Koma
(Tartan USA  Region 1 DVD)
(2004)
review by Head Cheeze

You wake in a strange bathroom naked, and alone. As your eyes adjust to the light, soaking in your new surroundings, you realise you are neck deep in a bathtub full of ice, so numbed by the cold that it registers as a dull ache throughout your body. You slowly lift yourself out of the tub, and, as the warm air of the bathroom stings your skin, you suddenly realise how close you came to freezing to death. As you quietly make your way across the bathroom, first you wonder how you got here. Then, you wonder if whoever brought you here in the first place is still around. Your teeth chatter, partly from the cold, and partly from the fear, as you notice a note taped to the mirror above the dripping sink.

We've taken your kidney.

Call the police, or you will die.

And then you reach around instinctively, hoping this is all a sick practical joke. You feel a raised ridge of soft, wet skin and string. You bring your hand to your face. You see the blood. This is no joke.

The ol' kidney stealing urban legend has been around for quite some time, and, yet, there are still plenty of folks who still claim to "know someone, who knows a guy, who knows a cop who...". You have to admit, it's a creepy story, and makes great fodder for campfire tales and Hong Kong shocker's alike, as is the case with KOMA, the latest film from INNER SENSES director, Chi-Leung Lam.

When a serial killer terrorises the streets of Hong Kong, preying on both men and woman, and stealing their kidneys, Ching (The Eye's Lee) finds herself caught up in the investigation, when she drunkenly stumbles upon a victim. Ching sees a woman at the scene who she quickly identifies as the possible killer, but, it turns out, the woman she identifies is also her fiance's lover, a young med student named Ling (Lam). Ling begins to torment Ching, jealous of the latter's wealthy lifestyle and relationship, and her threats convince Ching she is, in fact, the killer. However, when Ling rescues Ching from the actual killer, the two become friends, and Ching reveals that she is also suffering from a degenerative kidney disease. As the two grow closer, Ching's fiance (and Ling's lover) begins to suspect that Ling isn't telling them everything, and a murderous love triangle ensues.

From my review you probably think two things;

1) You already know who the real killer is.

2) This film is about lesbian Pandas.

In reality, it's not about lesbian Pandas, as Ling and Ching are, in fact, women. Very hot looking women, actually. Koma is also not nearly as predictable as it may sound in a brief synopsis, as there are ample twists and turns, lots of character development, and a pretty good friendship tale, to boot. The film's real strength is the casting of both Lee and Lam, who have a palpable chemistry, which helps to overshadow Koma's occasional lapses of logic and the usual bits of dialogue that are completely lost in translation.

The DVD from Tartan presents the film in a gorgeous widescreen anamorphic transfer, with a commentary by director Law, a music video, original theatrical trailer, and more!

Koma is an absorbing, sexually charged thriller that puts a new spin on an old legend, while also serving as a great vehicle for two of Hong Kong's best new actresses to show their stuff to the rest of the world.