Model From Hell has the letters B, A, and D written all over it, for it's plagued with below-par acting, an atrocious script, and some dreadful effects. So what makes this a keeper instead of a skipper? Why, Maggie Q of course! The American-Vietnamese model-turned-actress has risen to fame as a sex symbol and action starlet after appearing in Hollywood blockbusters like Mission: Impossible III and Die Hard 4.0 (a.k.a. Live Free or Die Hard), and Hong Kong cult hit Naked Weapon. But as is often the case, before majesty comes mediocrity. Maggie Q took her first (mis)step on her road to international movie stardom in this coarsely-made, low-budget little Hong Kong flick in 2000. That said, this is a film to forget for her maybe, but definitely worthwhile for her fans as well as campy-fun seekers.

Her role(s) in this movie is/are quite unlike what she would later be known for. She is this beautiful girl, Anna, who gets burned to death by a stalker in the opening sequence. Is she dead? We soon see her lovely self again on a beach, and we follow her as she enrolls in a model training class. We find out that not only is Anna irresistibly charming (even a woman in the flick says so), she has these hypnotizing, spellbinding eyes. In fact, a couple of bumbling idiots in the class (played by Gabriel Harrison and Cheung Chi Kwong) actually fall prey to her gaze and become zombie-like creatures that come under her control. Anna also finds a lover in the model agency's top model Leon (Simon Yam, who seems to be sleepwalking through his scenes, except his extended love scenes with Maggie Q). Moreover, Anna makes enemies in a pair of jealous, bitchy classmates (played by Icy Chak and Lee Ping), who would later stumble upon a dark secret about this mysterious seductress.

Later we find out why there seems to be multiple Annas. It's revealed that when she is provoked, she would grow a second head from her shoulder (trust me, it's even more hilarious in the movie!), which would gradually grow into another Anna! These doppelgangers look the same, but some seem to be more evil (so that viewers can tell them apart), and they all try to eliminate one another. There's barely any originality about this character design, because the idea is lifted from Ito Junji's famous horror manga Tomie, which has seen a string of film adaptations from Japan already. For an acting novice, Maggie Q actually did quite an impressive job with her role, and single-handedly saved the movie from becoming the total wreckage that it almost became.