Nunca estamos solos

Thai writer-directors Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom have shot to prominence in the horror genre with their debut movie Shutter, which I had regrettably missed its theatrical run here, but more than made up for it by being the proud owner of the (now autographed) DVD. In my opinion, having mustered up enough courage to sit through horror movies now (and find them really enjoyable, at times comedic though), I've shuddered at some of this genre's movies which keep on harping on the same thing, and got dumbed down by weak execution. Not Shutter, and definitely not Alone.

If you think Banjong and Parkpoom are one hit wonders with their debut movie, then Alone will prove you wrong. Despite having counted on the usual lighting and shadow techniques, quick cut surprises and scares, and the pristine, well-crafted sound effects, it demonstrated that as long as you deliver the product with great technical skill and respect for the medium, it'll still be as enjoyable as watching it all for the very first time. Having a storyline which engages helps as well, and here the duo still seemed to have a thing or two for old photographs, this time showing the subject material of siamese twins, although not as grotesque as those shown in the Alone trailers.

While the storyline isn't really that original, with the surviving siamese twin having to encounter the supernatural return of her deceased other, and if you look closely enough there are adequate hints of the revelatory twist to come, what mattered was how the subject again was being introduced and crafted, how tension and suspense were met out, and how easy it is to spook audiences when all the ingredients turn out right. Despite having some premise set up for the obvious, I was still taken aback at one of the scenes, and it is this constant sense of what's coming, and the expected delivery, which will easily make this a successful spook film for the mass audience.

The duo had got the male heartthrob Ananda Everingham lead in their previous movie, and now the opportunity is given to the female gender - the beautiful and very photogenic Masha Wattanapanich, who plays the siamese twins Pim and Ploy. Starring opposite them in a Natthaweeranuch Thongmee kinda role, is Vittaya Wasukraipaisan as Wee, Pim's boyfriend. As Pim's mother (Ratchanoo Bunchootwong) is suddenly taken ill back in Thailand, the duo have to leave their careers in Korea, and journey back to the homeland, where the unexpected starts to happen. Pim's encounters with who she presumes is Ploy led to Wee thinking that she needs psychiatric help, but slowly, he too gets drawn into the web of supernatural intrigue.

And in all earnestness, I'd say Masha had nailed her role to a fitting T. Given that Pim and Ploy's characters are key to the movie, she managed to bring out the vast differences in the character of the two sisters (of course the teenage actresses who played the younger versions also helped loads). In shedding light onto the ongoing mystery, the expected blast from the past recollection and flashback helped provide a certain richness to the entire backstory for all the characters, and in doing so, played on a common theme, one that at times I like to ponder upon - which I cannot elaborate further other than saying, is ignorance sometimes bliss, and can you live a lie?

Alone is excellent stuff, even though the horrific moments might come few and far between, and there possibly was a sub-genre shift in the last 10 minutes or so. Nonetheless its numerous strengths easily outweigh the minute weaknesses, and in having delivered a superbly crafted tried-and-tested story, this could easily be a hit at the box office. Recommended for all you people out there who are itching for a good scare!

The directors of the chiller "Shutter" created another terrifying horror film. This creepy film tells the story about the surviving half of a conjoined twin who starts to "see" her dead sister when she returns home to visit her dying mother. Through flashbacks we learn how the beautiful relationship between the sisters transforms in to a repressive bond that forced one of the sisters to ask for her mother's support for a separation. When one of the twins dies, she angrily returns from the dead to haunt her sister. Strong story, strong cast dealing with recognizable themes such as rivalry between sisters, romantic jealousy and good old family guilt. A cut above all other scary movies in recent years.

If this movie had come out a decade earlier, it might have been hailed as an innovator of Horror movies, that do put some drama into the mix. But since then, a lot of movies came out, that might spoil the fun you can have with this one. It's a shame, because it seems to check every point/scare a movie like this should have. But as it is, there is one big problem:

It is predictable. At least if you have seen a few horror movies over the last ten years, like I mentioned before. You will know where this is going after the first 10 minutes (the latest) and curse the movie makers for putting so many false scares in there, that are predictable too. Still I have seen worse movies, so if you don't mind being scared once in awhile and like your horror movies with a bit of drama mixed, you can still kind of enjoy this movie

The strongest asset of Alone for me is the casts' acting. Even though I'm not Thai and don't know about their dialect's inflection, the body language and facial expressions of the casts are top-notch and comparable to some of the best horror movies to date. Another strong suit of the film is the legitimately scary ghosts which looks so creepy that I wanted to commend the brilliancy of the costume designers and make-up artists of this film. I'm not the one who is easy to scare but some sequences of the film really give me some chills, attributed to the petrifying faces of the ghosts there.

Inside the movie itself, I like that there are some drama and decent romance sprinkled in the plot which strengthen the impact of the horror sequences to make it not too much saturated.

Unfortunately, even though the plot twist at the end looks nice, it doesn't really pay off well for me as it lacks adequate foreshadowing in the earlier parts of the story; thus, turning it only as an added shock value rather than a successful and effective revelation.

Lastly, the final part of the film to me (the climax) seems out of place. The writers completely abandoned the jump scares and other supernatural aspects that we experience in the first 3 quarters of the film; trading it for a mediocre and floppy action sequences between the 2 main characters during the climax. Fear-inducing jump scares are the best part of this film, why not stick to it throughout the climax?

So to sum up, Alone thrives through the strong acting of the casts as well as its horror sequences. Unfortunately, they didn't stick to that horror niche to the very end, plus coupled with an unpolished revelation costed the film a good chance of being hailed as one of the best out there.

This is the movie that makes me couldn't sleep well. It's so frightened. I When I watched it, I couldn't even predict the end of the story. This is so unpredictable stories. The movie combined the thriller story and ghost story. It made me scream and closed mu eyes. It is so tragic. I couldn't even open my eyes. The movie is about twin sisters that fall in love with the same guy. Their name are Pim and Ploy. The movie sets in Thailand. It sets in an old house that is so spooky. Actually, this is a good movie but I really don't like horror movies. It makes me scared all the time. For you who like horror movies, you should watch this movie. It really increase your adrenaline.