Inner Senses [DVD]

'Inner Senses' is a Hong Kong psychological-horror film that released in 2002 to mixed reviews and poor box-office returns. It's inspired by one of the greatest supernatural movies ever made, 'The Sixth Sense'. The film is Leslie Cheung's last film in acting capacity, before he committed suicide.

The movie tells the story of a Psychiatrist, Dr. Jim Law (Leslie Cheung) who tries to treat a patient, Cheung Yan (Karena Lam) who states that she sees ghosts.

The movie starts slow and the first half is at times boring. The movie then unfolds its cards working on the mystery and suspense. In the second half the heightened tension combined with the atmospheric and eery feel makes the feature work. The premise is further helped with the addition of some twists, jump-out-of-your-seat moments and a number of scary scenes. The movie finally climaxes with what I thought was an unsettling end but a bit over-extended.

The flaws are the slow first half, which may test the patience of the audience and the story, which is given away a little bit early. Once it's given away, the rest of the film becomes predictable.

The movie deals with issues like clinical depression and suicide. The lead actor Leslie Cheung, who sufferred from depression for many years, sadly committed suicide on Tuesday 1st April 2010 at the age of 46. He leapt from the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel, located in the Central district of Hong Kong Island. He left a suicide note saying:

"Depression! Many thanks to all my friends. Many thanks to Professor Felice Lieh-Mak (Cheung's Psychiatrist). This year has been so tough. I can't stand it anymore. Many thanks to Mr. Tong (Partner). Many thanks to my family. Many thanks to Fei-Fei (Lydia Shum Din-ha)(Mentor). In my life I did nothing bad. Why does it have to be like this?"

The similarities between Cheung's life and a number of scenes/issues in the film makes this an uncomfortable yet compulsive viewing. It's not a nice thing to say, but the circumstances behind his death gives the a film an edge, ultimately making it more than an average feature.

Leslie Cheung became one of my favourite Chinese actors after I saw one of the greatest Chinese action movies, 'A Better Tommorow' directed by John Woo. The movie has been confirmed by the Hong Kong film industry as the 2nd best Chinese Motion Picture ever. The movie made him an overnight star. He then starrred in classics like 'A Chinese Ghost Story', 'A Better Tommorow 2' & 'Once a Thief' to name a few. He is regarded as one of the greatest Chinese actors and a music Icon, responsible for making Cantopop (Cantonese Popular Music) popular. Apparently he was a really intense person in real life and this is evident in his acting in 'Inner Senses'. In his final swan song, he performs superbly and reminds everyone what a great actor we're going to miss. The performance earned him a Best Actor nomination at the 22nd Hong Kong Film Awards. The unsettling feeling of Cheung's death and a number of scenes in the movie, which relate to his life, lingers on long after the end credits have rolled.

Karena Lam also performs well along side Cheung. The role earned her a Best Actress Nomination, also at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

The direction provided by Law Chi-leung is stylish and he succeeds in making a good horror. However, he should've made the start progressive and the story should've been explained right at the end and not early.

The DVD picture is of good quality. There are English subtitles that are removable and the language option is only Cantonese.

'Inner Senses' for all Leslie Cheung fans will be a haunting experience from within.

Leslie Cheungs last film before he commited suicide,In my opinion it is a good offering not as gory as most tartan films to come out of asia but a good creepy little film ,May he rest in peace ,as he was an excellent actor and is truly missed .Barry.

Infamous as the last movie from Leslie Cheung, and unfortunately its not terribly good. The story is contrived, the special effects are pretty atrocious, and if you know the background to the movie its really uncomfortable to watch. I'd go so far tosay give this one a miss.