Bangkok Haunted (2001) Reviews

• Totally Visceral Horror from the director of THE EYE

  flickhead2005-06-21

  I just received a screener of the Panik House DVD for this film, and the packaging is very impressive! I'm happy to report that the movie and the extras are every bit as impressive as well. This is an omnibus film co-directed by Oxide Pang, who along with brother Danny, directed THE EYE and BANGKOK DANGEROUS. There are three stories (told by three young women in a Bangkok Cafe) of horror and the supernatural shot in three distinctly different styles, while each fitting together quite nicely in the end. All of the stories have shocking moments of violence, but are never presented in an exploitive way, as thought the violence on screen is never superfluous and always serves to push the story forward. The first story, "Legend of the Drum" is a tale of murder a nd possession, and according to the "Making Of" featurette, the filming of this segment involved actual unexplainable circumstances, reminiscent of recently disclosed events on the sets of the original Exorcist and Wes Craven's Serpent And The Rainbow. The costume design is incredibly creepy. The second tale, "Black Magic Woman" involves an aphrodisiac, zombified prostitutes, and crazed axe-wielding killer, and may have involved actual cadavers. The third entry, directed by Oxide Pang, "Revenge" is the real payoff, and has a very original story structure and the best multi-level police procedural drama this side of CSI. Pete Thong-jeur gives a realistic and believable performance as a young detective convinced that a possible suicide is a case of murder, and the victim's spirit visits him throughout the investigation with ghastly consequence. The wrap-up is among the most original I've ever seen, and I'm going to run out and buy anything else with Oxide's name on it after this. The disc has a ton of extras. In addition to the documentary, there are trailers, a Pang Brothers bio written by Psychotronic Video Guide's Art Black (who also wrote the Thai Cinema Essay) and a lengthy still gallery. Oh yeah, it comes with a sticker, too. Great film, great disc.

  More

• Horror film that fails to scare

  cdoreilly2003-06-18

  As with most people familiar with Oxide Pang, my introduction to this movie came through the creepy spook film, "The Eye". I was genuinely impressed with The Eye, and, eager to find more films by Oxide and his brother Danny, i came across Bangkok Dangerous and Bangkok Haunted. Dangerous is a flick about a mute assassin, which i found to be very well made with some excellent editing and solid direction. Unfortunately, Bangkok Haunted failed to impress. I only found out after viewing the movie that only the third segment was directed by Oxide Pang, and Danny (the man behind the brilliant editing in Dangerous) had nothing to do with the film. From the start the movie attempts to creep out the audience, but the elaborate ghost stories are neither scary nor visually impressive. Throughout the three segments of the film, the spooks fail to spook, and the film fails as a horror flick. Clocking in at over two hours, this is an over-stretched movie that could have fitted easily into three half hour segments. While there are promising thing to be taken from the film, the stories are generally boring and more laughable than scary. This film could have been alot better, and i am glad that i rented it instead of rushing out to buy it.

  More

• Three Original Ghost Stories

  claudio_carvalho2007-06-08

  Three young women gathered in a coffee bar in Bangkok tell and discuss three original ghost stories with each other: 1) The Ancient Drum: In Bangkok, the young Jieb receives an ancient drum not listed in the order from the truck of Transportation Company owned by Mr. Anake. She calls her former Professor Arkom, who identifies the markings for good luck that she describes and tells the story of the orphan Paga. In 1917, the renowned music teacher Jangwah-Chuem and his wife Peng raise the beautiful Paga with their deformed son Gnod. Paga is a good and loving sister and daughter and becomes a great beautiful dancer. When Paga falls in love for the handsome Fond, the jealous Gnod and she vanish from their village. Jieb investigates the mystery of their disappearance and discloses the eerie truth with tragic consequences. 2) The Love Potion's Price: The gorgeous Pam receives a sample from her next-door neighbor of a love potion ("Ply Essence") that makes the user irresistible to men. Pam does not know that the essence is made of blood of dead women and uses in a man in a night-club, who becomes an insatiable lover. When she uses in her acquaintance Tim, she finds the price of the aphrodisiac. 3) The Revenge of the Dead: Detective Nop is in charge of the investigation of the death of a woman called Gunaya found hanged in a distant storeroom. He does not accept his chief position of suicide and he is convinced that it is a murder case. He investigates the husband of the victim, Vinal, and her former boy-friend In. When he believes he has solved the case, there is a twist with tragic consequences. I am a great fan of the Pang brothers and I liked "Bangkok Haunted". The first tale has a promising beginning, an excellent development and a disappointing conclusion. It is funny that the three friends make the same comment in their conversation. The second tale is creepy, in spite of the lack of explanations about the love potion. The last one has a promising beginning, an excellent development, but I was confused about the relationship of Gunaya with Nop. I understand that she has plotted revenge against her abusive husband; her cruel lover, but it was not clear for me how was her connection with Nop. I intend to revisit the last minutes of this story to check if I have not seen any important detail. The DVD is spoken in Thai with English subtitles and I need to pay too much attention reading the lines. The surprising conclusion, showing how haunted Bangkok is, is excellent. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): Not Available

  More

• Anthologies need to be consistent.

  Madluke912009-04-05

  Possible minor spoilers: nothing to integral with the film. Bangkok Hanted is a 3 part anthology of 'ghost stories' being told by a group of woman sitting down at a restaurant. After the first story we see this. The first story is about a haunted drum, and is excellent. I personally was gripped shot by shot; the camera work is top notch. On top of this, the film has a unique visual style, and almost appears like an early 90's-late 80's film. This along with the soundtrack really do create a dark atmosphere. The soundtrack actually seems to take a leaf out of Dario Argento's book, as it implements drums etc. The main good feature of the first though isn't even the horror elements; it is along with the camera work, the excellent story-telling. A story i will never forget. 9/10 The second story is where the movie stars to show its poor production. This is a story about a substance which can get a woman any man she wants. All the woman has to do is rub the substance onto the man. But it has unseen consequences and the men who have this substance rubbed onto them seem to suffer terrible deaths. This stories problem is that it is terribly SLOPPY. The story seemingly skips from shot to shot, with little cohesion, the ability to tell a story seems to have been thrown out of the window, and the camera work seems to shift into mediocrity. I'm not sure whether all of the effort was intended for the first story, but this one becomes a chore to watch. Also this story begins the progression into terrible acting, without a single good performance. The third story is actually better than the second, but a clear mile and a half behind the first. This story follows a police detective as he tries to solve a murder case, which his boss, despite obvious contradictions, believes was suicide. At the start we see a woman hanging. The idea of suicide you would expect to be implausible as we see the woman hanging about 8 feet off of the floor. The story then follows as he goes through the unofficial police investigation, going through the very few close friends, boyfriends etc. that the woman had. The ending to this one is very unique, and you'll remember it for a long time, but unfortunately it suffers from a terrible lead actor, who seems to be void of acting capabilities. He doesn't even as much as flinch his face throughout the whole thing. This piece of storytelling is also sloppy as apparently the investigator knows the person who hung herself(?!?) and this isn't at all clearly shown at the start! So this is what i have to say: I would have to recommend watching this; maybe rent it if possible. I say this as the first story is top notch, absolutely superb. I gave it a 9/10, and if it was a stand-a-lone film, it would have been absolutely awesome. So give it a go, and hopefully the others can at least entertain, rather than being the chores they were for me.

  More

• I think it's OK

  Princess-D2004-02-20

  I saw this movie long time ago about in December,2001 ,that day is the first day which this movie showing. I was very excited to see this movie because before this movie show in the theater it's very popular in Thailand.The trailers of this movie is so scary and creepy ,also it's got a great promotion which support this movie to be famous.When i saw this film,at the first section,"The legend of the arm of a beautiful dancer" I think it seems like a romantic horror.this section is make me feel complicated,I means that if you're not Thai maybe you won't understand what the film want to tell you,and if you don't get in Thai cultural, sometime you maybe feel boring in this section.About the actors in this section,I think the actress in the leading roll is fantastic ,even if this is the first time of her in acting but I think she (Pimmsiree Pimsri) is doing great so I think if i have to give a score to this part I will give it " 7 " points from 10. At the second part," Black magic woman" I think it's pretty bad,I think it's boring ,it's just about sex but I think this section is give us a moral that "You will get what you give".But if you're not Thai ,you won't understand about the legend in this part ;including the process of making the magic oil,and the erries occurences.If i give a point ,I will give it "6.5". At the last section,I love this part the most " revenges" this part is not scary but it's feel weird ,dramatic,sympathy and complicated.Although the actress in leading roll (Kanlayanat Sriboonrueng) is got a little scene but her eyes and emotion is so impressive .if i give a score ,i will give it "9".

  More