13 Desafios

Putting the quote 'From the makers of Ong Bak and Chocolate' on the front cover has no doubt led many fight fans to believe that this is another action-packed film from Thailand, but unfortunately, that is not the case. Instead we are given one of the best Thai films in recent years - a twisted thriller, filled with dark comedy and violence galore that takes the Baa-Ram-Ewe Studio to another level!

I really like 13: Game of Death. Its been a while since I first watched it, and actually forgot how well made, directed and entertaining it all is. Like a ramped up version of Michael Douglas' fantastic film, Falling Down, this Thai flick starts off on a light jog then doesn't take long before breaking into a full sprint - shocking and surprising its audience along the way as poor Chit accepts challenge after challenge, with each one getting worse along the way.

Each role is pretty well acted, but main star Krissada Sukosol owns it. He plays Chit perfectly, full of emotion and keeps you glued to the screen every second he's on it - seeming like he is channelling the energy of a young Another Wong from the golden years of Hong Kong cinema! While only having appeared in a handful of films as I write (this being his third), I'd like to see Krissada go a long way and make a bigger name for himself.

A lot of the time, Thai comedy doesn't translate too well to the Western audience, but with this, most of it actually works and comes across quite funny. I don't want to give too much away about it as the shock value and twists will be spoilt if you haven't already seen it, so go find yourself a copy of 13: Game of Death and enjoy one of Thai cinema's better offerings before someone ruins it for you...

Overall: Fast paced, shocking and funny, 13: GOD is one of the best films to come out of Thailand to date!

A surprisingly decent little Thai thriller that comes across as a mix of FALLING DOWN and DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE, 13: GAME OF DEATH is unique in that it offers something from a country that we haven't seen before. Most Thai movies I watch are typically poor vengeful ghost style movies that lack a single iota of originality, but this film has a lot more going for it. It's pretty well made too, with director Chookiat Sakveerakul eliciting plenty of suspense from his premise and a fair amount of good twists as the narrative progresses.

This isn't a perfect film by any stretch of the imagination. The script is fast-paced and witty, yes, and the liberal sprinklings of blackly comic humour definitely add to the experience to make it more palatable. You may be inclined to think there's at least one too many twists come the unsatisfactory end, though. In addition, and this comes as no surprise, the characters are underwritten; the writer allows Krissada Sukosol's protagonist to develop through the nature of his experiences, but it's not enough to elicit any sympathy in the viewer in the same way as, say, Michael Douglas's character did in FALLING DOWN.

Still, there's plenty of intensity here, and the anything-goes premise means that we're in for plenty of incident even if some of it is lacking. The 'well' set-piece, clearly derived from RING, is a real stand-out, while the restaurant scene will be sure to test the stomachs of even the toughest viewer, coming across as an extreme and timely version of a certain reality TV gameshow, I'M A CELEBRITY...GET ME OUT OF HERE! There's also at least one ultra-gory CGI effect that had me genuinely shocked with its realism and effectiveness. No, 13: GAME OF DEATH isn't perfect…but it is a great deal of fun, and one of the freshest and most inventive Thai movies I've seen in a while.

This is probably the best Thai thriller I've seen so far, and I've seen a bunch. Pusit has lost just about everything, his job, his girlfriend, his home, not much left. Then out of the blue he gets a call on his cell phone, telling him he has won the right to compete on a game show, and he can make huge sums of money. The game, is to complete 13 tasks presented by the show via his cell phone, but he has to complete all 13 with money going into his account after each task is completed. Pusit decides to play and off we go on a journey with Pusit that is at times stomach churning for the audience. The first task is pretty easy and Pusit is feeling good about things, but then they start to become very intense and towards the end terrifying. I could feel the tension as this movie goes along, it's along the lines of a good Hitchcockian suspense thriller. More than one of these tasks is very shocking and brutal to say the least, but Pusit is committed and turning back means losing everything again, something he cannot do. So he's hooked, and so are we as one shocking scene after scene builds up to an excellent climax. Put this baby on your want list immediately, you'll love it. I've never seen a movie quite like this one, and it's worth multiple viewings.

Phuchit (Krissada Terrence) receives a phone call on the same day he loses his job at a music center. The man on the line gives him a strange offer: complete 13 different tasks and win 100 million Baht (about $3 million US). Chit agrees to take part in this 'game' and his missions commence. . . ranging from the trivial (swatting a fly) to the unthinkable (you'll see). The biggest catch: He must complete ALL the tasks. . . or lose all the money. Will he beat the game, complete all the tasks, and win the huge cash prize? Or will the game beat him, as the rest of the world has been doing as of late?

Dimension Extreme, the distributor of Diary of the Dead, Black Sheep, Inside, etc., delivers to horror fans yet another violently original new film. . . and this one is just as good as, if not better than, the aforementioned. Sadly, I did overlook it more than a few times. I'd pass it by in stores thinking that, due to its cover & plot line, it was just another of the dozen or so Saw ripoffs that have been released over the past few years. With a storyline like this, I don't blame myself. However, I was more-than-pleasantly surprised to find that the film is blurs the lines between horror, paranoia thriller, and comedy, and it does it very well, making it an unbelievably fresh and stirring film. There were times where I was equally overcome by the tension, comedy, disgust, sadness, and loathing. . . sometimes separately, sometimes together. Technically, the film is extremely well made. The direction and writing work perfectly well together, although the acting does leave a bit to be desired at some points (excluding Krissada Terrence who delivers a great, great performance). But, the thing that makes this film shine is the revelation/conclusion along with the way it was shown. . . it was so emotionally stirring that I'm surprised it's not more talked about. I suppose it's so little spoken of because it's so little seem. . . and that's a shame, because this is a truly, truly great modern horror/thriller that utilizes many different elements of both genres, including quite a bit of comedy to keep the more disturbing elements tolerable. See this one if you can.

Final verdict: 8.5/10.

A film of almost unbearable suspense, who starts lightly and goes darker by the minute.

It works on various levels: as a critique of the society we live in ( the voyeurism and excessive competition), as psychological (the characters have their behavior well explained by the movie).

It is the best movie I have ever seen from Thailand.

Thai cinema is evolving and proof is Sick Nurses, an stylish exercise in horror better than most American movies and 13 Beloved, who is also very well served by its actors and director.

If you like suspense, don't miss that film