Asian Horror Movies

3 A.M. (Tee Sam 3D) Review

May 18, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Original Title: ตีสาม 3D, (Tee Sam 3D)

Year: 2012

Directors:
Isara Nadee
Kirati Nakintanon
Patchanon Thammajira

Synopsis: Three stories set at 3 AM, follow the Thai belief that 3am is the hour that ghosts make their appearances — the hour most haunted by restless spirits.

My Short Review: 3 A.M follows the steps of recent Thai Horror Anthologies, 4Bia and Phobia 2 and offers 3 ghost tales from 3 different directors.

Patchanon Thammajira (Colic) directs the first story, The Wig, which follows two sisters (Apinya Sakuljaroensuk and Focus Jirakul) in a haunted wig shop. It reminded me of the Korean Horror Movie, The Wig, and while that one did not impress me, this short stoy wasn’t better by any means. Very classic ghost tale, lazy script and direction, couple of shots designed for the 3D (the hand reaching shot, that we will find in the two other shorts as well), a weak opening to the movie.

The second segment, The Bride Corpse, gets better though. Kirati Nakintanon directs a story about a man who gets the job of looking after the corpses of a bride and groom. Not many scares in that one again but the story is more original and creepier.

Finally, Isara Nadee (Art of the Devil II, 407 Dark Flight 3d) directs the third story, OT, where two company directors who love playing scary pranks on their employees finally get their comeuppance when they themselves face a real ghost, or do they? By far, the best segment of the whole movie, OT is a typical Thai Horror Comedy when we keep on guessing who is playing a prank on whom and who is a ghost and who isn’t.

As a whole, I would say Tee Sam 3D is good family friendly horror entertainment, better experienced in a theater with friends. It’s never intended to be a classic, there is nothing really original about it but you still have a good time watching it, especially since it gets better with every story and finishes on a high note.

My Rating: 6/10

Silent Terror Youtube Review

May 15, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

A couple of years back Justin Lin, famed director of the latest Fast and Furious Movies launched, with a couple of friends, a Youtube Channel calles YOMYOMF (You Offend Me You Offend My Family). This channel offers a large array of videos including but not limited to Shorts, Shows, Trailers….

For Halloween 2012, they released a serie of 4 shorts directed by famous Horror Movie Directors:

– Grave Torture is and indonesian short directed by Joko Anwar (the forbidden door) based on a very creepy local belief that when a person dies he/she will wake up inside the grave, to receive punishment for bad deeds they did during their life.

The movie introduces us to a little boy during his father funeral. He sneaks into the casket and fall asleep only to be buried with his father, who, by the way, was a serial killer. You can imagine the rest.

Grave torture had great production values, was well shot but in terms of scares and creep factor, it was lacking. Still a good entry for a web based series.

– Double from director Woo Ming-Jing is the kind of movie that makes you think. Some kind of twisted tale about the fear of getting old.

– Bad Butt from Noburu Iguchi (the machine girl, dead sushi) the story of a girl who has a monster in her butt (don’t ask) will please only fans of Iguchi tasteless cinema. I do like fu..ed japanese movies but this is way too much for me. I have to draw the line somewhere. It’s a definitive letdown in terms of production values and acting when compared to the other shorts.

– Vesuvius from Philippines Director Erik Matti is a take on the virgin Mary legend where a guy is being manipulated by a demon in disguise. While, once again, well made, this short left me cold. I could not really get into the movie and with a short movie you need to get the attention of your viewers instantly which never happened to me when watching Vesuvius.

In conclusion, out of those 4 shorts, one was really good (Double), another one was ok (Grave Torture), the last one was average and the third one (Bad Butt) was just plain bad (or great if you’re really into this kind of cinema).

I have to commend Jason Lin for giving those directors the opportunity to showcase their talent for Free and would definitively sugegst you go and check them out now.

My Rating (global): 6/10

This is the link to the YOMYOMF youtube channel.

Thongsook 13 Trailer

May 9, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

There is plenty to like in “Thongsook 13” a Thai Horror Movie from writer/director Taweewat Wantha: Ghosts, Demons, a Cabin in the Woods, some humor, plenty of gore. ‘Thongsook 13″ looks more like a mix of western horror cliche and imagery than the traditional ghost with long hair usually seen in Thai and other Asian Horror Movies.

Nevertheless, after watching this trailer, I can’t wait to get a hand on this movie. What do you think?

Body sob 19 Review

May 4, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Year: 2007

Origin: Thailand

Director: Paween Purikitpanya

Summary: A young man is having recurring nightmares about a dead girl. After he decides to see a psychiatrist, the people connected to the dead girl he sees in his dreams start to be murdered and the truth to be revealed.

My Quick Review: Body Sob 19 is Writer/Director Paween Purikitpanya first movie and you can already find his trademark style of camera movement and abusive use of (bad) CGI effects all throughout this film.

I first discovered Paween Purikitpanya through his segments in 4Bia and its follow-up Phobia 2. And those were my least favorite shorts of both movies. I’m definitively not a fan of his visual style (way too much style over substance) and the cheap CGI effects he prefers to use instead of more traditional visual effects.

The story in Body Sob 19, while not quite original, could have provided great moments and a few surprises but the total lack of emotion and/or attachment you get towards the characters and what is happening to them completely ruin the proceedings.

In my opinion the director is to be blamed here and no doubt that the material would have been elevated and more emotions would have been felt if Body Sob 19 had been directed by another director such as Banjong Pisanthanakun (Alone, Shutter)

My Rating: 5/10

Ouija Board (Bunshinsaba) Review

April 29, 2013 by Eric S. 2 Comments

Year: 2004

Director: Byeong-ki Ahn

Summary: A supposedly chilling tale about a 30 year old curse that is brought back by 3 school girls trying to exact revenge on their bullies.

My (very) Short Review: I don’t know if I’m becoming numb to those “Long haired Ghost” Asian Horror Movies but “Bunshinsaba” just did not do it for me. There is absolutely nothing original about the story (an old curse bring back the ghost of a dead student) and the scares (ghost with long hair, big eyes and pale skin anyone?) and the acting is much worse than your average Korean Horror Movie.

For those reasons I won’t even go into more details and just recommend you to avoid it unless you are an aboslute fan of this genre (keep in mind I am a fan of the genre and it just bore me to death…).

My Rating: 4/10