Fortune Cookie Prophecies

IMDb
When his wife cracks open a fortune cookie that prophesizes her death in four days, a pro-life doctor must solve the mystery behind the fortune before it's too late.

British Horror Film Festival 2013: Line-up & Award Nominees

23 September 2013 3:00 AM, PDT | Blogomatic3000 | See recent Blogomatic3000 news »

The British Horror Film Festival have announced their fantastic line-up for this year’s genre festival. Features include the UK chiller Entitystarring Dervla Kirwan, Charlotte Riley and Branko Tomovic directed by Steve Stone, Canadian thriller Fortune Cookie Prophecies starring Emily Alatalo directed by Henry Li and In the House of Flies from director Gabriel Carrer. The British Horror Film Festival is in its fourth year and will take place Friday 18th & Saturday 19th October 2013 at the Empire Cinema, Leicester Square in London.

28DaysLater

These Fortune Cookie Prophecies Were Written in Blood: A Movie Review

 Friday, August 23, 2013  Michael Allen  No comments

*full disclosure: a DVD screener of this film was provided by Osiris Entertainment.

Director/writer: Henry Li.

Cast: Emily Alatalo, John Maillet, Adam Kolozsvari, Amanda Strachan and Vivian Cheung.

Fortune Cookie Prophecies is a film which was completed in 2011. This title was shown in a few film festivals, before being picked up by Osiris Entertainment. The Fortune Cookie Prophecies is the first feature film from Henry Li. And, this title deals with an ancient Chinese curse, which plagues two couples on an island retreat. Well written and full of mystery, the Fortune Cookie Prophecies is a fun time spent with a ghoulish spirit.

Like most indie thrillers, the characters in this piece are few. Meg (Emily Alatalo), Tim (John Maillet), Carl (Adam Kolozsvari) and Sarah (Amanda Strachan) head out to a waterfront cabin to enjoy a weekend together. Something strange takes place over dinner. Their fortune cookies promise death in 4 hours for some and 4 days for others. The characters scoff at the threat, until Sarah turns up dead. Now, the remaining three characters have only a limited amount of time to piece together the mystery of Ling (Vivian Cheung), a vengeful spirit.

Emily Alatalo ("Neverlost") stars as Meg.

The Fortune Cookie Prophecies begins as a typical indie thriller, but the film evolves into something more sinister. The usual tropes of horror are here e.g. an isolated cabin, lost cell phone coverage and a spirit haunting the characters. These elements have been seen in many films, many times before. However, Li evolves the film into a supernatural mystery, in the second act. The clues to solve the death of a forlorn mother involve scouring the local woods for bodies and artifacts. Each piece of evidence helps put together a fairly complex puzzle, which is still generating excitement late in the picture.

This reviewer was hoping for a little more Chinese mythology in the film, though. There are some elements of Chinese culture, but they are sparse. Ling, the antagonist, would wrap her feet in order to appear more demure (an ancient practice). As well, there are Chinese symbols and garments. Yet, Chinese culture does not really infiltrate the story very much. Instead, the crux of the film involves burying the body of Ling, which is very similar to many mainstream films. This critic wondered if a Chinese ghost story might have a few more cultural surprises than the one found here.

Still, the Fortune Cookie Prophecies is a compelling and entertaining feature. Li has truly grafted an excellent script here. The writing twists and turns. Also, the antagonist is only revealed slowly over time, rather than all at once. This delivery technique creates for a very even pace. The characters are also intertwined with Ling's mystery. Though, film fans will have to watch the title to find out how. Overall, the Fortune Cookie Prophecies brings some intriguing characters to the screen and an excellent ending, which might make a few viewers squirm.

This film was recently released on DVD through Osiris Entertainment and indie film fans might want to add the Fortune Cookie Prophecies to their must-see list. The acting, characters and story-telling style are very good and the atmosphere of the film is, appropriately, macabre and chilling. Horror fans will find this entry on home video formats a worthy evening spent with one terrifying and relentless Chinese spirit.

Overall: 7.5 out of 10 (a solid script, interesting characters, the plot develops over time and the ending was a sight to see).

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