Koma [DVD] [2004]

The police line-up doesn’t go well. That’s when Angelica Lee learns Karena Lam, suspect in a Hong Kong kidney harvesting spree, has been sleeping with her boyfriend. The Asian equivalent of Italian giallo, this terrifically twisted melodrama pits a fascinatingly flawed character against a crafty tormentor. Angelica’s the ill one, Karena’s simply sick: “You won’t understand,” she says, “you’ll never understand… because you’re not me.” Crazy women with knives and scalpels – and, I regret to say, an axe during an extremely uncomfortable finale – in a florid thriller at its best reminiscent of Brian De Palma’s wilder flights of fancy.

Great Asian psychological thriller that is very much out of the ordinary with a twisty plot and great central performances. Beautifully shot as ever, this is something of an art form for Asian cinema.It is gripping, dark and engrossing.

Great movie although not quite as scary as the ring or the grudge.

Brilliant movie, it's about two women, from very different background, sharing one thing in common a lover, and the need for a kidney transplant, very interesting story of an usual friendship, and scarifice.

Liked this movie was good

Soap opera scares. My Gran would like this.

Angelica Lee (The Eye) and Karena Lam star in this out-of-the-ordinary psychological thriller that not only gives you the creeps but manages to stay until well after you've seen it... If you've already read the synopsis, then you'll know that it borrows from the infamous urban legend about the person who wakes up after drinking heavily to find that one of their kidneys' missing...Add to that, a look at the strained friendship between rich socialite Angelica and poor girl Karena, an sinister cat-and-mouse game between the two and a quite perplexing ending and you've got yourself a pretty good K-Horror which is not without its flaws!!

Well-produced but completely lacking in inspiration, this is a very obvious cash-in, jumping on the Asian horror bandwagon with no real idea what made the exemplars of that quickly-exhausted genre so good. What's most disappointing is that there's some good ideas in here, but they're given short shrift in the rush to make the film as generic as possible.Two women find themselves linked by their attachment to the same man. One of them is his girlfriend (although he's sleeping with both of them) the other one is consumed by jealousy. One of the women needs a kidney transplant; the other one may or may not have something to do with the rash of organ-jackings sweeping the city; women waking up in baths full of ice with kidneys missing.The film tentatively explores the bond that grows between the two women, both, in their way, victims of the same man. But then it plays all its cards and reveals itself as just another post "Fatal Attraction"/"Single White Female" shrieker, and adds insult to injury by having the "good" woman need rescuing by the same boyfriend who caused all the trouble in the first place, which mess the film never even remotely holds him responsible for.Oh, and while the title has apparently nothing to do with anything in the film, I've recently been informed that "Koma" is the Cantonese word for "help".