Pee Mak (2013)

Very Cool!!!

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

I watched this film because I read that Pee Mak is the highest grossing film in Thailand and I had never seen a Thai film before so I am curious. After reading some positive reviews, I had high expectation for the film.1) My main concern is that the PLOT IS TOO SLOW AND SIMPLE. I even fast forwarded through some parts and felt bored throughout the movie. The plot feels like it is going around in circles and around the same topic. Only the beginning and the end have plot progression; the middle is drag-y. The plot twists that the director put in are comical but are trivial and not well-executed; overall, the plot is straightforward and too simplistic.2) This FILM IS FUNNY. I laughed out loud for some parts and I think the four friends are hilarious. Even in the most serious parts, the director managed to make it amusing.3) The ROMANCE WAS NOT EFFECTIVE. I understand that this film is a blend of romance, horror, and comedy so romance is not supposed to be the focus. But the romance seems under-developed and the main couples' characters are not developed enough for the viewers to really care about them. That makes the romance unconvincing. I am usually emotional when it comes to romances but this failed to make me feel anything.4) JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF HORROR FOR A SCAREDY CAT LIKE ME. I was afraid that it would give me nightmares, but it turned out to be not scary at all. It does have enough suspense to make me nervous (good), but the suspense always leads up to something funny (good too).Overall: I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED overall because I found the movie to be boring for the most part. But the humor aspect of it saved it from being a total disappointment. I generally do not recommend this film, but if you are watching just for its slapstick comedy, I would say go for it!

Pee mak Phrakanong was a movie that was surprisely good. The Director managed to have a nice mix of Comedy, Romance and Horror. It wasn't too much of anything.I think you have to get adapted to the Thai humor. It is completely different compared western comedies, but I must admit that I can appreciate the Thai humor more than nowadays.The movie didn't have way too much romance and the horror part was good. It wasn't the best horror or romance movie you'll probably have watched, but this three genre's are making it into a great movie. One of the better ones for me in 2013.

"Pee Mak Phrakanong" is sort of an interesting Thai ghost movie. It stands out from the usual ghost movies that come from Thai cinema, as this one is a mixture of horror and comedy - sort of a Thai ghost version of "Ghost of Mae Nak" meets "Shaun of the Dead". And the end result is actually quite enjoyable, fun and exciting.The story in "Pee Mak Phrakanong" is about Mak (played by Mario Maurer) who returns home to Phrakanong after having served in the war. Here at his how awaits his wife Nak (played by Davika Hoorne) and their child. Mak have invited his war buddies along home with him. However, something is wrong in Phrakanong, and the villagers are avoiding Mak at all costs, claiming that his wife is dead. But how can Nak be dead when she is right there in their home, cooking his meals and looking after their child?Storywise, then "Pee Mak Phrakanong" manages to blend the horror and comedy genre quite well, and the movie has lots of funny moments and also manages to build up some suspense - suspense that usually climaxes into something hilarious and will have you laughing instead of being scared.And the story actually had a good love-story woven into its fabric as well. However, if you have watched "Ghost of Mae Nak" from 2005, then you should essentially be familiar with the story told in "Pee Mak Phrakanong".The acting is good enough in the movie, although you should be prepared for some really scared and whiny characters. But despite this, then the characters were fun and likable.The movie was great, lots of laughs, thrills and funny moments. However, it got a little bit over-dramatic towards the end. It was as if the balloon deflated once you get the to the temple scene as the movie draws to a closure. The ending could have been better in my opinion.But all in all, a good new take on the Thai ghost genre, and a much welcomed addiction to the genre mix of horror and comedy. I rate "Pee Mak Phrakanong" 6 out 10 stars.

You've probably heard of or seen one of the many adaptations of the classic Thai ghost story "Mae Nak Phra Khanong" about a soldier who returns home from war to his wife and baby not knowing that both are in fact already dead. What then makes this version by co-writer/ director Banjong Pisunthanakun so special for it to become no less than the highest grossing movie ever in Thai cinema history?Well for starters, it isn't a horror movie in the traditional sense of the genre. Whereas Nonzee Nimibutr's 1999 film "Nang Nak" stuck to the roots of the story, Pisunthanakun approaches the familiar folk tale with the same tongue-in-cheek attitude as his shorts in "4Bia" and "Phobia 2". Yes, it's a comedy-horror more than a straight-out horror, and the fact that we have labelled it a comedy first and a horror second should give you an idea which the film is more of.Indeed, Pisunthanakun lets you know right from the start that he intends to entertain you, more than scare you. After a brief glance of the pregnant Nak (played by Thai-Belgian actress Davika Hoorne) doubling over in pain as blood trickles down her legs, the scene switches quickly to the inside of a tentage where a soldier is giving an impassioned speech to lament about the cost of war – except that he seems to be speaking in Shakespearean English in an attempt to add gravitas.Just as quickly, his buddy Puak (Pongsatorn Jongwilak), whose hair is styled like a pair of wings above his head, chastises him for speaking in an accentuated manner. As the camera pans around to reveal the rest of the people in the room, you know better than to take the entire scene seriously. Besides Puak, there is Ter (Nattapong Chartpong), Aye (Kantapat Permpoonpatcharasuk), and Shin (Wiwat Kongrasri), all of whom form the quartet who brought the laughs in Pisunthanakun's earlier "4Bia" and "Phobia 2" shorts.And then there is Pee Mak (Mario Mauer), who is brought into the room screaming in pain but who has really merely sprained his ankle. One deliberately overdramatic battle scene later, Pee Mak and his buddies are headed back to the former's home village of Phra Khanong for him to be reunited with his family. There, entranced by Nak's beauty, Puak convinces the rest of them to accept Pee Mak's hospitality and stay in the empty house across the river from theirs.Shin is the first to suspect something is amiss when the entire village avoids Pee Mak like the plague when he goes to the market the next morning. Only the lady owner of the liquor store gives some hint why – Nak has been dead for some time and her spirit has been haunting the village since. Though the rest of his buddies dismiss his suspicions initially, Ter begins to realise that there might be some truth to Shin's accusations when he chances upon a body buried in the forest with Nak's wedding ring around its finger while taking a dump.Pisunthanakun and his fellow screenwriters, Chantavit Dhanasevi and Nontra Kumwong, have great fun in the first half of the movie with Shin and Ter's attempts to convince Aye and Puak of Nak's ghostly nature and then with their combined efforts to let Pee Mak see the truth. In particular, their game of charades as well as their subsequent decision to kidnap Pee Mak when he and Nak are inside a "haunted house" at the village fair is utterly hilarious, qualifying as two of the most inspired comedic sequences we've seen this year.Just as deftly, the second half of the movie further plays with audience expectations of just how dead or alive the rest of the characters are – we all know Nak is probably a ghost, but what about Pee Mak or for that matter the rest of his friends? Equally memorable as the two aforementioned scenes is that of the six of them on a long-tail boat in the middle of the river, the urgency of keeping the boat afloat due to excess weight and determining just who among them is or are ghosts combining for a hysterical but also a hysterically funny time.Though purists might object to the creative liberties that Pisunthanakun has taken with the tale, he returns to its touching core during the climax set inside a Buddhist temple. Yes, if it isn't yet apparent, the tale of Mae Nak is also meant to be a moving fable about undying love, and Pisunthanakun goes for a melodramatic but still heartfelt conclusion that reiterates the message at the heart of every retelling. Oh but of course, he does reject its tragic overtones, ending off with a postscript that is guaranteed to leave you with a big smile.Such a revisionist take requires that his cast be absolutely clear about what each scene is meant to accomplish, no small feat considering how Pisunthanakun alternates from comedy to horror to romance within the very same scene. Thankfully, he has four actors with such great timing that you won't sense any jarring change in tone; instead, you'll probably be so enraptured by their seemingly effortless chemistry. Yes, Mauer and Hoorne might play the titular characters, but it is these four goofballs that make the proceedings such an unbridled delight.There's little wonder, when watching 'Pee Mak', why the movie has surpassed even the most modest of expectations to become the top- grossing hit in its home country. Rather than yet another straight-up telling of the tale, this is a surprisingly lively and inspired interpretation that makes no apologies for being deliberately anachronistic and downright irreverent, with pop-culture references from David Blaine to Ang Lee to Spiderman and even 300. Like we said, this is not your run-of-the-mill Thai horror, but a laugh-out-loud crowdpleaser that is surely one of the most entertaining Thai movies we've seen in a long time.www.moviexclusive.com