Dorm (2006)

Thanks for the memories!

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I love to watch horror movies but I always dread how they end because most horror movies end with a scary 'it's after you now!' kind of ending. Although this film was listed as horror, I would definitely not categorize it as such. I loved the plot, I just wish it wasn't claiming to be a horror movie. It started off creepy with not even the audience knowing what was going on, as horror movies do, but it came to a peaceful ending with the poor drowned boy finding his resolution as the main character, Ton Chatree, makes peace with his family and especially his father. I very much enjoyed this movie. The only thing that could raise it to a 10 out of 10 would be if the ending had resolved all of the conflicts brought up, rather than just the most important ones. The two other conflicts being that Vichien wasn't the only person who had died on the campus, the cook's pregnant daughter also died, but that wasn't addressed after the beginning. The other conflict was that it was clear Vichien didn't drown by accident, it looked like someone was pulling his right foot down into the water causing him to drown. If this movie was correctly labeled not as a horror movie, and if it wasn't set up as a horror movie in the beginning and then turning into a drama movie instead, this movie would be a lot better.

Chatree(Charlie Trairat) is sent to a boardinghouse for boys due to low grades and his current poor performance in school. Once there, a tight pack tell Chatree ghost stories which set up a terror in his mind which makes nights difficult for him. Adjusting and adapting to his new environment will prove difficult and uneasy, but Chatree soon makes at least one friend who starts up a conversation with him.DORM might be a bit too sappy and sad for some horror fans wanting edgy and visceral thrills because the filmmakers care about their little protagonist and his situation. They want us to sympathize with his predicament, but understand the father's reasons for his actions. Due to bad grades, his disapproving father sends Chatree to a boarding school hoping his boy will wise up and straighten himself out for the better. We have a dinner table memory where Chatree is informed that he would be "sent away", left by his parents in an institution where all the boys sleep in cots next to each other, washing themselves in the same bathroom. After ghost stories, told to him by a group of boys hoping to frighten him, leave Chatree terrified to urinate, resulting in peeing in his cot, the kid is tormented by his fellow students, a laughingstock. The school's master, Miss Pranee(Chintara Sukapatana), has an air of mystery about her(seemingly anguished about something we later learn has to do with a death, a record player stuck in a place during a key moment of a song symbolizing the chief problem later revealed) and we wonder if there is a ghost is roaming the halls at night, whether one of the stories regarding tragedy is in fact true. The culprit which led to Chatree being placed in the school is television. But, honestly, we see that this place really isn't as terrible as it first seems and the boys aren't imprisoned or oppressed, but have freedoms outside the classroom. Chatree finally finds a friendly companion in Vichien(Sirachuch Chienthaworn) who also seems to be desiring a buddy to hang out with, the two bonding, a revelation potentially shattering their camaraderie. DORM is less a spookshow as it is a melodrama involving a ghost who no one else sees other than Chatree. Is Vichien an imaginary friend, or is he a ghost who desperately longs for a pal in Chatree? We see that Chatree avoids his father as much as possible, not taking phone calls from pops who has guilt over his decision to leave the boy at the school. Probably the most memorable scene to me is the eerie image of a laboratory full of dissected rabbits used for scientific purposes. Another haunting recurrence shows a helpless Chatree having to watch a relived drowning of Vichien. I think DORM will receive the stigma of "generic" for attaining the "restless repeated cyclical event of a ghost's demise" plot as it pertains to why the spirit still remains active where he died in the past. There's an interesting character named Nui(a sullen kid, kind of creepy, nicknamed "Dr. Nui" by his friends)who tells Chatree he was witness to a motorcycle crash resulting in a death which continued every night the same time the driver was ejected and killed after speeding around a corner too fast. Nui informs Chatree that the spirit of the dead needs to be reborn or else the pattern goes on and on for infinity..Nui says that you must free your spirit from the body in order to help the restless ghost become unborn. So Chatree may just follow his "instructions" so that Vichien can have peace. Still, a storyline about friendship transcending life and death may be a bit syrupy(the score designed to tug on the heartstrings) for some onryo fans hoping for more scares and ghoulish shenanigans. If you like movies about a kid growing up during a term in a brand new location using the supernatural as a means to further the story, then DORM might just be for you.

It's all too rare to find a fright film (or a "supernatural drama") that offers up anything new. That's okay: it's like watching a western (or any other genre film); certain conventions are a given. It's often what's done within those parameters that makes a movie interesting. THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE was built according to specs, but managed nonetheless to surprise pleasantly; as did DON'T LOOK NOW; as does DORM. The loneliness of the lead character and his acceptance of his ectoplasmic pal is just one of the pleasant surprises here. That the little dead boy is afraid of ghosts himself is just icing on the ectoplasmic cake. A funny and moving (and spooky) little movie, DORM rates a look.

It was quite uncanny, a group of us were discussing making a movie about ghost stories told in schools. Sure, every school has its fair share of ghouls and goblins, and we'd thought it was interesting to have it done on film. Heck, we were actually in the premises of a school when we started to talk about it at night too. So imagine our surprise that Thailand actually made it first, and screened in local theatres no more than a month after we discussed.Dorm refers to the dormitory of an all boys boarding school. Chatree (Charlie Trairattana) gets sent to the school by his parents, against his wishes. I believe almost everyone would be familiar with the feeling of being uprooted from one school to go to another (be it upon graduation or otherwise), where there's a sense of loss somewhat, especially with friends.As with all new schools, the new kid on the block gets treated with suspicion, and he finds it extremely difficult to integrate into the school. It doesn't help that his initial gang of friends harbours thoughts of going all out to scare Chatree with many ghosts stories about the school (I could've sworn the toilet one was familiar territory, because I encountered something similar before), and making matters worst, the teacher (Jintara Sukphat) also becomes a key character in one of these stories, hence making Chatree wary.Despite being the social outcast, and a recluse, Chatree befriends another pupil, Wichien (Sirarath Jianthaworn). They become fast friends, but Wichien has a deep dark secret come 6pm everyday, when he disappears. By now, you would've guessed what would happen.Along the way, this movie somehow forgotten that it was supposed to be a horror movie. That, or the marketing folks have gotten it all wrong in promoting this flick. The horror genre is undoubtedly an extremely popular genre in Asia, one that will put folks into cinema seats, and riding on the wave of Shutter's success, it's easy to get caught up in what essential are the few and far between sense of fright that's packed into the trailer. Be warned, halfway through the movie, the horrifying moments get thrown out the window, and Dorm becomes more of a standard fare mystery. Quite a plain one actually, as the narrative gets stuck in cruise control throughout. You'll be able to guess the ending, and plot devices are thrown in only to help the movie proceed to the following scene.But there's a fun element thrown in, which I thought was quite neat. Fans of Hong Kong horror cinema would clearly identify the "Mr Vampire" remake in Dorm, where the students congregate for one of their night movie screenings. It's a deliberate cheesy remake, but I felt this was one of the more powerful scenes that snuck up on you, incorporating the twist revelation so well, I give it the thumbs up. And yes, the twist is revealed midway through the movie in this scene, and thereafter, "horror" gets forgotten.How's the horrifying content earlier in the movie you ask? It's not all that frightening, again relying on cheap tricks like musical crescendos to make you jump. You don't get to see much, except for shadows, sudden movements and closeups (hey, if I can survive this, so can you!). If I had a gripe, it would be with Chatree's hair continuity problem. Unless there's a barber in the school who cuts hair as good as he restores them, you'll probably get perturbed by the changes in Chatree's hair length. In the same scene. Talking to the same person. You get the drift. It's rather sloppy film-making, and the continuity person ought to get shot. The special effects department though, gets my thumbs up for its imaginary swimming pool effects. Really cool stuff there.Horror aside, this film essentially similar to like M Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense, though it doesn't dwell as deep into the psyche of Chatree and the spirit. It works on another level, along the themes of friendship, sacrifice, forgiveness and closure. I'd recommend it, not as a horror movie, but a coming of age one.P.S. the version shown here rated PG, is the censored version. Not because of anything frightening, but for a sex scene, which I thought was quite pivotal to identify who it was Chatree's father was humping. Edited away, it comes across as "so what's the big deal?"