Nice effects though.

Lack of good storyline.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

A woman follows her husband to his ancestral home in China to bury his recently-deceased father, and comes face to face with a deadly curse that is hell-bent on making her and her family suffer for their crimes in the past.This was an awesome and enjoyable ghost film. One of the better aspects to the film is the incredible story, which is perfect for hanging a creepy and suspenseful ghost story around. The way it manages to make the situation with the ghosts' return for vengeance into a wonderfully atmospheric film in the first half. These early scenes, from him wandering into the basement based on noises at the beginning or them walking across the streets with all the stuff set-up regarding the decorations and the intentions behind them allows for some good moments. There's a couple of fantastic ones centered around the drug-store scene, which is so sudden, so unexpected and come sat the perfect beat with the perfect set-up that the scene works gloriously, the rising bear at the fireplace is also classic since it leads into the spectacular factory scene, and the opening attack is great with the woodland setting being used to absolutely perfect effect here, the fog-covered area looks absolutely creepy and foreboding, while the gag with the trees, the growling and jarring camera-work all signify an attack that is absolutely perfect and opens on a high-note. Once it goes into the possession angle, it deals with the physical acts that demonstrate what's happening to him, and there's some really great moments to come from this. The Mandarin encounter works from the dialog and the dyed arms works on pure shock value, which when combined with these other really great moments make it just as good as what came before. The back- story as well works on the revelations later on with a really marvelous twist which is fitting for a ghost's revenge and appearing as time- period appropriate, and as if talking about it isn't enough it plays out in an absolutely fantastic flashback. The ghost's revenge here is also perfect as there's an erupting, endless flow of bones from the room, the arms shooting out from the pile to drag the two away and the later sequence with the one victim vomiting up skeleton bones in an extended, graphic and brutal set-piece really works well. The last plus is the gore, which isn't bad and kept to a minimum but makes it work when it counts as the film's best qualities against the only thing wrong with this one. By doing the possession so late in the film, it makes the ghost look a little weak since they had plenty of contact before, with plenty of opportunities to do so before then, and to then do so at the end is a little suspicious. Also, the manner of possession, by saying it's been done but not explaining how or why, takes a little of the sting out of it. It could've been written in another way, as they don't really play it up later as one, making the proclamation even stranger. Still, beyond this there's more to love here which makes this one so good.Rated R: Violence, Language and children-in-jeopardy.

I like horror, and horror in the true sense of being scared by a movie. This had a few jumps in it, but nothing terrifying.The main problem with it was the story. It was very, very all over the place. You're not sure if it's a monster movie, a ghost story or a horror film. And it keeps you guessing right up till the end...and I'm still not sure.If the story had been written well, the film would have been good. The acting was not bad, nothing outstanding. The direction was again, OK, a few good moments are spoilt by a few bad ones.Watch it late at night, with the lights off, you'll most likely enjoy it. Just try not to follow the plot too closely, coz it's not a very good one.

Don't get me wrong, I love The Ring, The Grudge, and most J-Horror movies with the jerky movement ghosts and tales of revenge.However this movie seemed to be able to communicate the same concepts that make the Asian ghost stories so intriguing without resorting to all the same clichés. And when they do decide to throw in a jump scene, it is usually not where you expect it or completely out of nowhere.It is a simple story that has been told over and over, but this adds and Asian twist with concepts such as Hungry Ghost Month and Spirit Money without alienating a western audience.Overall the story is pretty predictable and that is the only downside to this movie. Once you figure out what is going on, it's pretty much a "which road will they take to the end" as opposed to a surprise around each corner. The acting is pretty decent for this type of flick. The kid actually does a good job - never know how they will do in these.I would recommend this if you want to introduce some of the elements of a good Asian horror story without all the oddness that is directly copied in some of the other remakes. Many of the concepts of the genre are there without the kabuki inspired movements.

After the release of Japan's "Ringu", Eastern horror became extremely popular in the west and lead to a series of remakes including "The Grudge" and "The Ring". "They Wait" isn't a remake of an existing Eastern horror but an original production in which an American mother (played by Jaime King) and her six year old son find themselves facing the ghosts of the Chinese community into which they have arrived from Shanghai. Although it may not be based on a Japanese or Chinese horror movie, "They Wait" unfortunately comes across like a compilation of greatest hits from such productions.There's one very good scare quite early in the movie but, once this is over, everything else comes across as quite tame. "They Wait" also unfortunately employs some terrible CGI effects in places. Some of the ghosts (especially those seen before the titles roll) look like something from a Playstation game! This is quite surprising as the rest of the movie looks to have had quite a bit of money thrown at it and director Ernie Barbarash (who also directed "Cube: Zero") knows how to make his movie look extremely polished.The lead performances are all very good (Ms King, in particular, proves to be a strong center for the story) but the plot is quite uninspired. You'll quickly guess what's going on and who is responsible, and the way in which things are resolved also leaves a lot to be desired. But is it a bad movie? No, not at all. If you catch it on television late at night, you'll probably be perfectly entertained throughout its running time and enjoy something that has many charms amongst its faults. If you pay money to rent it out, however, you might feel you've wasted money on something that seems incredibly similar to so many other movies.At the time of writing, this movie has a 3.8 score on IMDb which is, in my opinion, completely unjustified. I've seen a few movies deserving of a score like that and this movie certainly isn't one of them! I can guess at the reason for this, and that reason would be the presence of a certain Uwe Boll who most movie fans will know as the director of a growing library of terrible movies (Alone In The Dark, In The Name Of The King, Bloodrayne etc). However, it's worth pointing out that Uwe Boll was simply the producer here. He didn't write this movie and he certainly didn't direct it! In summary then, "They Wait" is an inoffensive horror movie which works nicely as a late night time-waster but not much more.