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Recent Asian feature films including Makbul Mubarak’s “Autobiography,” Lan Pham Ngoc’s “Cu Li Never Cries,” Nelson Yeo’s “Dreaming & Dying,” Jeremias Nyangoen’s “The Women of Rote Island” and Lyda Leak’s “The Night Curse of Reatrei” adorn the non-competitive lineup of the 2024 edition of the Blue Chair film festival in Luang Prabang, Laos.

Previously known as the Luang Prabang Film Festival, the festival counts 24 features and 40 shorts in its 2024 festival. It will run Dec. 5-9 in the Unesco World Heritage town.

The event also boasts the world premiere of Feisal Azizuddin’s “Angkat” (Malaysia) — a project developed in part at the Luang Prabang Talent Lab in 2019 — and the Lao premiere of Joshua Trigg’s “Satu – Year of the Rabbit” (Laos).

“With five nights and four full days of programming, the festival is returning to “something like its program scale before the pandemic,” said Sean Chadwell, Blue Chair’s executive director.

Sophon Sakdaphisit has really outdone himself with his new directorial venture Home For Rent. If there is a name that guarantees a proper ‘horror’ experience in today’s films, it is Sophon. As the writer of such films as “Shutter” and “Coming Soon”, his new film Home For Rent is a testament to his ability to create a terrifying world where anything can happen to your loved ones. He doesn’t give scientific explanations in his films to dilute the experience; he just deep dives into the purely supernatural element.

It’s nice to have a director who unabashedly jumps into what could be called old-school horror, and because Sophon has the conviction to pull it off, Home For Rent works really well. The film features some very strong performances by the actors, but it is the casting that has to be credited because it is spot on. The story revolves around Ning,...

Renowned Thai horror director Sophon Sakdaphisit is back with another big-budget horror movie, titled Home For Rent, and it stars some big names in Thai cinema. Starring Nittha Jirayungyurn, Penpak Sirikul, and Sukollawat Kanarot, among others, the movie is about a woman named Ning, whose life changes after two women move into her house as tenants. When Ning’s neighbor begins to suspect that the new tenants might practice black magic and weird things start happening at her own home, Ning is compelled to get to the bottom of whatever horror has come into her life. Here’s what happens in the 2023 Thai horror film Home For Rent.

Spoilers Ahead

Why Do The Tenants Arrive At Ning’s House?

A young woman named Ning walks into her house to find it trashed and vandalized. She’s been advised by her real estate agent, Tom, to rent out the home, and that way,...

The horror thriller has topped the Thai box office for three weeks.

Sophon Sakdaphisit’s horror thriller Home For Rent, which has topped the box office in Thailand for the past three weeks, has landed sales in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The film has been sold by leading Thai firm Gdh 559 to Vietnam (Cj Hk Entertainment), Hong Kong and Macau (mm2 Studios), and all Latin America and Caribbean territories (Impacto Cine).

It follows a bumper run at the box office for the feature, which opened in Thailand on April 6 to coincide with the Chakri Memorial holiday prior...

Leading Thai production and sales company Gdh 559 is introducing comedy drama Not Friends and twin sister story You & Me & Me to buyers at Filmart, produced respectively by award-winning directors Baz Poonpiriya and Banjong Pisanthanakun.

The new films mark the first time both renowned filmmakers have acted as producer for other directors.

Baz is the director of Thai box office hit Bad Genius and Sundance award-winning One For The Road, while Banjong is the filmmaker behind acclaimed horror The Medium and Pee Mak, which became Thailand’s highest grossing-film of all time when it was released in 2013.

Not...

Titles include ’Omg!: Oh My Girl’ and ’Home For Rent’.

Leading Thai production and sales company Gdh 559 is launching pre-sales of an upcoming romantic comedy and a domestic horror in Cannes.

It marks the first time Gdh has attended the market in-person since the start of the pandemic and its four-member sales team is led by new sales director Songpol Wongkondee.

Omg!: Oh My Girl marks the feature directorial debut of Thitipong Kerdtongtawee and is a chaotic love story of a man and a woman who keep falling for each other, but in the wrong place and at the wrong time.

Netflix is continuing its originals drive in Asia with a raft of drama series including Chinese-language thriller Triad Princess.

This comes after the Svod service launched five new anime titles including adaptations of Pacific Rim and Altered Carbon.

The company unveiled 17 new Asian original productions from Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea at an event in Singapore and is set to reveal an additional nine projects from India later this week. The announcements were made by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos.

Titles including Thai-language original The Stranded, which follows an 18 year old who survives a devastating tsunami along with thirty-six of his fellow students at an elite private high school on a remote island in the Andaman Sea. Directed by Sophon Sakdaphisit, it is produced by Gmm Grammy and H2L Media Group with Executive Producers Ekachai Uekrongtham, Gary Levinsohn, Steven Sims, Billy Hines and Christian Durso.

On Wednesday at its first ever Asian content showcase, Netflix announced five new anime projects, including a series based on “Pacific Rim,” a feature film set in the “Altered Carbon” universe, and a new series featuring the voice of Lakeith Stanfield.

At “See What’s Next: Asia” held in Singapore, Netflix also announced two Thai language originals, a Chinese language original, and a second season renewal for its upcoming Korean fantasy drama “Kingdom,” the first season of which premieres on the streaming service Jan. 25.

Heading up the anime slate is “Pacific Rim” from showrunners Craig Kyle (“Thor: Ragnarok”) and Greg Johnson (“X-Men: Evolution.”) The series will expand on the story of giant robots vs. kaiju from the first two live action movies and will follow two siblings, an idealistic teenage boy and his naïve younger sister, forced to pilot an abandoned Jaeger across a hostile landscape in a desperate attempt to find their missing parents.

Bangkok 1997. Ib’s and Boum’s families are hit hard by the financial crisis. Their dads, who started a Housing Tower Project together, are now running out of business. The girls are desperate and afraid of the future. They climb up the construction site of the Tower and make a promise to kill themselves. But the double suicide doesn’t happen when Boum does not join her friend in death. After 20 years, the ghost of Ib craves for Boum’s daughter as a sacrifice for her broken promise.

The Promise is screening at /Slash Festival

Director Sophon Sakdaphisit is famously known for his horror movies. Focusing on special settings like hospitals, whirlpools or in this case a Skyscraper, Sakdaphisit has an eye for spooky environments. Awarded with Thailand National Film Association Award for Best Script and Best Director, his works have become a major influence to the genre around the world.

Company is making market debut with director Nattawut Poonpiriya’s suspense thriller.

Thai sales and production outfit Gdh 559 makes its market debut at Filmart with suspense thriller Bad Genius by director Nattawut Poonpiriya (Countdown, pictured), which is due to open in Thailand in May, and The Promise by director Sophon Sakdaphisit (Laddaland).

Gdh was launched last year after the breakup of Gmm Tai Hub (Gth). Its first title, One Day, became a hit in Thailand, taking $3.2m.

One Day was directed by one of Thailand’s most successful directors, Banjong Pisanthanakun. After playing in southeast Asia and Hong Kong, it next opens in Taiwan on April 7.

It’s already been out in its home country, and now Thai horror The Swimmers is heading for Malaysia, meaning better access to English subs, and synopsis. Sophon Sakdaphisit is the man in charge behind the camera and as he directed two rather good fright flicks - aka ‘Coming Soon’ and ‘Laddaland’ - and co wrote the horror classic ‘Shutter’ we’d be foolish to let this slip the net. Synopsis: The plot of the film is about two prominent male swimmers who fall in love with the same girl. The only problem is that they also encounter something supernatural beyond their expectations. This movie looks chilling and I can’t wait to see how this suspenseful and thrilling plot will unfold. The Swimmers trailer...

Director: Sophon Sakdaphisit. Review: Adam Wing. Vengeful ghosts have had a tough time of it recently but in some parts of the world they still refuse to move on, which means it’s business as usual for the team that brought us Coming Soon and Phobia. Coming Soon director and Shutter screenwriter Sophon Sakdaphisit takes to the director’s chair for Thai horror hit Laddaland, based on a Chiang Mai urban legend about a haunted housing estate. Jumping at the chance of a higher paid job, Thee (Saharat Sangkapreecha) moves to northern Thailand with his wife (Piyathida Woramuksik) and kids, and finally gets that dream home he's been striving for. Had he bothered to read the small print however, he would’ve come across the part that states ‘built on an Indian burial ground’. You’d think the creepy old lady would be enough to send them packing, either that...

The recent popularity of Thai horror continues with “Ladda Land”, directed by Sophon Sakdaphisit, who also helmed the entertaining genre flick “Coming Soon”, as well as scripting Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom’s superb “Shutter” and “Alone”, and working on the hit “4bia” anthologies. Drawing upon an urban legend, the film relocates from the usual Bangkok setting to Chiang Mai, revolving around supernatural occurrences in a new upmarket housing estate and attempting to balance its ghosts with financial and domestic terrors. The film follows Saharat Sangkapreecha (“The Legend of Suriyothai”) as Thee, a marketing manager who leaves Bangkok to take a higher paying job in a new Chiang Mai area called Ladda Land, bringing with him his wife Parn (Piyathida Woramuksik, “The Sisters”), angsty 14 year old daughter Nan (Suthatta Udomsilp) and young son Nat (Apinya Sakuljaroensuk). Despite ongoing pressure from his nagging mother in law, Thee is determined to make...

From the studio that produced the Phobia series, and directed by Coming Soon director and Shutter screenwriter Sophon Sakdaphisit, the 2011 Thai horror film - based on a Chiang Mai urban legend about a haunted housing estate - Ladda Land is up to buy on English subbed DVD, from next week. Who knew gated communities could be so bad for your health! Ladda Land goes on sale Nov 14. Synopsis: Jumping at the chance for a higher-paying job, Thi moves to northern Thailand with his wife and kids, and finally gets that dream home he's been striving for. The happy family of four move into a housing estate called Ladda Land, and all is well until a neighbor's domestic helper is brutally murdered. Soon strange things begin to happen at Ladda Land... Pre-order your copy here...

We're convinced that there's not a single place in all of the Far East that isn't haunted. How else would you explain the throng of ghosts stories that come out of this region? What? Huh? Made up?!? This shit is real, man!

Ladda Land stars Piyathida Woramusik and Saharat Sangkapreecha and is being directed by Shutter writer Sophon Sakdaphisit. Check out the goods below.

Synopsis

Buying a home is a dream that everyone strives for. Thee (Saharat Sangkapreecha) is one of millions in Bangkok that cannot afford a home, much less a spacious one, on his meager staff salary. Living in an old rental apartment, he feels the societal pressure of being labeled a bad husband and father for not being able to provide his family a house. One day a huge job opportunity knocks on his door, and Thee accepts a position as the new Head of Marketing at...

Director: Sophon Sakdaphisit. Review: Adam Wing. If you think about the hallmarks of modern horror, Thailand has probably been most successful at imitating the perpetrator it chooses to portray. Worthy scare-fests like Shutter, Alone and Phobia have taken the world by surprise, sneaking up on unsuspecting cinema audiences and attacking them with well-timed scares and short, sharp hooks. Much like the killer at the heart of the tale, they have managed to get under the skin of the movie going public, and I can’t see it ending anytime soon. They have a taste for it now; so don’t expect to be coming out from behind the sofa for a little while yet. This is the latest movie from the mind of writer Sophon Sakdaphisit (Shutter and Alone), which suggests to me that he may actually know a thing or two about big screen terror. Which is kind of handy really,...

Back in February we covered the news that Coming Soon, Sophon Sakdaphisit’s (writer of hit Thai frighteners “Shutter” and “Alone”) first foray into directing was heading for Hong Kong and we guestimated that an always welcome, English subtitled DVD would soon follow. Well we were right on the money. The film is now up to pre-order with a release set for June 19th. Go get it. The plot: "What kind of scenes in a horror film scares you the most? When a ghost appears totally unexpectedly? When the main character does not see the ghost sneaking up behind him? When at the very end you find out that the main character was actually a ghost all along? But none of this compares to the feeling of arriving home alone and suddenly being stuck by a feeling of deja vu that you are re-enacting the very same scenes in the horror movie you just saw!

Back in February we covered the news that Coming Soon, Sophon Sakdaphisit’s (writer of hit Thai frighteners “Shutter” and “Alone”) first foray into directing was heading for Hong Kong and we guestimated that an always welcome, English subtitled DVD would soon follow. Well we were right on the money. The film is now up to pre-order with a release set for June 19th. Go get it. The plot: "What kind of scenes in a horror film scares you the most? When a ghost appears totally unexpectedly? When the main character does not see the ghost sneaking up behind him? When at the very end you find out that the main character was actually a ghost all along? But none of this compares to the feeling of arriving home alone and suddenly being stuck by a feeling of deja vu that you are re-enacting the very same scenes in the horror movie you just saw!

It’s a sad fact that very few Thai films ever get released with English subtitles, so it’s always of interest when a Thai flick we liked the look of gets a release in Hong Kong. Latest of interest to get picked up for release there is Sophon Sakdaphisit’s (one of the writers behind the hit horrors 'Shutter' and 'Alone') 2008 horror - Coming Soon. Sakdaphisit at the helm is one good reason to sit up and take notice - The second is that Gmm Tai Hub, the movie house behind some of the best horror to ever come out of Thailand, produced the movie. A couple of big ticks there on the "must see" front. Coming Soon is released in Hk on March 5th, and all being well we should see an English friendly DVD release about a month after.

Another cool discovery at this year's Afm was loads of art for Sopon Sukdapisit's latest horror film, Coming Soon, a Thai film that asks, what kind of scenes in a horror film scares you the most? When a ghost appears totally unexpectedly? When the main character does not see the ghost sneaking up behind him? When at the very end you find out that the main character was actually a ghost all along? But none of this compares to the feeling of arriving home alone and suddenly being stuck by a feeling of deja-vu that you are reenacting the very same scenes in the horror movie you just saw! Inside you can check out all the goodies from the co-writer of Alone and Shutter's latest.

You may not know his name, but I can virtually guarantee that if you’re at all a fan of recent Asian horror film you know his work. Sophon Sakdaphisit worked as a writer on both Alone and the original Thai film Shutter - since subjected to a very bad remake - and he is stepping into the director’s chair himself with Coming Soon.

What kind of scenes in a horror film scares you the most?

When a ghost appears totally unexpectedly?

When the main character does not see the ghost sneaking up behind him?

When at the very end you find out that the main character was actually a ghost all along?

But none of this compares to the feeling of arriving home alone and suddenly being stuck by a feeling of déjà vu that you are reenacting the very same scenes in the horror movie you just saw!