Rent Hawa (2003)

GHOSTS NEED REGULAR LOVING, TOO - Hawa review by Frank Talker™

Remake of "The Entity" (1981) with borrowings from "The Shining" (1980) and "Poltergeist" (1982).

This one is far too long for its content, which does not delve deeply into the family dynamics which dominate the early scenes. These dynamics are then not convincingly resolved at the film's end - especially regarding the sexually-creepy nature of the heroine's dying father.

Why have a rapey ghost in a soapy melodrama only then to clearly state that the ghost is not her father involved in some kind of personal sexual vendetta against the lead? Outside of a whodunnit, this red herring mostly invalidates and trivialises all of the setup, as if the movie-makers, themselves, were scared (on behalf of the audience) of the unavoidably-dark corners of the neurotic human-psyche into which such incest-laden emotional delvings would inevitably lead.

Tabu was a very good choice for the lead role, here, and she carries the film well; while doing her best with a limited role as an under-written mother-of-two.

Ultimately, "Hawa" doesn't really amount to anything more than a series of set-pieces revolving around an alternately vengeful-then-horny poltergeist whom kidnaps a child for no real reason other than to provide for an admittedly slap-bang ending.