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Four of Thailand’s hottest new directors and masters of the macabre – Paween Purikitpanya (Body), Yongyoot Thongkongtoon (Best Of Times; Metrosexual; Iron Ladies) and the co-directing team responsible for ‘Shutter’, Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom (Shutter) – come together to serve up a fresh feast of fear in the horror anthology, Phobia, coming to DVD in May 2010.

Featuring four self-contained but tenuously connected tales of terror, Phobia is a visually stylish and compelling fright flick for fans of short, sharp, shock horror compendia such as ‘Tales From The Crypt’. ‘Twilight Zone: The Movie’ and ‘Creepshow’.

Yongyoot Thongkongtoon kicks things off with ‘Happiness’, a dialogue-free instalment featuring a teenage girl, housebound due to injuries received in a taxi accident, whose only connection to the outside world is via her mobile phone. Another boring evening starts to look promising when she begins receiving friendly text messages from a mysterious boy. Things take a turn for the worse when it becomes apparent that the texts are being sent from beyond the grave by a lonely corpse and he’s very keen to meet up… with…

In ‘Tit For Tat’ a group of dope-smoking school bullies face bloody, ‘Final Destination’-style retribution when their latest victim, a fellow student, seeks revenge via black magic and a terrifying curse from which there is no escape. Or is there? Paween Purikitpanya’s hyper-kinetic directing style, unexpectedly creative death scenes and generous helpings of gore deliver a thrilling tale with a suitably gruesome pay-off.

A self-referential horror-comedy that manages to give passing nods to ‘Titanic’, ‘The Sixth Sense’, ‘The Others’ and the director’s own ‘Shutter’, amongst other movies, Banjong Pisanthanakun’s ‘In The Middle’ even has one character posing the question: “Why are ghosts always females with white faces and long, straight dark hair?” That’s definitely not the case in this story of four youths on a camping and white river rafting trip that takes a creepy turn when one of their number goes missing after their dinghy capsizes. Giggles and gasps are produced in equal measure in a segment that will delight film fans, especially those who don’t like to have the endings of movies ruined by inconsiderate friends.

Directed by Parkpoom Wongpoom, ‘Last Flight’ takes the movie’s shock factor to new heights as the sole stewardess on a flight taking home the body of a deceased princess is haunted, mid-air, by the woman whose marriage she wrecked and who she accidentally killed. Taut, claustrophobic and full of unexpected scares, ‘Last Flight’ is a textbook example of effective, short, horror filmmaking.

Phobia (cert. 15) will be released on DVD (£12.99) by Icon Home Entertainment on 10th May 2010. Special Features include ‘Making of’ featurette.

Korea’s first ever disaster movie, and one of the most expensive productions in the country’s history, Tidal Wave: Haeundae, is released courtesy of Optimum. Blending the drama of interwoven relationships with the high octane thrills of the traditional genre, the film’s centerpiece: the tsunami itself, was created by acclaimed Hollywood CGI specialists Polygon, the team behind the Star Wars prequels, The Day After Tomorrow and The Perfect Storm.

Palisades Tartan continue their phoenix-like rebirth by reissuing and repackaging titles from the Tartan back catalogue with a double bill from Park Chan-wook, JSA and I’m A Cyborg, as well as a set of Three… Extremes 1 & 2. Yes, they’re still calling Three by the name of Three… Extremes 2 – even though it was the first film… oh, whatever! (And hang on… haven’t they missed a trick not including the feature length version of Dumplings…?)

With the later also including a hugely entertaining segment by Park Chan-wook as well, there’s no doubt that we’re all looking towards the UK cinematic release of Thirst this Friday, on which we’ll be featuring more exciting news and interviews in the next few days…

Director/action choreographer Ching Siu-tung’s solid if slightly disappointing movie An Empress and The Warriors is released on UK DVD today.

Starring an under-utilised Donnie Yen, Leon Li and Kelly Chen, it’s an historical melodrama. Yep, another one. And sadly it doesn’t delight in the way you might hope from the director of Hong Kong 80s and 90s classics like the Chinese Ghost Story and Swordsman series of films, or from his collaborations with Zhang Yimou – Hero, House Of Flying Daggers and Curse Of The Golden Flower.

You can read our full review of An Empress and The Warriors here »

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