Thai Horror Movies

Pee Mak Phrakanong Review

August 6, 2013 by Eric S. 4 Comments

Synopsis: Mak served in the war during the beginning of the Rattanakosin Dynasty. At war he became friends with Ter, Puak, Shin, and Aey, whose lives he saved. Once the war was over, Mak invited his four friends into his home in Phra Khanong town and introduced them to his beautiful wife Nak and his newborn baby boy Dang. But A rumor is going around in the village that Nak had died giving birth to her stillborn baby, Dang and lingered as haunting ghosts .

My Quick Review: From famed director Banjong Pisanthanakun (Alone, Shutter) Pee Mak is the first film that I have watched in 4D. I have to say that past the first minutes of surprise when your seat is moving and you receive small splash of water in your face, it is really gimmicky and brings nothing to the movie (it’s actually quite distracting).

Nevertheless, I had a blast. Pee Mak is the Highest Grossing Thai Movie of all time and when walking in the streets of Bangkok, you can’t miss all the billboards full of advertisement starring the actors of the movie.

For fans of asian horror comedies with a touch of romance, Pee Mak brings a sense of nostalgia and evokes the golden days of HK ghost movies such as “A Chinese Ghost Story”. There are brillant comeedy scenes (mostly physical but also plenty of wordplay jokes that might be a bit difficult to catch if you don’t understand Thai).

But don’t fret, you do not need to be familiar with the Thai culture or language to get all the jokes and laugh at the situations and the awesomess of the main characters. It does help that there is a very strong chemistry between all of them, already estabished in the best segments of 4Bia and Phobia 2.

If there is one reproach we can make towards Pee Mak, is that there is not much in terms of scares and the movie definitively pushes towards a full out comedy/parody. So if you are looking for another Thai Scary movie, you will be disappointed, but if you just want to spedn a good time at the movies, you will have a blast watching Pee Mak again and again.

My Rating: 8/10

Director: Banjong Pisanthanakun

Origin: Thailand

Pee Mak is now available on DVD Import from HK with english subtitles Here!

Art of the Devil II (2005) Review

August 1, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Original Title: ลองของ (Long Khong)

Synopsis: A group of high school friends reunite after two years when one of their fathers’ committed suicide. They all spend the night at their friend’s place. When darkness falls, strange things begin to happen to them one by one. It is as if someone is using the black arts on them in revenge for an act this group of friends committed together back in high school.

My Quick Review: Long Khong’s english name is misleading as there is absolutely no connection with the first Art of The Devil. Western distributors just named the movie Art of the Devil 2 as it does share common use of Thai Black Magic.

Art of the Devil II is a much more graphic movie than the first one and actually ends with one of the hardest to watch torture scene ever put on film (there are some similarities with Audition since we have the pretty girl inflicting pain here as well).

It is a pity then that the script is completely uninteresting and quite confusing in its plot lines.

What could have indeed been a Torture Porn classic ends up short of greatness because the gory/creepy scenes are surrounded by bland storytelling and poorly defined characters.

My Rating: 4.5/10 (5.5/10 for torture lovers).

Director: Ronin Team

Origin: Thailand

Art Of The Devil (Khon Len Khong) Review

June 2, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: Boom, pregnant from an affair, is told by her lover to leave him and his family alone. Enraged, she goes to a witch doctor and has him use black magic against her ex-lover and his family

My Quick Review: Apart from the first 15mns and some parts of the last 20mns, everything else in Art of the Devil can be fast forwarded.

Maybe I have watched too many Thai Horror Anthologies and am getting used to see short stories, but I really feel that Art of the Devil should have been a 30mns segment inside such an anthology.

There is not much to the script: it’s a classic revenge story with a Black magic twist. To make a full length movie, the writers have decided to introduce a new family right after our revengeful lady has already killed the first one. The problem is, none of the characters are interesting and they are being very poorly played (thankfully, the lead actress is probably the most capable of the bunch). Some couple of death scenes are OK in my book but there are nos scares and no surprises. On top of that, the cinematography is poor and shows the budget limits.

I will still watch Art of the Devil 2 and Art of the Devil 3 but with much less anticipation now.

My Rating: 4.5/10

Director: Tanit Jitnukul

Origin: Thailand

Original Title: Khon Len Khong

Year: 2004

Own Art of the Devil and Watch it Here Now!

Heaven and Hell Review

May 30, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Original Title: Wong Jorn Pid

Year: 2012

Director: Yuthlert Sippapak

Synopsis: Three short horror tales using images from surveillance cameras and focusing on ghosts..

My Short Review: Heaven and Hell is another Thai Horror Anthology following the steps and the codes (scary ghosts + some light humor) of other anthology movies such as 4Bia or 3am. Unfortunately, it does not bring anything new to the table apart from the fact that each story is actually directed by the same director (who made the Rahtree movies).

The first segment, Ghost Legacy was difficult to watch. In an attempt to copy the style of old silent movies (Black and white photography, no dialogue, cutboards with text to know more about the story) director Sippapak forgets about basic screenwriting and shoots everything in a style that just bore me to death (no pun intended). I actually had to fast-forward the second half not to fall asleep. Thankfully it was the shortest segment and it ended after 25mns.

While the first segment was short, the second one, Heaven Eleven, was way too long, overstaying its welcome by at least 15mns. While better than the first story, this haunted convenient store story would have beneficiated from a tighter script.

Finally, Hell 8, the last story, while not very good, was the best of the entire movie. Attempts at humor were almost successful and there was some genuine small scares, despite being burdened by over the top poor performances.

At the end of the day, The real problem with Heaven and Hell, on top of a small budget that really shows, is the lack of good stories and interesting directors to elevate the material at hands.

My Rating: 5/10

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