MovieChat Forums > Arpointeu (2004) Discussion > What they could've done better =====Spoi...

What they could've done better =====Spoilers====== =

posted 18 years ago by kevraff
5 replies | jump to latest

Just taking my cue from the review who pointed out that this is one of those films where the producers seem to miss ideas and twists that are obvious to the viewer.

I think that alot more could have been made of these ghostly GI's. When they turn up they're very cheery and reassuring: bearing in mind that they later turn out to be lost souls murdered by some nameless horror, wouldn't it have been better to have them looking bedraggled and battle-weary? The discovery of their bodies is very quick and painless. Rather than showing us the corpses so that we can reach our own conclusions, the camera shows us nothing at all and it's left the the frightened troops to explain the awful discovery to us (very quickly so that we can move on to the next scene). Last of all nothing is made of the GI's promise to return with warnings of dire repercussions if their stuff has been tampered with.

Also, why do we have to have the stock long-haired-lady-ghost ending? What's she doing in this film at all? We've got all sorts of soldier-ghosts and evil spirits lurking around here which could have been used.

[–] Mystery_Biscuit 18 years ago

I think they missed a trick by not making more of the location.

A lot of tension and fear can be evoked by the thought of being lost in the woods, alone, at night - a fear that just about any viewer could identify with.

I'm not usually a fan of strict adherence to genre, but a few more Horror conventions might have helped ratchet up the tension.

[–] Droogie952 18 years ago

Lost in the woods...alone....at night...haven't we all seen that a hundred times before? I personally think the paranoia of the movie stems perfectly from not knowing what they're scared of rather than having something to hide from. When the ghost platoon descends into the long grass in broad daylight is far more frightening than any cliche horror scene; the fear factor of a truly great horror is based upon the unknown, and lost in the woods just doesn't cut it for me anymore. The Blair Witch Project pulled it off, but like I said, i've seen it enough now.
Everyone seems to complain that they just don't "get" this movie, that it makes no point and is hard to follow etc. but there's no need to look too far into it. At face value it's a thriller that makes you think, which very few of this genre do anymore. Take what you want from it, I think the GI scene was an excellent prelude to the turn the movie was about to make and the discovery of their bodies needed no dwelling upon.
As for 'a few more horror conventions'...leave those for the Hollywood movie machine to recycle ad nauseum.

[–] MajorMax 18 years ago

Yeah that scene where the ghost squad crouch in the elephant grass and disappear was fantastic, best scene in the movie

"Someone shoulda told ya - never give an Irishman good cause for revenge,"

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] Nastazgeezer 18 years ago

I watched this movie last night on Film Four as modern Asian movies (especially Japanese) tend to intrigue me. I was also confused by the storyline of this film and it was obvious how the ending was rushed (that pretty much every last GI was killed within 5 minutes). I was also confused on how the vietnese rebel shooting at the GIs near the start of the film, also happened to be the female ghost throughout the film. Perhaps the vietnese companion and herself were shooting at the GIs as a warning not to proceed any further (if the stones say 'those with blood on their hands, shall not return.. wouldn't that mean the Vietnese girl should also be haunted by ghosts, even though she appears to be a ghost herself?). The only parts of this film i understood was.. the ghosts possessed the soldiers, which caused them to kill each other and the haunted R-Point is holy ground (no violence) which is why so many people died on these ground, because they all had blood on their hands (the graves in the field when the Lt. searches for the female ghost, all of these graves belonged to those who fought in the wars). Other than that i found this film rather confusing with a dissapointing ending, but it was something to watch and not the worst or most confusing film i've ever seen.