It's been a while since I've seen a Thai horror I really liked... or ever, maybe, since the most memorable is Shutter and I wasn't as taken with it as most people were (though I want to give it a second viewing).
4bia is an anthology of four horror stories of about a half hour each, and written/directed by four different individuals (they're all Thai names and I really can't tell their genders by their names). As such, it's an uneven - though largely fun - ride.
I liked the first story, 'Happiness' the best. It's a very simple tale about a girl resting at home alone with a broken leg who gets haunted by a ghost through text messages. What's good about it is the claustrophobic setting, and the director's superb handling of suspense, from shots of the phone waiting for it to buzz, to when the lights go out and the girl's fumbling in the dark. The big payoff is unfortunately a cheap scare, but well, it worked. I jumped.
The second story, 'Tit for Tat,' I liked the least. A bunch of bullies are menaced by ghosts created by their victim's black magic. This segment had an over-reliance of obviously cheap special effects and wasn't particularly scary.
'In the Middle,' the third story, was a humorous one about four guys out camping and trying to scare each other with ghost stories. That is, till one of them drowns in a rafting accident. There was some good suspense here and I liked the makeup on the ghost. That face stayed with me after the movie.
The last story, 'Last Fright,' was pretty good too, albeit a bit stupid: A flight attendant is requested to transport the corpse of a princess whose husband she was having an affair with. A woman alone on a plane with a vengeful corpse - nice use of claustrophobia there too, though the suspense wasn't as good as with the first story.
All-in-all, I really liked this movie because three of its directors generated pretty good suspense, which is quite hard to find in today's horrors, since they're inclined towards gore and cheap "Boo!" scares. Pity about the weak link.
4bia is an anthology of four horror stories of about a half hour each, and written/directed by four different individuals (they're all Thai names and I really can't tell their genders by their names). As such, it's an uneven - though largely fun - ride.
I liked the first story, 'Happiness' the best. It's a very simple tale about a girl resting at home alone with a broken leg who gets haunted by a ghost through text messages. What's good about it is the claustrophobic setting, and the director's superb handling of suspense, from shots of the phone waiting for it to buzz, to when the lights go out and the girl's fumbling in the dark. The big payoff is unfortunately a cheap scare, but well, it worked. I jumped.
The second story, 'Tit for Tat,' I liked the least. A bunch of bullies are menaced by ghosts created by their victim's black magic. This segment had an over-reliance of obviously cheap special effects and wasn't particularly scary.
'In the Middle,' the third story, was a humorous one about four guys out camping and trying to scare each other with ghost stories. That is, till one of them drowns in a rafting accident. There was some good suspense here and I liked the makeup on the ghost. That face stayed with me after the movie.
The last story, 'Last Fright,' was pretty good too, albeit a bit stupid: A flight attendant is requested to transport the corpse of a princess whose husband she was having an affair with. A woman alone on a plane with a vengeful corpse - nice use of claustrophobia there too, though the suspense wasn't as good as with the first story.
All-in-all, I really liked this movie because three of its directors generated pretty good suspense, which is quite hard to find in today's horrors, since they're inclined towards gore and cheap "Boo!" scares. Pity about the weak link.