THE BRIDGE CURSE is another cheap, digital, greyed-out slice of ghostly horror, this time hailing from Taiwan. I haven't seen many Taiwanese horror films so I was hoping for something that brought to life local culture and the like, but instead what we get is a cheaply derived copy of film series that were popular a couple of decades ago: think the female ghost from JU-ON: THE GRUDGE mixed with the general plot of the WISHING STAIRS films. This one's about a bunch of annoying students daring each other to spent the night on a haunted bridge and finding themselves pursued endlessly afterwards. Expect a lot of screaming, and precisely nothing else.

I must say that the concept idea for "The Bridge Curse" sounded interesting enough. And the fact that this was an Asian horror movie that I hadn't already seen, was of course more than sufficient to make me sit down to watch it, as I had the opportunity in 2021.

However, "The Bridge Curse" turned out to be a very generic horror movie, with writers Keng-Ming Chang and Po-Hsiang Hao just playing it safe and making use of just about every single trope and archetype seen in the 'how-to-make-a-horror-movie' manual. Sure, this was keeping it within the confines of what worked, but it also made for a very indistinct and bland horror movie.

The storyline was adequately written, but everything that transpired throughout the course of the movie was things already seen and done countless times in other horror movies. So there wasn't much of any surprises or innovative moments throughout the course of director Lester Hsi's movie.

The acting in the movie was adequate. But I must say that the character gallery was so mundane and generic that all characters essentially blended together and was just one massive, faceless crowd.

Ultimately, then "The Bridge Curse" is a watchable, albeit a very generic horror movie that packs little to no punch at all. I must admit that I had hoped for a bit more than what director Lester Hsi managed to deliver here.

I am rating "The Bridge Curse" a very bland five out of ten stars. Sure, it was watchable, but it was a very forgettable movie. And this was by no means a horror movie that can sustain more than just a single viewing, as the contents here just are too vague.

Attempting to investigate an urban legend, a news reporter begins looking into the mysterious disappearance of several students after they were playing a game to invoke the spirit of a ghost who haunts a nearby bridge on campus, and when she discovers that she's next in line to suffer the ghosts' wrath must find a way to stop it.

For the most part, this one offers some enjoyable aspects. One of the films' best features is the strong background work that gives off a rather fine set up that contains a nice immersion quality. As we're given a lot of information about the legacy of the stunt and how it turned into a student hazing stunt, the film carries on quite nicely. Starting in-universe as the typical urban myth about a woman who died on the spot and now haunts the area after being rejected by her boyfriend, the start of the legend is a suitable small-town ghost-story that could conceivably grow into a more prominent urban legend. The beginning of the film showing off the historical background of the as well as the recreation of the main prank committed by the students finely completes this. As well, the atmosphere created here is quite chilling at times. The fabled bridge where the action takes place is a rather creepy area, taking place in a seemingly deserted part of the campus where the cobblestone construction and prominent trees surrounding it leaves quite an impression when traveling through at night. That plays a part in the resulting atmosphere featured during the attacks which are quite chilling and creepy at times, from the ambush out at the bridge to the various encounters around the campus including the bathroom scenes and the hallways of the dorm. The intensity and ferocity of the ghostly attacks are quite fun as the being continually moves out of the darkness to attack, creating some stand-out shock scenes in the randomness around the campus where it appears or the creepy setup to it doing so. Featuring a rousing finale with some nice twists and stand-out ghost action, this one is quite enjoyable at times. This one does have some issues with it. The main problem is the films' seemingly random and arbitrary jumping back-and-forth throughout the various timelines as we switch from the original incident involving the students trying the legend for themselves and encountering the ghost and the reporter investigating the incident in the present. As this creates some severe jumping around to figure out what happened, the resulting whiplash trying to keep track of everything is a hurdle to getting into the film even though it settles down considerably as it goes along. Likewise, the film's over-reliance on standard formulaic ghost antics is a big disservice, bringing nothing new to the table as this one goes for all the expected tropes in a creaky, slimy, scuttling pale figure leaps out of nowhere to grab victims and kills them in ways as to suggest suicide upon later discovery of the body. It's all been seen before and can come off as wholly cliched for the most part to some viewers.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence and Language.