Phii khon pen

In Thailand, the aspirant actress Ting (Pitchanart Sakakorn) is invited by Lieutenant Te (Kiradej Ketakinta) to work for the police simulating murders to help the investigations. Her talent becomes recognized and she is invited to participate many cases and also in a soap-opera. Ting feels a great attraction for the brutal murder of the former Miss Thailand Meen (Apasiri Nitibhon), whose body had not been found, only parts of her tissue, and is invited to perform the case where the former husband of Meen, Dr. Jarun (Pitchanart Sakakorn), is the prime-suspect. Ting feels connected to the spirit of Meen, who helps her to solve the mystery and find the real killer, the lesbian plastic surgeon Fai (Penpak Sirikul) that was obsessed for Meen. However, in the world of cinema, fantasy and reality are entwined in another ghost story.

"Phil Khon Pen" is an original scary ghost story, with an unexpected plot point with another ghost story; unfortunately the messy screenplay is very confused and in the end I did not clearly understand who the killer in the real world was and the motives of the fiend. The creepy atmosphere in the first half is great; however, the plot in the second part with May, Shane, Joke and Kak is very difficult to be followed and understood. Maybe watching this movie a second time the story becomes clearer. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "A Vítima" ("The Victim")

Myself and Thai cinema have had a mostly good relationship over the years, though I've usually expected not to I've often enjoyed their works.

This horror effort is heavily influenced by the likes of The Ring (1998) and The Grudge (2002) but unlike them it doesn't come close to delivering.

Telling the story of an aspiring actress who finds fame through crime reenactments but becomes obsessed with one of the victims as a haunting/possession begins.

The movie does have its tense moments but they are handled so poorly that the impact is lost.

Interesting story, not the worst performances but the people behind the camera should perhaps go back to film school as those are the folk responsible for this lackluster mess.

The Good:

Some nice ideas

The Bad:

Deaths are ripped straight from The Ring (1998)

Badly directed/produced/edited

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Someone couldn't be bothered to come up with an original concept and just decided to remix several bits of Asian cinema

When an aspiring actress is hired by the police to help them film reenactments for various murders, she becomes haunted by the ghost of her most recent assignment and must stop the ghost from running havoc through her friends and her personal life.

This was a rather solid and enjoyable Asian ghost story. It has what is generally found in most of these types of films in a rather impressive visual style for the scares, and this has some good ones. Some of the better scenes include the ghostly assistance in the bathroom during her rehearsal, a creepy attack in a bathroom as well as the big highlight of her confronting the main one in a hallway making a cry for help, only to back away and be confronted with a horde of them clawing at her before the other ghost attacks her amidst the scrum. The fact that it gives off a spectacular twist in the second half makes it all the better, due to it being so perfectly executed in regards to how the storyline is presented that there's just a lot to like about what happens, even if it is somewhat cliché and doesn't really speak of any originality. Even still, that main sequence with the movie-within-a-movie revelation comes off nicely, yet that only happens to bring about it's flaws as it begins a terrible time of making sure we understand what reality we're in as it flips between three different story lines and trying to explain them all grinds the film to a halt and doesn't really feature a lot of good stuff afterward as opposed to the front-half, yet this is still entertaining enough as it is.

Rated UR/R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence.

The Victim is one of the best Thai horror movies that deserves more attention, recognition and respect. Released by cult label Tartan Asian Extreme, this great movie comes along with several highly intriguing featurettes offering unusual looks behind the scenes. This film deserves to be discovered in depth and to be explored over and over again.

It convinces with quite a few twists in its meandering plot that should keep viewers intrigued until the very last scene. The locations such as abandoned hospitals, cheap hotel rooms and filthy back alley operating rooms have also been chosen with care and add an ominous atmosphere to the movie. The characters are intriguing as well and the actors and especially actresses really shine in this film. The lead character is a curious but naive young actress with a heart of gold, the movie's most important victim is an enigmatic beauty pageant with a strong sense of justice and the film's nemesis is a malignant, obsessive and twisted character whose dreadful traits are gradually unfolded. Further highlights include decent light and sound effects supported by a moody score. The film also involves an interesting marketing strategy as several looks behind the scenes report that the movie crew actually recorded real ghosts while shooting the movie. That idea might sound humorous to Western cineasts but many people in Thailand actually do believe in supernatural events and might therefore think that this film is indeed haunted. This topic certainly offers some food for thought and intriguing discussions.

The movie itself revolves around young actress Ting who struggles to make ends meet. As she is describing her difficult decision to a family member, she is coincidentally discovered by a police officer who decides to hire her to impersonate different crime victims. It's actually common in Thailand to re-enact crimes and bring criminals back to the locations of their misdeeds. Ting excels at her new job and even becomes a minor celebrity. Things however take a more sinister turn when she decides to simulate the murder of former Miss Thailand Meen. While police officers believe that she was murdered by her estranged husband whom she wanted to divorce, Ting starts to feel, hear and see supernatural things and believes that the victim is trying to contact her to tell her that the husband is innocent. Ting starts to investigate the murder herself without fully realizing that she is exposing herself to significant dangers. This mysterious case is about to drastically change the lives of Ting and everyone around her.

At the end of the day, The Victim is a movie that convinces with a twisted plot, features some decent to strong acting performances and oozes with atmosphere. Anyone interested in Asian horror movies and Thai culture should give this underrated movie a fair try. Grab a copy of the Tartan Asia Extreme release and make sure to check out the quirky behind the scenes featurettes as well.

If it wasn't for the never ending end, I would have graded this a lot higher. But they actually got to irritate me, well, the audience, because it never seems to finish and they keep adding and adding and...enough already!!

If you do have a good idea you want to use, show the world what you created, wouldn't you like to make the most of it? Why drown in a sea of mediocre executions, that got lost in their own work. They had the idea, good actors, good acting, good development throughout the movie, why such a obvious wall? Either do something great and be remembered, or just postpone it till you're sure that your movie will be better than most's! Something that will be recommended by others, will get hinted between viewers, will have something to say! But no, I wanted to like it, but it made sure I won't.

Up to you if you want to give it a try, I was deeply disappointed tho.

Cheers!