Ghost of Mae Nak

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.