Bangkok Haunted (DVD)
This is a horror movie from Thailand, I guess. At least it's set in Thailand. Strangely, upon putting in the disc, a box pops up asking whether you want English or Spanish. So at first I thought maybe it was a Mexican production.
Anyway, remember the 1980s when there would be horror movies that were basically anthologies? Telling 3 or 4 stories? Creepshow, Tales from the Darkside the Movie, a few others (like the one with Emilio Estavez playing video games). This is one of those, but unlike the 80s version, this is far more serious, not at all campy, and the stories are very long. 45 minutes each, it felt like, the movie is something 2 1/2 hours.
The first story is just weird. It makes sense, but I'm not sure I understood what the heck was going on exactly. It would play one bit, then flash back, then play another bit, then flash back. And so on. Okay. Quite different. At the opening scene I thought it was just going to be one of those Japanese style ghost movies, where the black haired ghost gets people (as typified by the Grudge). It's the story of 2 kids that grew up together, one beautiful girl, one a hideous deformed guy. One day they mysteriously disappear. You eventually find out what happens at the end, though it's somewhat slow in getting to that point.
The second story is just a mess. I had no idea what was going on exactly. About some sort of evil aphrodesiac. This was fairly graphic, with some sex scenes and corpses. It did have a couple funny moments, in some scenes in a porno shop.
The third story, on the other hand, is really excellent. It's almost not even a ghost story per se, but a crime story. A detective has a case where he finds a young woman strangled to death, hanging from a noose. He thinks it must be murder, because he can't find any way she could have hanged herself (ie, no chair), and she showed signs of a struggle. But the chief says it's a suicide. But the detective doesn't think so, and neither does the coroner, so they investigate further. Was it the woman's husband that killed her? Her ex-boyfriend? The chief? Well, just when you think what happened, it twists again. I really liked this one.
Anyway, remember the 1980s when there would be horror movies that were basically anthologies? Telling 3 or 4 stories? Creepshow, Tales from the Darkside the Movie, a few others (like the one with Emilio Estavez playing video games). This is one of those, but unlike the 80s version, this is far more serious, not at all campy, and the stories are very long. 45 minutes each, it felt like, the movie is something 2 1/2 hours.
The first story is just weird. It makes sense, but I'm not sure I understood what the heck was going on exactly. It would play one bit, then flash back, then play another bit, then flash back. And so on. Okay. Quite different. At the opening scene I thought it was just going to be one of those Japanese style ghost movies, where the black haired ghost gets people (as typified by the Grudge). It's the story of 2 kids that grew up together, one beautiful girl, one a hideous deformed guy. One day they mysteriously disappear. You eventually find out what happens at the end, though it's somewhat slow in getting to that point.
The second story is just a mess. I had no idea what was going on exactly. About some sort of evil aphrodesiac. This was fairly graphic, with some sex scenes and corpses. It did have a couple funny moments, in some scenes in a porno shop.
The third story, on the other hand, is really excellent. It's almost not even a ghost story per se, but a crime story. A detective has a case where he finds a young woman strangled to death, hanging from a noose. He thinks it must be murder, because he can't find any way she could have hanged herself (ie, no chair), and she showed signs of a struggle. But the chief says it's a suicide. But the detective doesn't think so, and neither does the coroner, so they investigate further. Was it the woman's husband that killed her? Her ex-boyfriend? The chief? Well, just when you think what happened, it twists again. I really liked this one.
Labels: DVD
