Meat Grinder (2009) Poster

(2009)

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6/10
Rather flawed but nicely grisly Thai shocker
Bloodwank4 January 2012
Buss is a disturbed lady who kills people and sometimes makes them into food. Meat Grinder is the story of how and why she came to this pretty pass, and where she goes. By all rights this should be a real winner, it has a workable story, reasonable pace and some entertaining gore and yet it actually comes out somewhat stodgy, dull in places. The trouble is mostly in the storytelling, fractured yet centred it draws shards of past and present in claustrophobic swirl about its lead, not really letting the story breath for itself or gather up a compelling sense of rhythm or flow. If the central performance were a bit better there might have been compelling emotional momentum but unfortunately Mai Charoenpura is fairly one note as Buss, cold and stressed out but not all that affecting. As a result the film is mostly interesting for the sake of various grisly moments, nothing we haven't seen before of course but some good stuff all the same, with a generally twisted edge that gives it that all important punch. Stylistic tics at times detract from affairs, like random switching between colour and black and white, but at least the nasty moments aren't spoiled by coke head edits, speedy cam or incomprehensible close ups, we still get to see the good stuff. What we don't see though is very much in the way of actual meat grinding, the title seems to have been put in place to catch the eye rather than for any great relevance to the films content. It's actually a sombre story of a woman's plight and what happens when she finally cracks, and though it follows a fairly predictable woe is the plight of the Asian woman trajectory, its still dark enough to be watchable. I'm probably making this one sound much less worthy than it is, certainly others have had stronger and more positive reactions. It does all just about hang together (aside from unexplained and irrelevant scenes involving rioters), it has some classy moments and the story works itself out in appropriately twisted fashion, but I was a bit nonplussed overall by it. Still semi worth a watch, but a good idea to suspend ones expectations and maybe have some booze or other viewing aids on hand to ease the passage. Fair 6/10 from me ('cause I'm a gorehound at heart).
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6/10
Dinner's served, and you are the main course...
paul_haakonsen19 January 2016
I have had "Meat Grinder" (aka "Cheuuat gaawn chim") on the DVD shelves for quite a while, about two years, give or take, and never gotten around to watching it before now. Which is odd, given the fact that I enjoy Asian horror movies quite a lot. And now having seen "Meat Grinder" I can say with all honesty that it is more than just your average gorefest.

The text advertised on the DVD cover, "SAW was just an appetizer... Welcome to the main course", is somewhat of a grotesque exaggeration, because "Saw" and "Meat Grinder" are two very different movies and two very different sub-genres of horror. The only similarity is that they are both visually graphic in terms of gore and mayhem.

The story told in "Meat Grinder" is about a street vendor in Thailand named Buss (played by Mai Charoenpura) who opens up a noodle store, where she serves dishes prepared with meat from the people she kills and stores in her basement.

Initially, the storyline is fairly simple, but it adds additional layers to the story, as this is more than just a gore movie. It also deals with the personal issues and traumas of Buss. And director Tiwa Moeithaisong managed to construct a story where the audience is gradually given more and more information and insight into the story, into what is actually going on, and into the history and trauma of the main character.

"Meat Grinder" is a very explicit graphical movie in terms of showing mutilations, gore and being shocking. As such, it is not suitable for all people. And you should take into consideration that the visuals in the movie is very realistic and very effective (in my opinion). Just a friendly reminder.

The combination of a good, albeit simple, storyline and a great character gallery and character development, alongside with some good acting performance really helped flesh out, no pun intended, "Meat Grinder" to the screen. And the overall result is an enjoyable movie about the breakdown of a woman's psyche, the fall into insanity and the brutality that she was able to dish out.

This 2009 Thai horror movie is well-worth a watch if you enjoy horror movies that has an abundance of gore and presents this in a very in-your-face graphic manner.

I am rating "Meat Grinder" six out of ten stars.
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6/10
More than just a gore film
Leofwine_draca9 October 2012
The title, DVD cover and blurb all conspire to make this film look like a Thai slant on the torture porn sub-genre, but the truth is that it's nothing like that. It's much better!

Yes, it's a gory movie in which bodily dismemberment and death play major roles, but this is only part of the movie. In many ways, MEAT GRINDER is much more of a psychological horror film, exploring one woman's mental disintegration when faced with infidelity and violence. You could take out all the blood and guts and the film would be just as effective; it works best as a character study rather than a movie that just goes out of its way to nauseate.

One thing you notice first is Tiwa Moeithaisong's direction, which is definitely above par for the genre. Moeithaisong banishes memories of poor horror fodder like GHOST GAME and HELL to tell an engaging, speedily-paced movie that doesn't let up from the word go. Mai Charoenpura's performance as the put-upon stall owner is decent, as she keeps you on-side unlike many horror villains. The film in many ways reminds one of the equally icky DUMPLINGS (which were served up containing human foetuses) but MEAT GRINDER is offbeat and engaging enough to work all of its own.
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Beautiful Film
jennifer-25-96523128 July 2011
This is a beautifully gruesome film. The visuals and music in this movie are amazing and draws you into this woman's life of mental anguish and bad luck.

The Meat Grinder is almost like your basic torture gore fest but Tiwa Moeithaisong makes it so much more then that and turns it into an enthralling, vibrant film that sucks you in entirely and plays with your emotions. This is a very sad, beautiful, spell binding film about a woman in love facing the demons of her past.

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4/10
Raw and Excessive Torture for It's Own Sake
Breumaster29 July 2021
There are poor and unrealistic excuses for all the shown torture. All seems very artificial constructed for the sake of showing torture and pain. The worst is the story telling, which is chaotic nonsense. Add some classical music elements and there will be people who are delighted about this "piece of art". Even though the torture effects are obviously handmade, which highers the realism a little bit, there are no insects shown in that blood coated scenario. No flys, no ants, no cockroaches, not anything - just bloody pain with an artificial forced kind of poor story and characters who are very unlikeable. Like all the unrealistic things which are shown, the motives of the characters are exaggerated to the maximum to force the impression that those characters would have a good excuse for their behavior, but they are just very sick. The one and a half hour felt one hour longer than it played. I recommend this movie for people who have too much time and like gore, no matter what.
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7/10
Rated as the strongest release in the U.K (Uncut)!
RatedVforVinny7 January 2020
The 'Meat Grinder' is much more than an out an out gore fest! It's actually set in the mid 70's, and right amongst the hostile, 'Thai student Riots'. The film is really well shot and the scenes of abject horror, will not disappoint (fans of the genre). For me is slightly let down by a muddled plot (confusing characters) and found it overlong in duration. That said the project as a whole is worthy and really atmospheric in parts. The opening scene with the creepy Super 8 footage and a great musical score, sets the dark tone, for a movie that will no doubt divide the critics.
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5/10
Rather flawed bloodfest with some great gore
aronharde4 November 2023
The English title of this movie (Meat Grinder) and the bloody cover with a woman feeding a person and eyeball should prepare you that this movie will not be an easy watch. It is dark and gritty and there's lots of blood and gore involved. You see our protagonist struggling with mental illness and her behavior being depicted as being part of an ongoing cycle of violence that she suffered as a child. And this ongoing cycle of violence is now passed to her daughter. So if you enjoy brutal Thai-splatter movies with a good amount of gore which is explicitly shown you might found yourself a movie here.

However the movie also has its flaws. It's probably personal preference but there's a weird blue and grey filter all throughout the movie which on one hand brings a nice contrast to all the red blood but on the other hand makes the movie look cheap and unrealistic. Also you are served with quite a number of flashbacks and scene shifting that got me wondering what is going on at times. Still I think this movie was a decent watch and I'm surprised that it barely has a thousand views here on IMDb. [5,4/10]
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7/10
(N)oodles of gore.
BA_Harrison15 November 2012
Thai gore-fest The Meat Grinder is in the tradition of such classic Asian shockers as The Untold Story, Human Pork Chop and There is a Secret in my Soup, exploitative films supposedly inspired by real life incidents wherein psychotic individuals dismember their victims, cook them, and serve them up as a tasty meal.

In this case, the crazy chef is Buss, a demented noodle vendor who deals with unwelcome visitors to her shop by chopping them up and adding them to her menu. The product of an abusive childhood, and further mentally scarred by her adulterous husband and the death of her child, Buss is a tragic and slightly sympathetic character, but one that should be avoided at all cost lest she consider you a threat and starts to get slicey and dicey with her cleaver.

Director Tiwa Moeithaisong's film is, first and foremost, a very gruesome splatter-fest, revelling in the gory detail and an excess of bloody body parts; in this he succeeds admirably, giving fans of blood 'n' guts some really well executed and nauseatingly explicit gore. However, The Meat Grinder is also intended as an emotionally powerful psychological horror tale AND as a work of art, and here Moeithaisong isn't quite as successful, his storytelling hampered by far too much confusing cutting between present day and past events, and the 'stylish' editing/directorial techniques employed only serving to annoy and irritate.

If you're a gore-hound, The Meat Grinder is well worth seeing for the high level of splatter on display: arterial spray, severed limbs, impalements, evisceration, dismemberment. If the other aspects of the film had been as brilliantly handled as the grisly stuff, this would be 10/10 material; as it stands, 7/10 seems like a more reasonable rating.
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4/10
Cheuuat Gaawn Chim
a_baron28 March 2016
If you thought "The Meat Grinder" was the Thai equivalent of Mrs Lovett without Sweeney Todd, think again. This film has no humour and even less continuity, even if it has lost something in translation. A wretched woman who runs a noodle bar stumbles upon an amazing if bizarre recipe. There is a riot, and one of those taking part ends up dead on her premises. Instead of contacting the police, the army, or whoever is running that particular town, she, well, you can probably guess.

Now this woman has certainly had a hard life, and there is one bloke who is intent on making it even harder, but did he deserve this, and what about his henchmen? We never really understand what this film is all about, a woman's descent into madness perhaps, but it is impossible to feel sorry for her considering how much innocent blood as well as guilty blood she has on her hands.

Those who enjoy gore and special effects may find something of interest here, but enjoyment is another matter.
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7/10
Crazy movie from thailand
rey_abisika8 February 2019
Full of murder, cutting human body parts and cannibalism. It's really gruesome and really successful to made me got the chill and tense. Love how they made the story but the story telling is really confusing (not because the language). 2 or 3 time frame intertwine each other in one third of the film but they didn't make it quite noticeable for viewers and it got really confusing
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2/10
Muck Grinder
109YearsOld9 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The film is all about the mental illness of a woman in Thailand called Puss, a cougar played by Mai Charoenpura, a Thai singer who resembles Stifler's mom in American Pie (1999). Under the influence of her tormented past, Puss kills people and severs their body parts into food ingredients for her yummy noodle stall. Then here comes the young and stupid dude for this Thai Stifler's mom. And you guess it right, all this guarantees it won't end well for the stupid dude because he is no Finch and Puss is no Stifler's mom. She is a Thai Muck Grinder waiting for him in the end.

In terms of the production, it is fine, and the cinematography and music soundtrack clearly show heavy influence from Wong Kar-wai's movies (e.g. 2046, In the Mood for Love). However that kind of moody, pseudo-classical music is completely at odds with the gory theme, which is very pretentious and thus embarrassing to listen during the meat grinding scenes.

2 solid stars awarded.
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8/10
Watch A Romantic Torture Porn
krakanova9 March 2010
Wow. The film surprised me. I thought I would leave a comment because this film has so few reviews. This was a very romantic torture porn with a crazy woman who runs a restaurant and slashes her customers' or adversaries' calves and puts them up on meathooks as if Leatherface. But this is not The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and this is not Saw or Guinea Pig.

The film is worth watching for the visuals and great operatic music. The primary colors of blood and blue are saturated and the director makes what is boring about these types of movies vibrant. It is very eye magnetic.

I have found torture pornographies to be very dull and exploitative in a way that I do not like (e.g. Hostel 2), but this was different. And it is one of only three Thai horror films that I like. Check it out.
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7/10
When a film which relies on editing ends up being cut more than 20% by censors and still works
AJ_Nel18 August 2022
"Meat Grinder" (2019, Tailand, "Chueat Kon Chim"), intended to be released as "Human Flesh Noodles" ("Kuai-tiao Nuea Khon"), is written and directed by Tiwa Moeithaisong, who best known for his work as a cinematographer. As such, Moeithaisong was also responsible for the cinematography and editing. The editing is crucial to telling the non-linear story of mental illness stemming from various abuses suffered by the main character, i.e. But (competently portrayed by Mai Siriwimol). That said, the fact that all references to the "noodle" industry had to be cut in Thailand and South-Korea (as well as some of the gore and violence), diminished the full effect sought to be achieved through clever editing. This as can be seen by comparing the film to the UK (so-called 'uncut') version and the later directors cut (also called "the uncut version") which are both much "cleaner" (e.g. Less censor blurring and speeding up / slowing down) and closer demonstrates Moeithaisong's abilities in the cutting room. The premise, i.e., folks who wronged / annoyed But ending up as protein in ramen, is not new nor complex. Where the film succeeds is in telling this story in an arty way, which almost puts the viewer in the unbalanced mind of But. As always, non-linear storytelling will mostly not find favour with most audiences and there is some gore (done well) which could upset sensitive viewers. 7/10.
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6/10
Better than Ku Bei aka The Sadness,a lot of gore like Tokyo Gore Police,but Flashback Scene and the plot is Annoying like the Rope Curse,
Yup,I saw Art of the Devil 2&3 ,body #19 and Etc,I mean the Gore was intending but Flashback Scene is Annoying,so after I watched this film so I never ever eat that Noodle again,6/10 for total Avenge,if you watch this Film ,you will never ever eat that noodle again,that was I review it.
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7/10
Gory Thai horror film
billcr1222 April 2012
The Meat Grinder is the appropriate title for this graphic torture film from Thailand. An extremely unstable young woman who sees things in her head opens a noodle shop with very special dumplings, made out of, you guessed it, human bodies.

Buss(Mai Charoenpura) is shown to have been abused as a child by her mother and father, this seems to be the explanation for her irrational behavior as an adult with a daughter of her own. Her shop becomes popular with customers raving about the great food and so she must continue killing people to keep the diners satisfied.

The mood is ominously dark and Mai is chilling in the lead role. The movie is quite graphic, so be prepared for buckets of blood. It is better than Saw, which I believe is overrated.
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7/10
Bloodbath That Is Extremely Hard To Follow.
DarkSpotOn16 January 2024
This movie was actually pretty solid. The gore effects are very well made executed. I actually knew of the movie Meat Grinder for about a year or two, and i never had my chance to watch it. Now i did, and this movie i need to rewatch it because there's so much stuff in it that it gets really hard to follow.

What i picked up is a woman that went through extreme amount of trauma, begins hurting others dye to being hurt. The movie does remind me of my favorite horror movie Martyrs to a degree. And dye to her suffering so much in her life, and her childhood, and well losing her innocent one, she begins hurting everybody around herself.

What makes this movie so interesting is the fact that everything seems NORMAL! When people enter to eat at her restaurant, every single thing seem to be peaceful normal, and the movie does that job pretty well.

I got a few negatives however: They use too many times the fade to black. It gets really annoying. Some of the camera shots are longer then they should of been. I think the movie could of been trimmed a bit and we'd have a stronger movie.

Then again i have watched the Tai Cut, i am not sure how different the uncut version is, and what did i miss. Still this movie was a fun watch, and if you enjoyed the MACHINE GIRL, you'll most likely enjoy the Meat Grinder.
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9/10
Superb Thai splatter classic...
Indyrod1 July 2010
Warning: Spoilers
This Thai horror movie to me is more of an Art film, because it is truly remarkable and it looks amazing. You might think it is more of a send off of the short film DUMPLINGS from the "Three Extremes" DVD, but this is much much more. The movie revolves around Buss a woman trying to make it with a small dumpling shop, and one day a dead guy ends up in her shop, and she decides to grind him up and add the pieces into her dumpling recipe, which is a huge hit. Yes, this sounds like Sweeney Todd a little bit, but Buss is relentless as the movie moves on with her killing of practically everybody that comes in contact with her. Her business has gotten so good, that she is running out of bodies, so she goes where she has to for the yummy ingredients who customers love. This is very very gory as Buss chops and grinds up victims, and pretty much goes berserk in the end, killing everybody in site. The photography is sensational, as is the great soundtrack. The back story is that Buss was severely abused her whole life by her Mother, and Mother comes back in the end, depending on how you interpret the ending. THIS IS NOT TO BE MISSED. It's the real deal, and whether you are a gorehound, lover of Asian horror/gore, or just love offbeat movies, "Meat Grinder" fills the bill. It's not available in the States yet on DVD, but I assume it soon will be.
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6/10
Overrated but good
martin-fennell10 September 2011
Warning: Spoilers
I was disappointed with this movie. From reading other IMDb user reviews and those of critics from elsewehere, I was expecting it to be a lot more gory. Maybe I just have a strong stomach. Perhaps I saw a tamer version. But I just didn't find the gore scenes particularly gory. I'm not saying that I was hoping for more gore, i was just as i said expecting more. For instance there was nothing here i found as savage as say the killing of Joe Pesci and his brother in Casino. I read where the violence is in closeup. But I found that not to be the case. I'm not saying i didn't squirm a bit, but there was nothing that made me want to shut my eyes. As for the performance of the lead axtress, yes she was good, and there is a twist early in the movie concerning the child, which I didn't see coming. I also found it confusing at times.
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8/10
Refreshingly marinated with an intriguing story
thisissubtitledmovies20 August 2010
Revenge is often a dish best eaten cold. Just ask Fruit Chan, director of Dumplings (2004), originally conceived as one chapter of a three-part horror omnibus (Three… Extremes) before he served up more of the same dark satire, just in larger portions, which regrettably made the bloated feature-length even harder to swallow. Tiwa Moeithaisong's Meat Grinder follows a similar recipe, and now, having finally found an overseas distributor, ominously appears on our menus for the first time. Relying more on mood rather than over the top visuals, this is a return to the intelligent side of exploitation horror. Refreshingly marinated with an intriguing story to give it flavour, and coupled with lashings and lashings of gory mayhem, Meat Grinder is an absolute treat from start to finish. DW
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8/10
Make Sure To Watch The Uncut Version Only!
redrobin62-321-20731121 February 2016
I'm trying to do my part to help raise the rating of this film on IMDb. 5.4 is really too low for a film this graphic, intense and psychologically unnerving. I recently got my hands on the regular cut and the 'Uncut' cut and the difference is like watch 'Barney & Friends' and 'Scarface'. Okay, that's a bit of a stretch, but you know what I mean.

The cut version is still relatively graphic, but because it is so heavily altered, a few scenes will make more sense once you see a little more backstory as in the full version.

There's nothing sexual about this movie so it can't be compared to torture porn. The focus here is the killings. They're intended to shock you right out of the room. It's a shame the cut version is so heavily butchered because you lose a lot. The uncut version I had was dubbed with a Russian male voice, but once I downloaded an English srt and synced it in Media Player Classic, it made more sense.
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8/10
Gruesome yet beautiful
ytubgk21 January 2015
Warning: Spoilers
I don't know why this film isn't rated higher. Probably not so good for the faint of heart but the film displays a deeper, problematic and serious meaning. The film portrays real and serious issues in today's society which are mistreatment of women or children, mental disorders and the outcome of what it has. It shows the horror, Buss the main character, who has to deal with her mental anguish, post traumatic stress disorder from when she was younger and quickly going more and more insane leading to more people ending up on her chopping board and selling the noodles to unsuspecting customers. The acting and visuals were just brilliant. The only reason why I didn't give this a 10 is probably because, being a horror movie, it kind of dragged a bit too much on the meaning as I said above and other things and did not really pay attention to scare or horrify the viewers as much which is probably why the film didn't earn a higher rating. Other than that, it is a true Thai masterpiece.
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8/10
A scary but beautiful pearl
cay-95 March 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Let me first say this! This is so god.

The cast is with Thai actors of superb class and Mai Charoenpura should with out no doubt be an Oscar nominee.

The story is really about putting things forward. A child that has been abused will most certainly abuse others.

The script is so great and the music is like Bernstein. The filming reminds of what Bergman would have done if he were producing films like this.

I'ts bloody, it is really grouse but with a purpose. Things can get messed up in the head of an child who has being raped by her father and knowing that what they are doing with other human beings ( like serving them on a dish ) is not nice in any way.

I wont take the tension away by giving any details about the movie. The only thing I can say is. WATCH THIS ONE
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10/10
Classic!
akira-hideyo14 March 2022
I love good Thai movies and this is a gem of a genre. It's has context, motive, pain, loss, love and chunks of meat of a story. Don't miss this main course.
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Engaging film with a surprising touch of emotional baggage along the way
thomvic9 September 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Meat Grinder has what a lot of horror films offer -gore, the flashback of a tormented past and that Asian horror quality that you can only imagine coming from these parts of the world. At the same time, this is a film with a tortured protagonist who can't seem to find her way out of emotions of revenge, trauma and a very sick recipe passed down by her family.

I'm a big fan of Asian horror films as they bring such a unique quality to their stories and really know when to build up suspense rather than just throwing it at your face. The plot of Meat Grinder involves a woman with her daughter who has to pay back a debt owed by her husband who is now gone otherwise her house will be taken away. She opens up a noodle shop to try to make ends meat while also doing some highly peculiar deeds in the back room if you know what I mean.

Mai Charoenpura who plays Buss is phenomenal as the lead and creates a crazy but sympathetic character who sort of doesn't know where her mind has gone to since her childhood. I won't reveal anymore but the last ten minutes of the film really make you feel more sympathetic rather than angry towards the character.

Because the film also reveals its intentions very early on in the film at the beginning, it tries to make you connect with the character rather then resent her for her actions - and I have to say it worked even though you're thinking in the back of your mind what she is doing is sick. But you will have to see for yourself.

All I can say is (very minor spoiler) - don't eat any meat while watching this as it might spoil your appetite.
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