Premika

Well, the 2017 Thai movie "Premika" is listed as a horror comedy, so of course I opted to sit down and watch it, as I had the opportunity to do so here in 2023. I had actually never heard about the movie, but I figured a horror comedy couldn't be all bad, as Thailand cinema has a fair share of enjoyable horror comedies.

However, I was left clueless as to what writers Siwakorn Charupongsa, Komsun Nuntachit and Sukree Terakunvanich were thinking here when they concocted the storyline and script for "Premika". The movie does somewhat fit into the horror comedy genre, except that the movie was frightfully devoid of funny moments.

Actually, I found very little enjoyment in the movie, as the concept was just a swing and a miss. And the total lack of comedy elements just took away a lot of potential enjoyment that the movie would otherwise have had. I wasn't brought to laughs once throughout the course of the movie, nor even to a smile. And I ended up giving up on the movie with 24 minutes left to the finish line. I just simply couldn't suffer through anymore of the pointless storyline.

They had a pretty good cast ensemble for the movie, just a shame that the actors and actresses had nothing to work with here.

Visually then "Premika" was sort of interesting. I mean, they had a lot of special effects in terms of bodily mutilations and such, however it just didn't always look that great, especially the blood effects. It was a bit over the top and added a somewhat goofy element to the movie.

I wasn't impressed with "Premika", and this is definitely not a movie that I will recommend for fans of the Thai cinema. Nor is "Premika" a movie that I will ever return to attempt finish watching.

My rating of director Siwakorn Charupongsa's 2017 movie "Premika" lands on a three out of ten stars.

This horror comedy has some great, colorful and over the top imagery. There are more laughs than scares, but the real value is in the fantasy karaoke sequences the exaggerated death scenes.

My main gripe with this was the weak dubbing and the awful english voice acting.

Following a devastating accident, a young woman whose heart was placed inside a karaoke machine starts haunting a group of potential performers lining up for a gig at a remote hotel, and after learning how to stop her set about trying to appease the vengeful spirit to escape.

By and large, this is quite an enjoyable effort. This is mainly due to the generally high amount of comedy featured throughout here where the majority of this is genuinely hilarious. The wordplay is a major contributor to the laughs, mixing together rapid-fire delivery of joke-after-joke incredibly well, from a rapid-fire onslaught of jokes about the ugliness of a pair of potential performers to the inability to recognize a series of tree-roots has grabbed them instead of a ghost they believe has attacked them. The meta-ness of the dialog by commenting and making fun of the situation at hand also shows up throughout the film as the wholesale commentary on the role of the music industry provides plenty of laughs. Poking fun at the inability of most performers to actually be capable of singing on-key or knowing the proper lyrics has plenty to like here as well, and coupled with the typical Thai slapstick causes this to be genuinely funny. Despite the comedy, there are some genuine attempts at scares in the film. A scene of the bumbling photographers mistaking the silhouette of their boss approaching them in the pantry for a ghost plays off an urban legend about the slowly approaching being and several gags about the ghost popping up in mirrors or cell-phone screens offer some unexpected jump-scares. Even a recurring series of scenes where the victims are tricked into performing harmful tasks against themselves under the influence of the ghost score nicely as well. Full-on scenes of the dismembered body of the ghost coming to life and haunting victims offer the intention of straightforward scares despite going over-the-top with the gore gags for laughs, furthering the comedy angle as well. This causes the film to remain incredibly fun and enjoyable throughout here, with plenty of ghost action and grisly, brutal deaths in the cheesy karaoke setups for the majority of the movie. These here are enough to hold it up considerably over the few minor issues found here. One of the main issues here is the rather unnecessary use of flashbacks that don't really need to be featured at all. It doesn't need to have useless flashbacks to the group at school with their own issues and problems which severely derail the energy and momentum of the rest of the film. There is no real reason to have these issues in the film at the point where it's wrapping up its main storyline which is a big issue. As well, the typical antics usually featured in their comedic films is a rather big hurdle to overcome. The goofy one-liners, ridiculous mugging for the camera and the insane amount of slapstick featured here manages to be featured to such an extent that those not used to such elements in their films, in addition to the already-wacky storyline, can be overwhelming here. The lousy CGI for the special effects, utilized for bloodshed and wounds, doesn't help matters either which is a big problem to overcome. Otherwise, there's not a whole lot wrong with the film.

Rated Unrated/R: Extreme Graphic Language, Extreme Graphic Violence and mild sexual abuse themes.

Premika, better known as Killer Karaoke in North America, is a Thai movie that mixes atmospheric horror elements with a few slapstick comedy passages.

The movie revolves around a resort in the country that is visited by some celebrities such as musicians and producers for a weekend of concerts, karaoke and parties. Soon enough, strange things start to occur in and around the resort as visitors disappear and are haunted by mysterious appearances. The events seem to be related to the gruesome murder of a female teenager whose dismembered body was found nearby but never identified. Things take a sinister turn as investigators, perpetrators, tourists and victims meet at the sinister resort.

The film can be described as an average flick throughout its exposure, rising action, climax and falling action as it mixes very well shot atmospheric horror elements that are however slowed down by distractingly awkward slapstick comedy elements that just don't blend in. The settings and special effects are employed with care. The acting performances and the plot are however shallow and thin.

What makes the movie stand out is its conclusion in the final twenty minutes as the different characters meet and the background story is revealed. This little twist is emotional and profound and actually deals with a problem that is recurring in Thai culture. The difficult topic is treated with respect and gives viewers some unexpected food for thought. Seventy entertaining but superficial minutes are therefore followed by twenty authentic and poignant minutes that end the movie on a high note.

At the end of the day, Killer Karaoke or Premika is worth to be watched if you are interested in Thai culture and don't mind a combination of atmospheric horror elements with quirky slapstick comedy. This movie is certainly not everybody's cup of tea but it manages to stand out and is quite memorable. The final twenty minutes elevate it above an average flick and offer some welcome food for thought. This might be a creative film to watch on a movie night with some friends on Halloween.

So this one starts fairly decent, weak special effects but that is the only down side at first. As the movie further develops we get more laughs, over the top kills and gore.

After about 70% of the movie length, sadly it turns into the usual Asian drama you get to see in pretty much every such production. A long awaited finish will eventually come but will not deliver any closure just more and more unnecessary drama.

Overall I would recommend it but bare in mind that it becomes genuinely hard to enjoy at some point. It was close to a sure hit, but dragged itself for too long sadly.

Cheers!