Secrets in the Hot Spring

Qie Xiaogin is a bleached blond with a reputation for being a trouble maker. After an incident at school he forms an unlikely friendship with the slightly wimpy Lu Qun and the somewhat camp 'Little Princess'. One day his grandparents invite him to help at their rural hot springs hotel, his friends invite themselves to join him. The three of them go and find it to be a rundown establishment. They find it more than a little creepy and soon believe it is haunted! Will they get to the bottom of the strange goings on?

This film was recommended as a horror on Netflix but the PG rating suggested there wouldn't be many real scares. It turns out to be about as scary as an episode of 'Scooby Doo'... and in many ways it could have been inspired by that show. Thankfully what it lacked in scares it made up for in laughs. It is all very silly and rather camp but worked better than I expected. The cast do a fine job as they deliberately ham it up for maximum comic effect. The 'horror' elements are fun rather than overly scary meaning this can be enjoyed by younger viewers and those who wouldn't normally watch a horror film. Overall a fun little film; not perfect but better than I expected.

These comments are based on watching the film in Mandarin with English subtitles.