Ha phraeng

Phobia 2: Thai Horror Anthology with vengeful ghosts, a slapstick humour horror film crew, zombies and possessed cars. Ghost driven lizards jumping on backs, a shaman near death who is determined to live on, a child zombie leaping and biting a monk on the neck, how do you know if an actor in a host film is really dead? Best of the lot is Backpackers, hitchhikers find out that the truck driver who picks them up has a rather strange cargo.; involving drug-smuggling, people trafficking and zombies this has the potential for a full length movie. Great fun. 8/10. On Netflix.

Phobia 2 is (as is predecessor) divided into short segments, directed by an all star team of Thai movie makers. That is makers of movies of the scary kind! It's rather unfair to write a review of the movie as a whole, so instead I'll write a bit about the individual parts.

The movie starts out with "Novice", the story of a boy being dropped off at a Buddhist monastery. The segment is eerie and set in a beautiful environment. The horror theme is a mix between a few jumpscares and some painfully gory bits. All in all an OK segment, but it lacked in the scary department. 6/10

Segment number two, labeled "Ward" takes place in (surprise) a hospital ward. A young man is injured and confined to a hospital bed, next to a man on life support. He can't leave his room and bed as scary events unfold. That is also what the horror theme is based around, completed with a fair amount of well-directed jumpscares. 7/10

The third segment is named "Backpackers" and could be used as a propaganda film on why you shouldn't hitchhike. It has the feel of a classic horror movie, with great makeup, gore and sound effects. It also deals with morals in pressed situations as the protagonist has to make some tough decisions. It has been done before, but I still loved this segment. 8/10

The fourth segment, "Salvage" is set in a second hand car store, dealing in a very special type of cars. It's built around a lot of cool ideas and there's plenty of both gore and jumpscares, but the story is a bit weak in my opinion. 6/10

Finally, my favorite part. I loved the segment "In the middle" from the first movie and this one is even better. The cast from "In the middle" is back to poke more fun on the horror genre (including their previous adventure). The twists, turns, plot holes and clichés creates a truly hilarious and fantastic short. Banjong Pisanthanakun has a great deal of self distance and both Shutter (once again) and Alone are made fun of, as well as the entire Hollywood horror genre. 10/10

The problem with anthology movies is that the quality of each individual story differs from the other and therefore makes it real difficult to grade the overall experience. But i will try. The first thing I noticed that there isn't a real connection between the individual stories. Other than the prominent role given to cars. This movie could have made more impact had there been a cleverer connection. Phobia 2 is very visual and doesn't rely too much on dialog. Which is very smart since this way it will appeal to a large (international) audience. Most movies were creepy and had decent buildups. There are some sequences however that didn't work for me. I got the impression whenever a scene failed to deliver on tension and suspense they replaced it with gore. Which had the complete opposite effect on me of what was intended. From the five stories there are two that stand out. These are "Backpackers" and "In the end". This last story is absolutely hilarious and scary at the same time. It is full with twists and turns that will creep you out and will make you laugh. This story alone is the reason to watch Phobia 2. To be honest (apart from some scenes) I didn't find it really scary. Stories like "Novice" and "Salvage" weren't compelling enough. And too often the loud background music announced the scares which ruined most of the surprise. Overall however I enjoyed this movie. Just don't expect too much.

Direction was very polished, first rate even. But that's where any attempt at greatness departs. The problem with every segment of the five short horror movies, was... in every single case, and without exception: screenplay. Hackneyed shock noises and age old visual jolts are used to move the seen it all before "horror" along to stories that are so fast-forwardable - my remote control (when called for) simply couldn't get through this effort fast enough. Admittedly, I did attempt to watch the whole thing without fast forwarding, but tedium was stretched ad infinitum. Overall Phobia 2 (i.e., "Trang 5") was as just as forgettable as any average movie usually is. Shame, though that the direction, cinematography and production were all first rate. But a movie needs a good scare story and not just the same old shocks (yawn) in order to deliver.

In conclusion, this was a perfectly forgettable movie which should not be watched by those with more than half a functioning brain.

"Phobia 2" is an anthology of Thai horror films made by some of Thailand's top film directors. As previous reviewers have mentioned, it's difficult to rate anthology films because they may vary wildly in quality.

"NOVICE" (by the director of "Body") is the weakest of the bunch. A delinquent teenager is dropped off at a jungle monastery by his mother who promises to pick him up "when things calm down". "Novice" has some very good ideas but ends up depending too much on loud noises and jump scares while also being somewhat dull. Great ending, weak film. 6/10 "WARD" (the directorial debut of a Thai producer) finds a teenager placed in a hospital bed next to an old man on life support after a routine bicycle accident. Strange things begin happening and the film achieves a claustrophobic "Rear Window" feel since the strong-willed teen can't movie his legs. Good but predictable. 7/10 "BACKPACKERS" (by the director of "Dorm") was my favorite. When it starts off with two silly Japanese teenagers hitchhiking in Thailand, you wonder why it's a horror movie. That's answered soon enough. Thrilling, spooky, gory and exciting. Sadly, this director has turned more to teen comedies lately. 10/10 "SALVAGE" (by the co-director of "Shutter" and "Alone") features another story about karmic justice as a woman who sells used cars gets a comeuppance that would never happen in an American movie. Also takes a while to get going, but ends up worth the time. 7/10 "IN THE END" (by the OTHER co-director of "Shutter" and "Alone", as well as "Pee Mak") is delightfully silly and a great way to end the series. You'll have to know a little bit about Thai horror (think "Scream"), acting and Thai sense of humor, so this might be the most difficult for Western audiences. Still enjoyable with a creepy ending....9/10