The Maid

The Maid is a new entry into the Asian Horror catalog from the Singapore. It doesn’t have a whole lot new to offer to the genre, but there is enough fresh here to warrant a look, if you like Asian horror.

The Maid is the story of Rosa, a young girl who comes from a rural area in the Philippines to work as a maid for a family who run a Chinese Opera and have a mentally challenged son. She arrives in Singapore just in time for the Chinese Seventh Month, believed to be the time when the gates of hell open and the spirits walk. There are lots of rules on how to appease the spirits, and many traditions and ceremonies that must be followed. However, Rosa is unfamiliar with these rules, and slowly she starts seeing spirits and other things she can’t explain. She fears for her life as she uncovers the true story of the maid who lived with the family previously, and the spirits come in for the final say.

There are no stringy haired ghosties in this story, but there are plenty of ghosts. Ghosts who want their families to recognize them, ghosts reliving last moments, and ghosts who seek vengeance for past wrongs. People are haunted by their traditions and their family ties. There is also a very well done subplot of the young, unsophisticated girl in a city, not only unfamiliar with the customs of city living and territory, but the customs of a culture.

Like I said before, there’s not a whole lot new in The Maid to offer the Asian horror genre, but there are plenty of nods to the masters to catch while watching and a couple of really good scares. (The scene with the food court and the next-door neighbor comes to mind.) I like Asian horror, and I really liked that the ghosts here weren’t of the Ringu variety that you see everywhere lately. I’d like to see more from the Singapore, just to see what they can offer the genre from here on out. The Maid is a good start.

Rating: 4 Purrs for the oh crap, that's a ghost moments