. [Source: IMDB]

Cast: Charlene Choi, Isabella Leong, Shawn Yue
Director: Peng Shun (Oxide PANG Chun)
Genre: Thriller / Horror
Also Known As: Diary, Wishful Thinking
Runtime: Hong Kong: 85 min
Country: Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese
Subtitles: English