Some nice ‘accidental death’ set-ups, Omen/Final Destination style, but this is one horror that won’t keep you awake at night…
Based on a popular myth in Thailand, Ghost of Mae Nak tells of a newly married couple Nak(Pataratida Pacharawirapong) and Mak(Siwat Chotchaicharin) who move into an old house in Bangkok. When Mak acquires a bone broach, they soon find mysterious things are happening around them, including macabre accidents those who might do them harm.
When Mak falls into a supernatural coma, it’s up to Nak to find and exhume Mae Nak’s body before the Buddhist monks carry out a gruesome cure of their own.
A self-confessed fan of the horror genre, British director Mark Duffield’s first feature often uses far too conventional and predictable motifs to scare his audience. Waking from a dream, the phone ringing, and so on - it’s all been done before, and much better besides. (Compare, for instance, with the first half of the Pang Brothers Re-cycle.)
Perhaps Mark’s weakness is that he approaches this from the perspective of a western director, with a clichéd view of what a horror movie should be, rather than that of the more inventive Asian directors. Having undertaken such an immense amount of research on Mark’s part into the legend and long history of film adaptations, it seems a shame to reduce it to such a recognisable western horror format.
It’s only when the power of Mae Nak, to cause terrible accidents to happen, comes to the surface that Duffield really finds his feet, with some inventive and truly grizzly ends coming to those who cross her. A particular standout coming when one shady character is cut in half by a sheet of glass, Damien Hirst style.
The influence of films like The Omen and Final Destination is obvious, but it’s such a fun sub-genre you can’t begrudge Duffield being the latest to try his hand at it. Sadly, it’s some of that fun that’s missing from his vision. It should be all about the playful anticipation of making your audience try to work out what is going to happen and then, as James Wong and Glen Morgan did so well in Final Destination, utterly confound those expectations.
Where Duffield could have Instead Duffield concentrates on the melodrama of the situation, getting fine performances from his leads. (Special mention goes out to Marasri Issarangkul Na Ayyuthaya as the grandmother.) Yet it’s just not enough. Duffield’s own script undermines the film, often with contradictory logic. (Oh, so what are Mae Nak’s powers now?)
Worryingly, the way he depicts the monks and their gruesome proposed cure for Mak’s coma, seems rather tainted by a western view of their beliefs. It’s hard to imagine that an Asian-born director showing their rituals in such a bad light?
It’s a glossy, beautiful looking film as you might expect from Mark Duffield’s previous experience as a cinematographer, including work on the award-winning Butterfly Man. Even the post-production and special effects are the equal of any mainstream (and presumably far more expensive) Hollywood film. (Right up until the end that is - which seems strangely shoddily cut together, like there was a last-minute change.)
Truth is, it’s hardly going to keep you awake at night…
DVD details
Distributor: Tartan Asia Extreme (UK)
According to the director Mark Duffield, this release was due to have video diary for the production. Sadly that seems to have been omitted, meaning that this DVD lacks a more insightful bonus other than trailer and biographies.
