The Housemaid Review | Road Rash Reviews

4 star stylish gothic horror tale of love and loss.

The Housemaid is a Vietnamese film, written and directed by Derek Nguyen and is his impressive directorial feature debut. It is deservedly the third highest grossing horror film in Vietnamese history and is now available in the UK for the first time courtesy of Montage Pictures, a new range from Eureka Entertainment.

“Oh, they exist. Ghosts exist…”

Set in Vietnam in 1953, the story takes place on the Sa-Cat rubber plantation. Linh (Kate Nhung – Bitcoin Heist, Dada) is a quiet unassuming young woman who has lost her family and their farm to the war. With nowhere else to go, she walks to the Sa-Cat plantation, seeking work as a housemaid, knowing nothing of the estate’s chequered past.

The housekeeper, Mrs Han (Kim Xuan – Passport to Love) takes pity on her and hires her, but Linh is curious about how few staff there are and is soon told by the cook (Phi Phung) about the huge numbers of plantation workers who were mistreated and died at the hands of the French overseers.

The plantation is owned by Captain Sebastien Laurent (Jean-Michel Richaud – Frozen, Passengers) and is is said that his dead wife Madame Camille (Svitlana Kovalenko), sho drowned herself in the lake while he was away at war, also roams the grounds.

As the other staff gradually leave for holidays or family emergencies, Linh finds herself alone with the Captain and as their relationship begins to blossom, the vengeful spirits of the plantation rise up in arms.

The Housemaid is a beautifully written and very elegantly put together horror film. It is an interesting blend of romance, gothic horror and bloody violence, packed with jump scares, sex and gore, yet somehow it still manages to remain classy.

The settings are gorgeous, sweeping Vietnamese forests and bright sunshine, further enhancing the effects of the darkness, when true horror takes over. This is a glorious piece, with a delicious twist, a must watch for horror fans.

“Hundreds of bodies lay buried beneath these rubber trees without gravestones. Many claim that the plantation was fertilized by the bodies of these workers.”