Thongsook 13

Thai horror films have really found their way into our cinemas. I have taken note of them since I was scared by classics like "The Eye" and "Shutter," which really have memorably innovative scare techniques. More recently, "Pee Mak" found a lot of fans with its charismatic cast and hilarious version of an old Thai ghost story. "Long Weekend" is not as good as these ones I have mentioned, but it is better than the clunkers I have seen, like "Second Sight" which was just shown in theaters just last week.

"Long Weekend" is about a group of teenagers who decide to take an overnight thrill-seeking adventure at a remote island notorious for a bloody "Devouring Ghost" feast celebration mishap on a Friday the 13th years back which resulted in many deaths. When the boys play a cruel prank on a classmate who came along uninvited, sinister events begin to unravel, turning what was supposed to be a weekend of fun into a weekend of death.

It starts with an episode from the childhood of central characters which establish their relationship, the odd Thongsook (a special boy who can see ghosts) and the curious Nam (the pretty girl he loved). I liked how the director Taweewat Wantha would transition scenes from past to present. These shifts would prove important in the course of the film. The actor and actress who played Thongsook and Nam have a nice chemistry going for them.

Honestly, there is not really too much that is new about this horror film. You have probably seen one scary bit from one previous horror film or the other spliced into this one. It has this juvenile sense of humor that keeps everything light, drawing inspiration from "Pee Mak" though not as absurdly slapstick. This is reminiscent of various local smorgasbord teen horror film where a cast of young good-looking teen actors embarks on a trip which would scare them out of their wits.

This was surely a pleasant surprise! It had horror, comedy, nice special effects, good plot (although often used), overall a nice way of spending one dark, rainy night!

I will recommend it not only to Asian horror fans, but to anyone who wants to pass the time in a nice way, because "Long weekend" will deliver what we expect more in a such production: tension and scares! Sure, it has that typical touch on it, you will get to see a lot of things you've seen before, but the execution seems fresh, the humor is nicely placed and the effects are surprisingly well done.

Therefore without spoiling this, I'm just gonna say that you should give it a chance, I really was not expecting such a little gem. Far better than your usual Asian horror film.

Cheers!

Essentially a Thai-style reworking of 'Friday the 13th', 'Long Weekend' is a decently made horror that uses humour to enliven an otherwise standard bag of thrills. Like its Hollywood predecessor, it is built around a similar premise where a group of teenagers visit a supposedly haunted place and run into some bad company from a long time ago. The date of that ill-fated day? Yes, no prizes for getting that right.

Instead of the drowning of Jason Voorhees, the unfortunate event that sets the stage for the later proceedings is a 'Devouring Spirit' rite gone wrong. Apparently, on every Friday the 13th, the villagers of a particular island would offer live animals as sacrifices to the evil spirits; but on one such occasion, one of the teenagers involved in that rite accidentally lets slip a candle he is supposed to hold tight, unleashing the spirits which were devouring the animals in the enclosed shrine and thereby dooming the entire island.

Needless to say, our 'adventurous' group of five protagonists gamely decide to ignore warnings to the contrary and spend one night in an empty bungalow. Though intended as a party of five – made up of two guys, Boi (Sean Jindachot) and Jack (Acharanat Ariyaritwikol), and three girls, Nam (Cheeranat Yusanon), Beam (Busarin Yokpraipan) and Pui (Gitlapat Garasutraiwan) – they receive an uninvited companion in Thongsuk (Chinnawut Intarakusin), the mildly retarded introvert who has had a crush on Nam since young.

Unbeknownst to them, Thongsuk has a dark secret – he's easily possessed by ghosts, and the amulet around his neck is meant as protection for him. The opening prologue also establishes the relationship between him and Nam, going back to their primary school days when he went into a seizure after removing the amulet on her request to demonstrate what it would be like to see a ghost. Their ignorance ultimately precipitates their downfall, as an unkind prank Boi and Jack play on Thongsuk goes horribly awry, basically allowing Thongsuk to become a conduit for the evil spirits on the island to return.

But first, Thongsuk's inexplicable disappearance from where he was locked up causes the quintet to extend their stay, after Nam insists on leaving only after they have managed to locate him. That additional night turns out to be an ominous Friday the 13th, hence the return of every manner of evil the island has known. The same can also be said of director's Taweewat Wantha's repertoire of scares, which will certainly be familiar to even casual viewers of the horror genre.

From warnings scribbled on rain-frosted windows to bodies bent over backwards to 'Dementor-like' black wraiths, there isn't anything particularly original that Wantha concocts to keep his audience piqued. Instead, the director of such gleeful B-horror as 'SARS Wars' (read – the 4th generation SARS virus causes people to turn into bloodthirsty zombies) and 'The Sperm' (read – a horny musician's frequent masturbation produces offspring with his head and libido) opts for a non-stop roller-coaster ride once the hauntings begin. Not only is the ensuing pace relentless, Wantha also goes for the jugular where it counts, so expect a fair amount of gore and graphic violence along the way.

Scripting with Adirek Watleela, Wantha keeps the energy up with some witty asides courtesy of the designated comic relief character Jack. At first fooling around in front and behind a hand-held camcorder, Jack thankfully keeps his sense of humour even when evil descends – though the best moments tend to be quite macabre in nature. Particularly hilarious is Jack's elaborate death sequence, in which he exclaims with resignation 'I'm dead enough' when the long-tail propeller of a motorised boat slices twice into his skull.

And indeed it is these occasional 'killer' lines that enable the movie to rise above mediocrity, which is unfortunately all that it offers the seasoned horror viewer. Even then, we can assure you that this is one of the better Thai horrors you will see – at the very least, it is largely coherent and relatively engaging. A long weekend it doesn't deserve, but at a brisk 96 minutes, it won't outstay its welcome.

The girl Nam befriends the bullied boy Thongsook at the same room in the hospital and she tells that she likes horror films. Thongsook asks whether she would like to see ghosts and he removes his necklace with an amulet and is attacked by ghosts. Years later, Thongsook (Chinawut Indracusin) is an outcast teenager that studies in the same class of Nam (Natpassara Adulyamethasiri) and has a crush on her. When Nam and her friends Boy, Jack (Acharanat Ariyaritwikol) and the lesbians Beam (Butsarin Yokpraipan) and Pui decide to spend a night in an infamous island, they do not tell Thongsook. The boatman warns the group that the place is cursed and they should neither stay there nor visit the sanctuary where a tragedy happened but they do not pay attention to his words. Meanwhile Thongsook finds their map and meets his mates in the island. Boy, Jack and Beam force Thongsook to go with them to the sanctuary and he tells that the place is evil. However Boy and Jack take his amulet and lock him up in a cell to scare him but they can not open the padlock. They go home to bring a crowbar to open the padlock but they party instead and Thongsook spends the night in the sanctuary. On the next morning, Nam finds the amulet in the house and they go to the sanctuary to release Thongsook. However they do not find him. They ask the boatman to come back on the next day and he warns that they should not spend the Friday 13th in the island. What might have happened to the teenager?

"Thongsook 13" is an underrated Thai horror film with a good story of ghosts and fiends. Thai horror movies with story of spirits are usually original. The screenplay is also attractive and the special effects are excellent. The final twist is predictable but also great. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Uma Noite Maldita" ("The Damned Night")