Steven is a student of botany who has written his doctorate paper on the theory that "Plants Are Sentient Creatures". He spends all his time and effort trying to prove that plants have feelings and even language. Mary, Steven's girlfriend works for a major TV station and her achievements seem to outstrip Steven's. One day, a criminal has abducted, raped and murdered the Prime Minister's daughter in the forest. Eric was arrested as he was a major suspect in this case. Soon, the truth behind the crime is revealed through Steven's research. An experiment is carried out in the crime scene forest to determine whether or not the suspect is guilty by obtaining eyewitness and evidence: the forest itself. This generates great controversy in the parliament and to the legal profession but is there an answer out there in the forest? Will the experiment succeed? Will the mystery of forest be disclosed to the public?

If you are looking for a horror movie with long-haired spirits, such as the ones in "The Eye" or "Re-cycle", you may be disappointed with "Forest Of Death".

"Forest Of Death" is supposed to be a horror movie about trees that are able to express their feelings. Of course, it is not of giant trees in the forest that kill human beings. Its protagonist, detective C. C. Ha (Shu Qi) meets botanist Steven Shum (Ekin Cheng) when she is desperately looking for clues to nail a rapist.

Ha is a determined detective who will do anything she can get to the truth. She is under pressure to solve a rape-and-murder case before her boss migrates to another country. She meets Steven, who has written a doctorate thesis that "Plants Are Sentient Creatures". He spends all his time and efforts trying to prove that plants have feelings and can even communicate.

None of the cast is convincing, though. Take Shu Qi for example. Her acting looks stiff compared to her previous outing in "The Eye 2" and "Tokyo Raiders 2". In most of the scenes, she seems to be posing for a photograph session and her bushy hair is so irritating especially when her face is partially covered with it. At a glance, she looks more like the spirit that the actual spirit.

I find it funny to watch Ekin as a botanist, as most of his movies are mostly gangster-related ones like "Young And Dangerous". It does not matter if he does not look like a scientist, but even his acting does not look appealing to viewers.

It is disappointing to see Danny Pang's solo direction going a little off-track compared to his projects with his brother, Oxide Pang. This movie is slow-moving and lacks the element of horror. There are some computer-generated effects, where the smoke turns into a few red-eyed spirits, but they are not scary. The sound effects are also not effective enough to make one jump off the seat.

The plot seems to have borrowed ideas from the "Hansel And Gretel" fairy tale, but instead of using pebbles to trace the way, Mary uses a spray to write numbers on each tree to guide her way out. She does not realise that the numbers are the one thing that confuses her.

If you have seen enough horror movies, you should be able to predict the ending.