Phobia 2

Building on its predecessor, Phobia 2 expands the anthology format with darker themes, sharper storytelling, and a chilling array of horror experiences.

This Thai horror anthology comprises five short films, each exploring distinct aspects of fear. Novice delves into karma and guilt as a boy hiding from crime becomes a monk-in-training haunted by spirits. Ward examines mortality through the eyes of a young man during his eerie hospital stay. Backpackers shifts into thriller territory with a zombie-like twist. Salvage portrays a car dealer whose dishonest dealings come back to haunt her. Ultimately, it cleverly blends comedy and horror, following a film crew whose ghost story spirals into a meta-nightmare.

What makes Phobia 2 stronger than the original is its tonal diversity and thematic ambition. From morality tales rooted in Buddhist philosophy to genre-bending twists, the film captures multiple dimensions of fear-psychological, supernatural, and existential. The production values are high, with effective cinematography, strong practical effects, and pacing that sustains tension across five stories. Performances are consistently engaging, particularly in Novice and Salvage, which anchor the anthology with emotional weight.

While not every segment achieves equal impact, the collection as a whole feels richer, offering both scares and reflection. Its mix of cultural specificity and universal themes ensures it resonates with both Thai and international audiences.

Rating: 8/10 - A stronger, more ambitious anthology than its predecessor, Phobia 2 delivers a chilling mix of morality, suspense, and inventive storytelling.

Direction was very polished, first rate even. But that's where any attempt at greatness departs. The problem with every segment of the five short horror movies, was... in every single case, and without exception: screenplay. Hackneyed shock noises and age old visual jolts are used to move the seen it all before "horror" along to stories that are so fast-forwardable - my remote control (when called for) simply couldn't get through this effort fast enough. Admittedly, I did attempt to watch the whole thing without fast forwarding, but tedium was stretched ad infinitum. Overall Phobia 2 (i.e., "Trang 5") was as just as forgettable as any average movie usually is. Shame, though that the direction, cinematography and production were all first rate. But a movie needs a good scare story and not just the same old shocks (yawn) in order to deliver.

In conclusion, this was a perfectly forgettable movie which should not be watched by those with more than half a functioning brain.

"Phobia 2" is an anthology of Thai horror films made by some of Thailand's top film directors. As previous reviewers have mentioned, it's difficult to rate anthology films because they may vary wildly in quality.

"NOVICE" (by the director of "Body") is the weakest of the bunch. A delinquent teenager is dropped off at a jungle monastery by his mother who promises to pick him up "when things calm down". "Novice" has some very good ideas but ends up depending too much on loud noises and jump scares while also being somewhat dull. Great ending, weak film. 6/10 "WARD" (the directorial debut of a Thai producer) finds a teenager placed in a hospital bed next to an old man on life support after a routine bicycle accident. Strange things begin happening and the film achieves a claustrophobic "Rear Window" feel since the strong-willed teen can't movie his legs. Good but predictable. 7/10 "BACKPACKERS" (by the director of "Dorm") was my favorite. When it starts off with two silly Japanese teenagers hitchhiking in Thailand, you wonder why it's a horror movie. That's answered soon enough. Thrilling, spooky, gory and exciting. Sadly, this director has turned more to teen comedies lately. 10/10 "SALVAGE" (by the co-director of "Shutter" and "Alone") features another story about karmic justice as a woman who sells used cars gets a comeuppance that would never happen in an American movie. Also takes a while to get going, but ends up worth the time. 7/10 "IN THE END" (by the OTHER co-director of "Shutter" and "Alone", as well as "Pee Mak") is delightfully silly and a great way to end the series. You'll have to know a little bit about Thai horror (think "Scream"), acting and Thai sense of humor, so this might be the most difficult for Western audiences. Still enjoyable with a creepy ending....9/10

I admit this movie is excellent. It got more scares and more gory. The movie had 5 stories("Novice","Ward","Backpackers","Salvage","In the end"). I like 5 of them. "Novice" is gory. "Ward" is scary, "Backpackers" is thrilling, "Salvage" is scary yet gory and "In the end" is Funny and scary. Phobia 2 is better than 4BIA. In 4BIA, Paween Purikitpanya made the story a little bit weird. But, well done for the improvement at Phobia 2. In Phobia 2, "In the end" Had the same cast as 4BIA-"In the middle". But, i think they are funnier at this movie. And Marsha Wattanapanich (who played at "Alone")is funny to you know. But she act funny a little overreacted. That's just what i'm going to say. Well done Phobia 2.

My Vote: 8/10

I quite liked Phobia so I was quite disappointed that this sequel, with five segments by different directors, doesn't come close to matching the first.

What I especially liked about Phobia was that three out of the four stories had good suspense. For horrors with relatively low budgets, the way to go is definitely suspense over special effects. With Phobia 2, none of the stories had any level of suspense close to the first's. The first segment was boring, the second was unoriginal, as was the third (zombies!) but it was still kinda cool, the fourth was kinda messy, and the last story was... fun, actually, since it was humorous and had a couple of twists in it.

I'll give the movie a marginal thumbs-up based on the third and last stories.