The Park
Chow Lok Yuen, director
                  

Review by Alyce Wilson

The plot of The Park — such as it is — is about a haunted fun park where a group of teenagers go in search of the missing brother of one teen, Yen. Naturally, this being a horror movie, one by one they fall victim to the various dangers of the park.

The best character in the film was a spiritualist, who happens to be Yen's mom. She has a special camera that can capture spirits, and she uses it to fight them. This concept is also explored with a digital video camera the teens can use to see ghosts in a seemingly empty room.

The Park was laughable at best: not bad enough to be a cheesy B movie, and not good enough to be scary. It wasn't 3D all the way through: they would flash a warning for you to put the glasses on. But most of the 3D sections weren't even worth donning the glasses. Few things came at you or even seemed three-dimensional. I've since been told that there is another 3d version of the film where the effects are more visible.

And of course, there is the mysterious park caretaker, who is not only creepy looking (suffering, as he does, from some sort of unfortunate birth defect) but who also plays a part in the park's haunted history.

One of the most amusing aspects of this movie is that at the end, there is actually a curtain call, where all the characters come back to smile at the camera. This includes the creepy caretaker, who smiles disarmingly at the camera, as if he is now a friend.

The Park has so many flaws — plot, editing, special effects, acting — that it could easily be spoofed, Mystery Science Theater 3000 style, by someone willing to sit through it enough times to write jokes. Otherwise, The Park is not worth the price of admission.