PHOBIA 2 Review

Horror anthologies are notoriously uneven affairs, typically ill-matched collections of low budget efforts from little known talent trying to make a name for themselves with a quick scare or two.  Such was very definitely not the case with Thai horror anthology Phobia, a collection of four short films that gathered the best and brightest talent from Thailand and gave them all the resources to do things right.  The result was a huge success, one that won both at the box office and in the press - a result that has led now to a sequel.

Titled Phobia 2, this new effort ups the number of included works to five and shuffles the directorial lineup slightly with three of the original four directors being joined by two fresh faces.  And the result?  A diverse and engaging collection of stories loosely linked by car and road themes, in which the were minor references to other stories scattered throughout the collection, but one which delivers so well that it has become an even bigger hit than the first.  We'll run through them here not in running order - which goes Novice, Ward, Backpackers, Salvage and In The End - but in what I consider to be weakest to strongest.

At the soft end of the spectrum - surprisingly - is Salvage, by director Parkpoom Wongpoom.  That this is the weakest of the lot comes as a surprise because Wongpoom is one of the brightest lights not only of Thai horror but of horror cinema all around the globe.  As the co-director of the original Thai version of Shutter and subsequent hit Alone, Wongpoom's films have spanned the globe thanks to their mix of smarts and style.  But his directorial effort here, revolving around a dishonest woman who run a used car lot selling cars refurbished after major accidents as 'like new', suffers somewhat from a lack of focus, an unlikeable lead and a run time that overstays what the premise is really able to sustain.  That said, however, Salvage also features some fantastic jumps, some truly gruesome effects work and what is quite easily the single most graphic and unpleasant image in the entire project.

Significantly stronger is Backpackers by Songyos Sugmakanan.  Though much of Sugmakanan's career has been devoted to romances and comedies he has one truly masterful horror-tinged effort on his resume with the absolutely fabulous Dorm, in which he casts a young Charlie Trairat as a young boy sent away to boarding school where his only friend turns out to be a ghost.  Sugmakanan reunites with a much older Trairat here - and watch for Trairat to be popping up in leading man roles on a regular basis soon, he has literally grown up on screen in Thailand without a single significant mis-step in his film career - in what may very well be Thailand's first full blooded, classical zombie film.  With a story that involves both human and drug trafficking before getting into undead territory Backpackers may be a touch too busy for its own good but the execution is strong, Trairat is excellent and the film boasts a number of truly iconic images.

Taking middle position is Ward, by first time director - but long time producer - Visute Poolvoralaks.  The shortest and simplest tale of the lot, Ward takes its young protagonist and drops him, completely helpless, into a hospital room late at night following some sort of accident.  Unable to walk, he must share a room with one other patient - an elderly man on life support, due to have the plug pulled the next morning.  But, unconscious or not, he doesn't seem particularly pleased by this turn of events and our young hero will have to struggle to survive the night.  Poolvoralaks makes excellent use of space and mood here, working his scenario as well as possible and having the good sense to keep things short and sweet.

Opening the anthology in impressive fashion - and demonstrating just how far its young director has come in a very short time - is Paween Purijitpanya's Novice.  Now, Purikitpanya already has a certain amount of notoriety thanks to his installment in the first Phobia anthology and his debut feature Body #19 but Novice takes his game to an entirely different level.  Purijitpanya has always been enormously gifted on a purely visual level but also very much crippled by a wild over dependence on visual trickery and seizure-inducing rapid-fire editing, a tendency that has severely hobbled everything he has made up until this point.  No more.  Though clearly still a Purijitpanya film - by which I mean the visuals are stunning and flawlessly executed - he has finally found the confidence to let his story and characters breath and the results are stunning.  The story of a young man sent away to become a monk after being involved in some sort of tragedy - presumably he has essentially been sent away into hiding by his mother to prevent legal repercussions - Novice is a perfect blend of mood, jumps, strong performances and flawlessly employed effects.  If Purijitpanya keeps this up he will quickly build a name for himself as one of the very best in the world.  And, speaking of performances, why doesn't Ray MacDonald work more? The Thai actor with the Scottish name is on screen only sparingly but proves, once again, that when given the chance he has a natural energy and charisma that makes him an ideal lead.  Someone in Thailand needs to make a hard edged crime noir and put this man front and center.

And, finally, the project closes with the strongest of the lot - the slick, irreverent, and very, very funny horror comedy In The End by Parkpoom Wongpoom's directorial partner on both Shutter and Alone, Banjong Pisanthanakun.  A lovingly playful mocking of horror conventions on the set of a fictional sequel to the duo's hit film Alone, In The End drops Alone star Marsha Wattanapanich - playing a parody version of herself - on to the set of a bad horror sequel in which the same quartet of superstitious, pop culture referencing twenty-somethings that made Pisanthanakun's entry in the original Phobia so much fun are cast as key support staff.  Cue tragedy, the return of the movie-set ghost as possible real-life ghost and hilarity ensues.  Smart, slick, self-referential in all the right ways and, most importantly, very funny indeed, In The End will probably play best to those who have seen both Alone and the original Phobia but prior knowledge is very definitely not required to enjoy this one thoroughly and it leaves me hoping beyond hope that when Pisanthanakun finally gets around to making his next feature he'll make it a full on horror-comedy.  Because he's got the chops on both fronts.