The Dorm / Dek Hor ( เด็กหอ )

Director : Songyos Sugmakanan
Starring : Chalee Trairat, Jintara Sukkapat, Siranath Jianthavorn…
Detail: Horror / Mystery
Source: DVD
Year: 2006
Playtime: 111 mins
Sound : Thai
Subtitle: English
Imdb : Dek Hor

Plot/Synopsis

                              

Dorm is likely to get caught up in the latest wave of Asian horror films from Thailand. But it's not a horror film, so much as a ghost story. Despite the young cast, it's certainly not childish - it has an uncomfortably dark side, reminiscent of Stand By Me, that makes it unsuitable for a younger audience. Anyhow, while I can't quite categorise it, I can say that it's the best Thai film that I've seen so far.

While on holiday in Thailand, I was delighted to find that Dorm had just opened, a film I'd been looking forward to (having seen the trailer on Twitch, of course) and better yet, half of the performances had english subtitles. Before the film started, in a large cinema (in Bangkok's MBK Shopping Centre), I was caught out by the whole audience suddenly standing up for the National Anthem accompanied by a photographic montage of their beloved King. We don't even do that in England! But back to Dorm...

The film opens with Chatree (Chalee Trairat), being sent to boarding school in his seventh grade. His father justifies the decision by saying it will enable him to study harder. Chatree is very angry, but we don't know why he's unable to complain. His life is made even more miserable because he's a 'new kid', joining the school halfway through term. The teacher who doubles as the school matron, Ms. Pranee (Chintara Sukapatana), does little to make him feel welcome.

                              

All the boys in the school sleep in one huge dormitory. On the first night, a gang of four misfits decide to pick on the new kid by telling him ghost stories. Lying under the covers, they tell Chatree that the school, the dorm, Ms. Pranee, even the very bed he's sleeping in, all have a dark history. They tell him about the school worker who committed suicide, the deserted swimming pool, and a ghostly caretaker. The stories are shown as a series of 'flashbacks', but just how much of it are they making up? Their ruse works better than expected - Chatree has to get up in the night and visit a deserted toilet. Outside, dozens of dogs are looking up at his window and howling - or have they seen a ghostly figure standing behind him? He's too scared to look and rushes back to the dorm. Next morning, the everyone sees that Chatree has wet himself in the night.

Humiliated, and now on the wrong side of Ms. Pranee, Chatree's not interested in schoolwork, or even talking to his Dad on the phone. But at least he finally makes a friend. Vichien (Sirachat Jiantaworn) shows him the ropes, but also lets him know that some of the ghost stories he heard actually have an element of truth. They poke around Ms Pranee's office, the derelict school buildings and even play truant. But it's during a school night-time screening of Mr Vampire that Chatree finally gets proof...

Dorm is a coming-of-age ghost story, with an atmosphere that changes with the central character's moods. As Chatree discovers more about the history of the school, he becomes less scared of it, and the film's horror tactics relax. The mood remains quite morbid, however, and the carefully coloured cinematography keeps us cautious as to where the story is heading.

As the lead, Chalee (or Charlie) Trairat ably carries the film, but I'd liked to have seen more about who Chatree is and what he's thinking - he's kept too busy with moving the story forward. The gang of boys who scared him have far better, quirkier characters and provide much-needed comedy. It's Chintara Sukapatana who impresses the most as the matron, though I failed to recognise her from her major role in Good Morning Vietnam.

The young director, Songyos Sugmakanan, previously co-directed another Thai hit, My Girl (Fan Chan) which also starred Chalee Trairat, but Dorm is his first solo directorial effort. The story is partly based on his own bittersweet experiences of boarding school, and he's taken great pains to capture the atmosphere of the time (around 1985) and the place. In interviews, Sugmakanan has also voiced his concerns about how the film has been advertised. I think the posters make it look no different from gory offerings such as Hell or Scared.

Though the story may be too much for an audience as young as Chatree, maybe I'm being over-protective. I will warn you that there's a lot of urinating in the film! Close-ups of kids wetting themselves, boys peeing in bushes, lots of scenes in toilets - you don't get this in Harry Potter. (With a Thai audience, all the pee didn't seem to be a problem, but the schoolboys swearing seemed to be unusual.)

Throw in a brief sex scene (not involving the boys) and you've got yourself a censor's headache. There's also a vivid depiction of hanging that would certainly be a problem in the UK (it wouldn't be shown on TV because of a long history of copycat incidents). But incidentally, I swear that the long shot of the hanging (glimpsed in the trailer) wasn't in the print I saw. A clue to this could be in the two different versions of the film on release in Singapore, each with a different rating.

While it's not my problem to sell the film, or decide whether kids should see it, I can recommend it as a beautifully shot film, with finely-judged performances, and an unusual story in an unfamiliar setting. It's scary, but also funny, dramatic, suspenseful, sad... just all-round satisfying.

Dorm opened in Thailand in February and coincidentally had a Special Presentation at the Bangkok International Film Festival the same week. It's been a box office hit domestically and I certainly hope it gets an international audience, depending on some major tweaks in the marketing.

Body #19 ( บอดี้ ศพ #19 )

Country: Thailand
Production Company: GMM Tai Hub
Genre: Horror/ Thriller
Director: Paween Purijitpanya
Starring: Arak Amornsupasiri, Ornjira Lamwilai, Kritteera Inpornwijit, Patharawarin Timkul
Length: N/A
Date of release: 4th October, 2007

Synopsis



                              


Chon (Arak Amornsupasiri) is a engineering student living in a rented house in Bangkok with his sister, Aye (Ornjira Lamwilai). Chon is having bad dreams, in which he is visited by a ghostly woman who appears to have been dismembered and put back together. He also sees a misshapen black cat and occasionally sees a fetus. Chon sometimes finds himself in places, such as a musical performance, and cannot remember how he got there.

After Chon slices his finger open while cleaning some prawns for dinner (the prawns had started moving around and bleeding profusely), Chon's medical student sister Aye takes him to the hospital. Chon is eventually referred to a Dr. Usa (Kritteera Inpornwijit) for psychiatric treatment. It becomes apparent to Dr. Usa that there is some connection between Chon, herself and her increasingly distant husband, Dr. Sethee


                              

In the course of Usa's investigation, she discovers there is a connection between her husband and a mysterious university lecturer, Dr. Dararai (Patharawarin Timkul), who possesses supernatural powers of hypnosis. Meanwhile, Chon is continuing to have bad dreams, and they are becoming increasingly horrifying and real. He is repeatedly drawn to a spare room in his house, and when he opens the door, he sees a man chopping up a body. When the man turns his head to look at Chon, the man's face is Chon's.

A teaching assistant whom Usa questioned about Dararai ends up being killed in a gruesome accident involving barbed wire around a university museum exhibit. A young doctor meets his end in a vat of acid. Chon tries to stop the killings, but is always too late. Somehow, the connection between Usa, Chon, Sethee and Dararai lead to the university hospital's morgue, and body number 19.

 

The Haunted Drum ( เปิงมาง กลองผีหนังมนุษย์ )

AKA : Perng Mang : Glawng phee nang manut
Directed : Nuttapeera Chomsri || Sranya Noithai
Country : Thailand
Language : Thai
Subtitle(s) : English
Runtime : 98 mins
IMDB : The Haunted Drum

Cast : Kete Thanthup || Woranuch Wongsawan || Pisal Akkaraseranee || Sonthaya Chitmanee || Sukhontava Kerdnimit || Chalad Na Songkhla || Anusorn Techapanya || Chate Smile Buffalo

Plot/Synopsis/Review

                            

In the year 1821, King Badin and professor Sau were obsessed with making the superb traditional Mohn hill-tribe drum. The story circled for a while that during the making of the drum the band broke up and King Badin’s child, Tip died of a strange illness. In time their story was forgotten. 60 years later, teacher Duang inherited the drum from King Badin. Many revered this drum as an instrument with a spirit that protects the musicians. If any musician pledge their allegiance to the spirit of the drum, they must honor their pledge or suffer ill fate.


                             

Ping, a young orphan was determine to study traditional art. He resigned from his government job and went to ask teacher Duang to accept him as his disciple. He was so eager to learn that he secretly practiced during the night. One night he met a young girl name Tip. She saw his determination and she started to teach him. They grew close and fall in love. Deputy Chief of the town wanted the drum for himself and sent some people to confiscate it. Duang fought them off but have to agree on drumming contest. He entered Ping and he won. But the Deputy Chief would not give up the drum so he tried to take it by force. That was a big mistake. Ping found out later that the drums are made out of Tip’s skin.

Spirit Of The Victim ( Phii khon pen ) (2006)

Genre: Horror
Director: Monthon Arayangkoon
Starring: Pitchanart Sakakorn, Apasiri Nitibhon, Penpak Sirikul, Kiradej Ketakinta
RunTime: 1 hr 43 mins
Released By: UIP
Rating: NC16

Release Date: 4 January 2007

Synopsis :

Ting (Pitchanart Sakakorn), is an unknown bit player in a film crew who dreams of becoming a famous superstar someday. When she is assigned the role of the victim in a police reenactment of a serious crime, Ting seizes the moment and impersonates the real character like a professional actress.

Ting’s impressive performance lands her the role of “Meen” (Apasiri Nitibhon), a former Miss Thailand who was tragically murdered. But when reenacting the crime scene, Ting experiences bizarre feelings she is unable to control.

Every time plays Meen, she senses the beauty queen’s suffering at the hands of her tormenters. This draws Ting into trying to find Meen’s killers and unlocking the mystery behind the tragic death. But the closer she gets to the root cause of the crime, the more unexpected dangers threaten her life…


Movie Review:

Thai horror films have been doing fairly well at the box office with hits like Shutter and the Thai phenomenon, Ghost Game. As such, there is no surprise then that much expectation has been placed on Spirit of the Victim, a tale of possession.

Currently taking lessons from an acting school, Ting a budding actress is spotted by a police officer at a hawker stall. He then hires her to become an actress for the police force, to help with murder investigations. Unlike Crime Watch, the scene of the murder is recreated at its exact location and in front of public, in hopes of understanding the murder better and to catch the culprit. Ting takes her craft seriously and does well enough to gain the attention of the media. However, when she is hired to act as Meen, a former Miss Thailand who was brutally murdered, she starts to feel uncomfortable and goes through scary experiences.

Like recent release Diary, which chose actors to play dual roles which confused the audience, Spirit of the Victim adopts the same technique. The good thing is, though, this film does so at an earlier stage and when it finally allows the audience to fully grasp who is who, the film continues in a different direction. Confusing? Indeed.

The film has several scare worthy moments especially one that will remind one of the television and the girl from The Ring. However, there are also moments which are pretty predictable, bringing the scare factor to an all-time low. While the graphics for the ghost is badly rendered, the effect it has, will leave a lasting impression long after the film has ended. Be warned, hark the chimes!

The idea of re-enacting the crime scene in hopes of finding the murderer does indeed sound a little far-fetched, it is not certain though if this actually happens. The whole notion alone brings about tons of loopholes and questions like, “Won’t the crime scene get tainted by everyone else’s prints instead?” and “How exactly can one know who the murderer is just by re-enactment?”

The quality of acting is fairly reasonable but like the film, is near forgettable. Spirit of the Victim is uneven and weak. Bring on the next Thai horror film.

Colic ( ท้องว่าง )

Genre: Horror/Thriller
Starring: Pimpan Chalayanacupt, Witthaya Wasukraisparn, Kunteera Suttabongoch
Director: Patchanon Thumjira
Rating: NC-16 (Some Disturbing Scenes)
Year Made: 2006

SYNOPSIS:

Pongpob and Praeploy gets married when Praeploy is unexpectedly pregnant. After the wedding, Pongpob brings Praeploy to his mother's house to settle down. The night before Praeploy delivers the child, the house next to theirs catches on fire. When the baby is delivered, he often screams and cries with no reason. The doctor considers it a case of colic ailment and tells the couple that the ailment will disappear when the baby turns 3 to 6 months old. Several months later, the baby still hasn't stopped crying...while the family's members encounter to mysterious and unexplained experiences.

MOVIE REVIEW

For those who have been following this reviewer’s writeups, it is quite obvious that he is not exactly a fan of the horror genre. Call him stuck-up or uptight if you want, but he only subscribes to what he snobbishly terms as “intelligent horror”.

For the sake of good karma, this review shall start off commending on the intelligent Mandarin translation of this Thai horror flick. Chinese readers who understand the language would agree that the Mandarin title is a smart word pun on the word “baby”, which creates a double meaning of the supernatural ability of the eye to see ghosts.

How apt, because the storyline does concentrate on a baby who cries non-stop. Is the poor infant seeing things he shouldn’t be seeing? Or is it a mere medical condition that causes babies to cry continuously for hours? His baffled parents are as puzzled as we are, especially there have also been unexplained and bizarre incidents happening as well.

To its credit, the 104-minute Thai movie does explore the supernatural world from a unique angle compared to other movies from the country. But the plot sadly gets muddled up trying to find its balance between creating an eerie atmosphere and anchoring a scientific justification for everything that has happened.

When the final sequence attempts to introduce a twist to the already jumbled movie, it only serves as the final nail to the coffin.

There are a few creepily executed scenes which will make you sit up, especially the one at the special disability centre where patients go berserk. The production value is also considerably high for a Thai horror production. Points go to the filmmakers who put in effort to employ some nice use of cinematography, music underscore and sound design.

The adult cast Witthaya Wasukraipaisarn and Pimpan Chalayanacupt succeed in looking constantly concerned and worried for their newborn child. If we were them, we’d be anxious and vexed too – you’d have to endure the crying for the entire movie yourself to experience how it can get on your nerves.

This Patchanon Thumjira-directed movie will please the ordinary Asian horror fan with its above-average aspects. But it’d take a whole lot more to make this self-important reviewer happy.

Alone ( แฝด )

In Thai with English subtitles
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Banjong Pisanthanakun, Parkpoom Wongpoom
Cast: Masha Wattanapanich, Ratchanoo Bunchootwong, Vittaya Wasukraipaisan
RunTime: 1 hr 35 mins
Released By: GV
Rating: PG
Official Website: www.faddthemovie.com

GV ‘BLOG ALOUD’ at CINEMA EUROPA: Featuring directors of Shutter in their new horror film

Opening Day: 27 July 2007

Synopsis:

From the first moment she arrives back in Thailand Pim experiences extremely vivid flashbacks of painful memories that she has tried so hard to forget. The flashes conjure up a sense of innate warmth that is similar to the feeling of “someone” close to her… this is just the beginning of a horrifying realization that Pim will never be allowed to ever forget… what does not want to be forgotten!

Movie Review:

Asian horror is dying a slow death if not for these two guys to pick it from its deathly doom into cliched scare tactics and cheesy storyline that's laughable at meer thoughts. And who are these two guys so highly apointed? They are none other than the directing duo behind Shutter – currently in the midst of a US remake, Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom, who comes a second helping of supernatural thrills, Alone. Alone is about the surviving sister, a formerly conjoined twin who goes from Seoul to Thailand to see her dying mother. This sets in motion a sequence of creepy, unexplained events that leads her to believe that she indeed may have a ghostly stalker following her everywhere, someone she knows intimately.

With plenty of expertly-crafted scary sequences and a slow-burning storyline that gradually draws the audience into its web of intrigue before knocking them sideways with a wholly unexpected plot twist towards the end of the movie, Alone has the potential to become a second smash hit at the box-office for Pisanthanakun and Wongpoom. Certainly, with its intriguing storyline and a wholly impressive lead performance from Wathanapanitch, the film is accessible and has crossover appeal.

 
Helming previously in Shutter, the directors know a good story when they see it and they are masters at manipulating tension, even if you know what’s coming but still make you jump when they deliver. Thanks to their previous success, they now have a decent budget, resulting a fantastic film. Beautifully shot grand mansion that slowly seeds Aloneperfectly bolster the whole story. Playing the first half as a series of straight up, very effective jump scares before it moves into the real meat of the story on the back stretch. Once again the directors succeed in taking some of the basic tropes of the Asian ghost story, already well familiar to audiences, and then subverting them into something slightly different, something new and fresh thats built upon universally recognizable emotional ground such as sibling rivalry, family guilt and romantic jealousy.

Aside from the generally serious tone, what makes Alone different from the standard Thai horror film is the presence of star Marsha Wattanapanich with her killer performance. This is the pop singer's first film role in fifteen years. At 36, Marsha is significantly older than the actresses one usually sees in Thai horror films, but her maturity suggests a greater depth to the film.

Alone is a terrifying tale of horror. Just like Shutter, once Alone has you in its claws, it doesn't let go. It will keep you on the edge of your seat until the end credits start to roll. Even with an all too fashionable twist placement in every horror film, this one actually has a proper ending which not only entertains, but satisfies on many levels.

... Boxing Day ...

Boxing Day.. this will be the day after Christmas... dito sa atin sa Pilipinas e di naman sinecelebrate ang boxing day na 'to... every Sunday naman kasi is boxing day para sa karamihan ng mga men dito sa atin... they watch boxing sa tv hehehe... pero sa ibang bansa e sinecelebrate nila ito... sa stin naman kasi, the day after xmas is still araw ng mga bata...hehehehe... sila muna ang bida ulit at sila ang mayayaman ngayon.. :) siguradong laman ng mall ang mga bata kasama ang kanila mga parents and yung iba naman, naghahapit pa sa pamamasko hehehe... sarap maging bata no... :)

anyway, dumaan ang pasko na parang pangkaraniwan lang na araw... stay lang ako sa bahay at maghapong nakababad sa laptop... updating ng multiply, chat, blogging and download ng mp3. same boring day gaya ng ibang araw ko na walang okasyon.. but kahit boring i still enjoy it and di naman ako nagsasawang gawin... before di mo ko mapapatigil sa bahay, lagi akong laman ng mall at galaan pero ngayon i love staying in my room... not reflecting but having my whole day of rest... i miss resting and having along and peaceful sleep hehehe... dahil nga naman nocturnal ako e namimiss ko ngayon ang matulog ng normal... feeling ko nga lalo ko mamimiss ang sleep ngayon kasi naman mas lalong naging maaga ang alis ko sa bahay during work days... lumayo na kasi ang site namin... from makati e napalipat na kami sa ortigas na sobrang layo waaaaaaaaaa... hay naku, and take note short notice ito... hay talaga... laki na naman ng ibabagsak ng timbang ko neto... bui nga ngayon ant nakakabawi na ko sa kapayatan before pero saglit lang pala yun at eto na nga nalipat na kami sa ortigas... another adjustment period ito... i just hope na makapag-adjust nga ako agad at wag ko na maisipang ituloy ang lagi na lang napopostpone na pagreresign ko... if di ko talaga kayanin ang bagong environment ko, this means na resignation letter lang ang sagot dito hehehe... and try to find another job na di magsasakripisyo ang health ko... di ba... ;)