Monday, November 1, 2010

Movie-Loving Ghosts in "The Screen at Kamchanod"

Ghosts stole my popcorn, says Achita.


Thailand’s love affair with the horror genre continues to churn out chilling dramas with eye-popping visual brio like Songsak Mongkoltong’s “The Screen at Kamchanod” that takes advantage of the country’s rich folk lores and eerie exotic places in the back woods of Asia.

In this movie, a doctor (Achita Pramotch Na Ayudhya) is obsessed to uncover the mystery behind a newspaper report where projectionists are being hired to screen movies for a select crowd – “ghosts"! Though the premise is already preposterous on paper, you do have to see for yourself how this is translated on screen. Thai film makers are known for their visual savvy - and great visuals already constitute 50% of what makes an enjoyable film. In a representative scene, the 4 “investigators” find themselves in a rundown movie theater. When the projector starts to roll and they settle on their seats, they soon realize they aren’t the only ones gearing up for an entertaining night at the movies. Chairs squeak, and the air turns icy – ghouls move about listless, and you get goose bumps! Another creepy scene was the outdoor movie screening at a forest preserve– where wandering spirits soon turn up sans their pop corns and coca colas.

With a great looking cast (Thai actors are the best looking lot!), a splendid cinematography, successfully rendered special effects, it is too bad that the story’s too unbelievably relayed. Then add a dash of sexual abuse to the narrative to throw us off balance. (Namo Tongkumnerd, you’re such a naughty boy!)

This film is supposedly based on real events that occurred in Udon Thani.

It turns out we're not the only ones who love movies.



The Screen at Kamchanod


The doctor, his gf and the reporter.





Nano in another Thai movie.


Naughty junkie Nano Tongkumnerd


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