Matialth
Good concept, poorly executed.
SpecialsTarget
Disturbing yet enthralling
FirstWitch
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Cassandra
Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
pietroschek
Agreeing with many of the positive reviews, and hence not reciting their context here, on this Taiwanese work or co-production I still want to add that it does not only tell the tale of a mentally troubled police investigator on his next job, but manages to combine story-depth with atmosphere in a way which has been lost to 'Hollywood'due the low budget bombardment we all could witness since Blair Witch Project & Paranormal were mis-considered great works.For those who know the Call of Cthulhu or Trail of Cthulhu role-playing game this movie is just one more tip of an iceberg, when it comes to the story potential. The actors kept any narcissism on a proverbial leash, clearly fulfilling their roles in the unfolding plot. Splendidly done so. The cult surprise-attacking the police right during the cops own advance combined shock-effect and action in a way I found thrilling indeed, as it means a skilled combination of two genres.I am surprised that it did not inspire to follow in its steps.
Rindiana
This trashy Taiwanese-American cooperation tries to mix all stereotypes of U.S. police buddy-movies/serial-killer thrillers and Asian supernatural horror films into one brew... unfortunately, its taste is revolting.Mind me, the technical aspects and even some of the otherwise typically hammy acting is okay, but the convoluted plot kills it all, particularly after confusing Taoist prophecies, silly modern killer monks and, most annoyingly, lofty melodramatics are introduced. And I won't even speak about the ridiculous finale.I seldom cared less about a thriller's outcome.2 out of 10 lethal air conditioners
sep1051
I am not a devotee of Hong Kong or Asian movies. What initially attracted my attention to Double Vision was the presence of David Morse. Over the years he seems to have had a knack for showing up in interesting, if offbeat, films. This movie is no exception to that pattern. The acting of the leads is good to above average. I don't want to duplicate the comments expressed so well by others. Let me just say that I concur with the general opinion that the film goes offtrack in the third act. Up to that point it relied on the characters of the leads and exposition on Taoism. After that point it veered off into supernatural confusion. However, all in all, worth the viewing.
alexliu_1999
The reason I went to see the movie was because simply: I liked the concept. The nine gates of hell has always held my interest and few films have taken advantage of the possibilities that celluloid offers.Needless to say, I saw this with very high hopes, and thus my opinion may seem somewhat opinionated.Let me just say that the movie is not scary... leave the concluding scenes (which didn't make much sense anyway). No jump in your seat thrills, no creepy buildup, and hardly any characters that were actually scary. But this is not necessarily bad for some movies (let me emphasize 'SOME MOVIES') as it can help segue the genre into a totally different and unexpected one. This script tries to do that, but fails miserably. What we have here is a hybrid of a detective and horror story, or maybe the worse parts of both.
Characters are one dimensional, most characters are expendable and hardly matter, and try however hard I wanted, but I could not feel sympathy for any characters. And amazingly enough, the main character who spoke very little English, and when he did it sounded very heavily accented, but apparently, he must have been fluent in English... after all, he spews big words in lines which left the actor seeming confused.Most of the scenes were utterly miserable and unnecessary, and after the movie, I wondered if the screenplay was made by an amature screenwriter.Take my advice: Do yourself a favor and skip this one.