Bangkok Haunted

Pang Brothers

Panik House Entertainment R1 DVD

(Various Asian Releases)

Three women sitting around in a Bangkok bar on a rainy night drinking and reminiscing, to keep themselves occupied they decide to tell their scariest ghost stories and this is the stage on which Bangkok Haunted is set. The Legend of The Drum involves an antique drum which bridges a gap in time and brings a female antiques dealer into contact with the ghost of a dancer from 1917 who came to a sticky end. Black Magic Woman features a ghastly perfume used to attract men for a night of passion which leads inevitably to suffering and finally to their final demise, but with a twist. Revenge is a police story centering on a young police officer who while seemingly working to solve a case of suicide is actually far more part of the case than he realizes and by then it is way too late.

The film begins as a truck loaded with freight hurtles along a lonely mountain road. There is a young guy in the back reading a comic; we notice a subtle change in mood, suddenly a hand with long fingernails scratches into his leg. The ghostly sullen white face of a girl appears causing him to jump out of the back of the speeding truck ! When the owner receives the delivery, she is startled to find there is an extra item, a beautiful but unusual drum. She investigates its history and a strange tale starts to unfold which is told through a range of textured flashbacks investigating the origins of the drum and its sad tale.

In 1917 Bangkok a man promises to look after the daughter of his dying teacher. We are then introduced to Gnod a sad and tortured young man who keeps in the background and hides his face as he has been horribly mutilated. A beautiful girl is training to be a dancer and we are brought into her world with scenes of superb beauty and moving music and dance. We become increasingly nervous as the scenes become more and more beautiful yet we know something must be wrong.

Gnod falls more and more in love with the girl, though this is clearly not reciprocated. He makes her delicate carved dolls, showing his sensitive nature. As she only sees Gnod as a friend, she does not appreciate his depth of feeling and his growing jealousy for her lover. There is a melancholy and intense sadness of these scenes. No one is evil here, they are all victims of circumstance and fate and this makes this tale even more impressive. The story unfolds linking the sad tale of Gnod with the modern day antiques dealer who is experiencing some strange sensations…

Each of these tales is beautifully told; slowly, meticulously and with an emphasis on mood, music and texture. While certainly there are special effects, ghostly appearances and some rather confronting and violent scenes, the emphasis is on character, mood and texture. The filmmaking is impressive with structured scenes which cut to black to make a discrete move between moods and a careful use of colour and focus.

While the first tale emphasizes unrequited love and jealousy, the second emphasizes the erotic and perverse and the third, revenge. What is amazing here is the distinct subtlety of the experience, in a western film these tales would be much shorter, more action packed and padded with whiz bang special effects and gore. In addition, there is no real emphasis on what in the West we would define as evil, these are simply the tales of the tormented dead whose lives have remained unresolved and therefore impinge on the living. The creation of mood and texture throughout the stories make them memorable, sad and at times uncomfortable. Bangkok Haunted take its time to unfold, the film being 130 minutes long and this allows space for a real exploration of the depth of each story.

Bangkok Haunted creates a somber if not dark reflection on human nature which will stay with you for quite a while after the DVD player has been turned off.