User reviews

Ghost of Mae Nak is not the traditional horror film viewers of the genre may be accustomed to. Although the movie makers obviously attempt to frighten the audience, the film is based on Thai folklore, and in this sense works more as a story that could be told to children around a camp fire, than a grisly tale destined to provoke fear. For those after a film that provides an endless amount of terror, you may want to look elsewhere. If you are interested in a movie where the horror elements take a backseat, while the story consistently remains in the foreground, then this particular feature might be for you.

Unlike other films in the horror genre, where the audience is treated only to small glimpses of the apparition for the majority of the feature until the final quarter, in this particular film, viewers are immediately greeted by Mae Nak in the first few minutes. The image of a woman with jet black eyes and a gaping mouth is not something we haven't seen before, and the inclusion of a hole in the center of her forehead does little to heighten the level of terror.

On many an occasion, moments meant to scare the audience are not only predictable, but more than half the time the movie falls into the trap of enveloping many of its scenes under the shroud of darkness, and rather than reeling backwards in terror, we are leaning forwards, squinting at the screen. Due to the level of darkness, a vast number of shadows are present, and it seems that an opportunity to use these to advantageously increase the level of horror was unfortunately overlooked.

Again, in contrast with horror movies that frequently use stereotypical genre tropes, Ghost of Mae Nak becomes heavily reliant on music, to the point that sometimes it seemed the score reserved for moments of horror was being played unnecessarily to provoke a response. Due to this, the suspenseful moments of the film, although sometimes initially exciting, never truly keep the audience enthused.

Moreover, although a couple of the death scenes are very impressive in their execution, the level of overacting that occasionally accompanies these moments prevents the audience from taking the scene seriously. Before one particular individual is decapitated, the scene of his mouth wide open in fear, hands extended out before him, appears less like legitimate fear, and more like a poor imitation.

This aside, Pataratida Pacharawirapong as Nak deserves kudos for her acting capabilities, exhibiting reactions that are as entertaining as they are real. She, alongside fiancé Mak (Siwat Chotchaicharin) purchase a house in Phrakhanong for them to move into once they are wed, the place they will soon call their residence having a long history, been one of the oldest homes in the area. Mak is immediately plagued by ghostly images in his dreams, but after a horrific tragedy cripples the young couple, they are forced to turn towards otherworldly means of support. Though the ghost of Mae Nak appears eager to assist the couple, how can you trust a ghost, especially one with a vengeful past, for what ulterior motives could she possibly possess?

The familial bonds, alongside the connections of friendship and love are well articulated, and the character dramas that transpire are effectively incorporated into the plot. Furthermore, despite the aforementioned scenes of darkness, the environments viewers are presented with really bring the world the characters reside in to life, Thailand been shown for the country it is, rather than the mirage that outsiders may occasionally imbue it as, a tactic similarly used in the Singaporean horror film The Maid.

Although Ghost of Mae Nak could never be hailed as a terrific horror movie, the film captures the culture and feel of the region, and does justice to a traditional folk story that obviously has much significance.

This movie essentially begins with a young man named "Mak" (Siwat Chotchaicharin) having recurring nightmares about a ghastly woman with black teeth and a black rectangular mark on her forehead coming toward him. These dreams cause him to wake up in a state of panic. So he tells his fiancé, "Nak" (Pataratida Pacharawirapong) about it and she does her best to reassure him that everything will be fine after their wedding in another week. Unfortunately, the dreams intensify immediately after they get married and buy a home. Yet, although the apparition is indeed frightening, it also takes a deadly vengeance on those who attempt to wrong either Mak or Nak. Such is the wraith's violent nature. But one day when Mak is involved in an accident, which causes him to go into a coma, things begin to take a terrible turn for the worse. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie, I will just say that this is not the original story of the ghost known as "Mae Nak" (played in this particular film by Porntip Papanai) but rather a continuation of the legend transplanted into a modern urban location. The acting was decent and the special effects were adequate enough as well. Likewise, having two attractive actresses like Karnchanit Summakul (as "Noi") along with the aforementioned Pataratida Pacharawirapong certainly didn't hurt matters either. Additionally, I liked the location of the film (Bangkok) and I thought the CD cover was quite artistic as well. However, having said all of that I must confess that there weren't very many scenes out of the ordinary which would have made this movie really stand out. In short, it was an interesting movie but nothing really special and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

OK, last night me and some friends were on our monthly Horror-night, where we usually watch 2 Asian movies and an American one. So there we were, 7 people in quite the mood I might add, with popcorn, chips and beer, therefore no matter how bad this one would turn out to be, the fact that we were together made it impossible for it to fail: BUT IT DID !!

Dear God it failed so bad! In the first 2 minutes you get a glimpse of what they call the ghost, well, the girls called it "Whaaat?" while us, the guys were more like "Well she's kinda hot, except for that hole in her forehead!". Didn't quite know how to take the film cause we knew not if it takes itself seriously or wants to be more of a dark comedy. Well turns out, that it really tried taking itself seriously which is sad actually, because it did manage to provide some good laughs but in the bad way, cause it had no intend for such a thing.

I could go on and on with the plot, character development, "over-the-top" death scenes but I would only waste your time trust me on this one. Only good thing about this movie is that the special effects reminded us all about Mario and what a great game that is. I really miss Mario! Oh wait, this comment is about the movie. OK, summary:

STAY AWAY! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!

There are so many things that went wrong in this movie that it's hard to find any redeeming factors. This is complete garbage and a massive waste of time.

The ghost was one of the most pathetic attempts at horror I've ever seen. The special effects were cringe-worthy and the acting was over the top in a laughable attempt to make us empathize with the characters. The actors simply recited their lines, which often consisted of redundant information we heard ten times before in the movie. We hear the same lines over and over again. Apparently the scriptwriter thought we need to have the most obvious information spelled out for us, and then repeated some 100 times in case we forgot.

The story, while not horrible, was uninspired, paper-thin and full of plot holes you could see from a mile, while the plot progression and pace were mostly non-existent. Nothing ever happens in this movie except for some Final Destination inspired deaths. Characters appear and then disappear without ever knowing what happened to them or why they were in the movie at all, in an effort to increase the body count. It's nothing you've never seen before, but this takes the cake for bad execution of an average story.

The only thing that might incite some interest might be the good insight into the traditions and legends of Thai culture. The movie sure takes its time to illustrate some rituals and ceremonies, but by then you'll surely be too bored to even care.

It baffles me that people have found this movie to be more than average. I decided to watch it based on the relatively good reviews on this site, but now I must say it's among the worst movies I've seen in the Asian horror genre or Asian cinema for that matter. Avoid like the plague!

This is a really poor film. Some of the reviewers seem to think it is saved by having a British director but that's it's problem. How many scary British films have there been? Very few. How many crap and predictable British horror films have there been? More than you can hope to count. And this oaf carries on that British tradition. People get killed in stupid and derivative ways (sliced in two by panes of glass? Omen anyone?) and the 'scares' and gore are delivered in a way that is just stupid. If you are sacred by this then you better avoid your shadow because that will make you jump out of your skin. Acting? Well it would've been nice if there had been some. The horror channel would probably reject this. That's really how bad this is.

The synopsis and the DVD cover to this movie does have a certain appeal, and it does give you some sense of hope and expectation to the movie. However, don't get your hopes up too high.

For a horror movie, then "Ghost of Mae Nak" is fairly slow and anything but scary, bordering on being overly predictable at times. Plus there are random scenes where the ghost is shown and then they just cut to some other scene, leaving you clueless as to what happened after the ghost appeared, and also raises a big question mark as to why people wouldn't be scared out of their pants after having seen a ghost that up close and personal.

The story told in "Ghost of Mae Nak" is about an ancient tale of love between Mae Nak and Mak. And oddly enough, it today's time, there is a young couple in love with similar names Nak and Mak. It is said that the ghost of Mae Nak will come between anyone who would stand between her and her true love.

I will say that the storyline itself is adequate, although there are no scares at any times throughout the movie. Plus it also becomes rather predictable at times. The movie was suffering from an overhanging sense that no one was really scared given their predicament and situation, which made the movie have an approach which just lead to you not really buying that much into it.

As for the special effects, well they were there, and they were adequate. Not top of the line Hollywood blockbuster effects, but effective enough and doing what they are supposed to do.

There was a single turn of events that I hadn't seen coming. Without saying what it was, it is towards the end of the movie, at the temple scene. It was actually a nice touch, but it didn't manage to pull up the overall enjoyment of the movie as a whole.

The idea with the bone amulet was a nice touch to the movie, though, I will say that much.

For a Thai ghost and horror movie, then "Ghost of Mae Nak" is a fairly standard movie, that offers nothing new to the genre, nor does it hold any scares or overly spooky moments. If you enjoy Thai and Asian horror (and ghost) movies, then there are far better movies available.

Tired of Asian supernatural horror movies yet? No? Good, then Ghost of Mae Nak is one you should add to your "to see" list. 

It's a nice little ghost story from Thailand about a recently married young couple that's haunted by the ghost of a woman that died 100 years ago. After the husband is left in a coma that inexplicably won't end, the wife must investigate the origin of the supernatural presence in order to help him. There's a well-told back-story that explains why this particular couple earns the supernatural attention, so there (thankfully) aren't a lot of dangling story-lines. 

Ghost of Mae Nak includes a lot of Final Destination-type deaths that are pretty entertaining. I was actually surprised by how elaborate some of them were. There's a fair amount of jump scares and startling things in mirrors too, but Ghost of Mae Nak is more creepy than frightening. Still, I was very pleased with how good this movie turned out to be, and I definitely recommend it. IF, like I mentioned at the beginning of the review, you're not burned out on Asian horror after it's ubiquity in the west post-The Ring. 

The main actress, Pataratida Pacharawirapong, is incredibly pretty too, if that kind of thing interests you.

The legend of the ghost of Nang Nak is a part of Thai folklore, the story of an 19th Century 'angry ghost' who lived in a bucolic palm-fringed village outside of Bangkok named Pra Khanong..

By 2005, Pra Khanong is part of the dirty old metropolis, the giant grey concrete slab of Bangkok. No longer a place for a rural ghost.

I have never even been there - there's no compelling reason to go. It is ten minutes from where I live, but it is just another part of inner city urban blight nowadays.

This movie works because it treats Bangkok not as a glitzy tourist venue, full of pachyderms, tuk tuks, ladyboys and long-tail boats, but a functioning, ordinary, third-world city in which regular Thai people live with limited budgets and modern fears.

Into this is transported a semi-Gothic, semi J-Horror story, that derives from the old mythology.

Thai movies are often unsophisticated, self-referential and burlesque. This one doesn't fall into that trap, perhaps because it is Directed by a Westerner and doesn't play to stereotype.

I liked it.

This film was, without a doubt, one of the creepiest, scariest films I've seen in Asian cinema--or any cinema, for that matter. It leads the viewer along a plot line that looks ho-hum and standard for any thriller but then, when you least expect it, it takes you on a ride you never saw coming. Much of the acting is just a little "over the top" which is typical in a lot of Asian horror films, but the lead actress, newcomer Pataratida Pacharawirapong was as believable, beautiful, and emotional as any actress in any horror film I've ever seen from any country. From the cinematography, I found myself also wishing to re-visit Southeast Asia and check it out more thoroughly. There were no shots of Bangkok's crowded, dirty streets or sex outlets (which are what you'll see in 99% of the films shot in Thailand) but there were a lot of culturally interesting shots. Overall, this film is a must-see for any horror fan.

Moving into a new house, a newlywed and her husband come under attack by a malevolent ghost that soon turns its attention to their friends, forcing her to discover the long-held secret of her return and stop the rampage from continuing.

This one turned out better than expected. One of the elements that's really impressive here is the fact that the haunting scenes are top- notch, delivering a lot of nice scenes. The opening dream opens the film strong with the initial appearance of the ghost delivers a solid shock with it's banging noises and really off-beat jump, as well as a couple of other brief ghostly visions from out-of-nowhere especially work. The appearance in the house during the walk-through is pretty nice with the unearthly noises that only he can hear, the gag with the mirror and the second dream-sequence complete with the disappearance and a brilliant gag to wrap it in, make this one a real highlight. The stand-out sequence, where the ghost attacks thieves inside a small van, is an absolutely classic using darkness mixed with the brilliant gag of flashing light intermittently to see coupled with the comeuppance of the gang at the end, which makes this so fun. The film's other supernatural action is also really enjoyable, including the two main hospital scenes. The first sequence with the levitating body in front of the priest while the others disturb the burial site is one of the better scenes in the film, as the surgeon's test where the ghost physically prevents others from interacting with the body is a great visual and comes off rather well. The action-packed finale where the race to get the ghost action resolved meshes well with the exorcism performed elsewhere, and a fun twist capped onto the end of it all makes for a rather enjoyable and exciting conclusion. Along with the fact that the ghost is actually really creepy with its faded eyes, blacked-out mouth and teeth and an eerie dark spot on its head and the great kills in here, these film's good points here are more than enough to hold up over the couple flaws to this one. One of the biggest is that this one really has a convoluted back-story that is so hard to understand, there are repeated attempts to explain it and none of them do much good. One of the biggest obstacles in that regard is that the characters in the flashback have the same names as the current protagonists even though there's no possession going on, along with the fact that it seems to wipe out the meaning of events after they happened and offer up a second, slightly different explanation for it all just makes it all the more confusing and incredibly hard to understand. There's also the flaw in here where the film's languid pacing produces a long opening at the begging as it does take a while to get going with its good scenes while there's also the rather overlong and unneeded flashback scene which just drags the film out a little longer than what it should be. These here are the film's problems.

Rated R: Graphic Violence and Language.

As a whole, this is not a great film.

It was dull in places, for a horror it was not very frightening, and it was even a little bit silly. To be fair, in watching it, there looks to have been some budgetary issues that may have taken away from the making of the film. As a fan of Asian horror though, because it tends to go that little bit further than Hollywood horror, I was a quite disappointed to not have tensed up in my seat even once. That is, until...

The best death scene of all time! I will not tell you who died or how they died but this film is worth wading through purely for those 30 seconds of pleasure. If you don't laugh out loud and say something along the lines of 'Oh my God!', I would be very, very surprised!

Siwat Chotchaicharin is a very good actor in this movie. It is custom that if spirits like this show up its because they are there to to protect you. Good scary movie and the English subtitles are good for learning English.