Archive for category Horror
Blindfold
Blindfold from ApostrophePong on Vimeo.
A 5-minute length thriller drama produced in a 5.1 surround sound scape. The aim of this audio production is to explore the power of sound that not only envisages a story but also draws the audience into a deep dark atmosphere.
This piece I made for the Sound Construction 2 class at COFA. The challenges were to explore the tool for to make surround 5.1 sound and to create a narrative work without visual element or dialogue. This is the stereo version which does not do the same job as when you sit there in the middle of so dark room and let yourself go with the soundscape. The full surround sound 5.1 version will be included in the extras of my final project, Memory of You | Reflection of Me, which the DVD production is on the pipeline.
My Dream of Noi’s Life
My dream last night
My Dream Last Night:
An assignment in a university class is urban myth explorations. I research on a haunted house on a riverbank in Thailand where a girl named Noi died.
Noi was physically and psychologically abused. She was not allowed to hang out with anyone after school otherwise she would be beaten. One day, there was a school excursion, she was desperate to go and sneaked out. And that lead to her death.
The house has been abandoned for many years with the rumours of the haunting. For example, there are reports that they see a figure of an old lady appears and turns into stone.
I am the last to show this piece of research in the class. It goes well but something stops me from the entire presentation. However, my friends and I decide to go back to the site to find out more about it.
Then strange things happen to us. One of the friends looks burned and shrunk after to visit the temple where Noi had her funeral. And later, I see the ghost of Noi following us all the time. Then I have just realised that what the missing report in the class is about the mother who abused Noi and was responsible for their deaths.
The Unseeable
Sydney International Film Festival has become my only outlet to see Thai film in cinema. Last year the only film I saw from the Festival was Syndrome and a Century. It certainly is a homesick therapy. This year I have the same level of excitement to see The Unseeable (เป็นชู้กับผี) but in depth of nostalgia.
It sets in 1930′s, a pregnant rural girl, Nualjan, is in search for her missing husband in Bangkok. She ends up staying in a spooky mansion, owned by a mysterious woman, Ranjual. Then it comes to the series of spine-chilling scenes with strange characters: a man digging a hole, a girl playing hide-and-seek, a hand snatching food in the garden and so on.
This is simply a compilation of short ghost stories like Ju-on or Three. What makes this film different from others is the structure that wraps up all the sub plots in the end which goes back to the beginning. It implies that those frightening events will never end and they will be in suffering over and over again until the truth is reconciled. The circle of life and death and the consciousness of existence, are quite rare in these Asian genre, especially Thai cinema although they are pretty much in the core of Buddhist philosophy.
Moreover the Director, Wisit Sasanatiang, is such a master of nostalgia. His production is full of rich Thai references. He has got the same skills as Quentin Taruntino, the ability to recall, reuse and reinvent dated styles and create them their own. The unique palette which strongly based on Thai (Siamese) roots gives him such the recognition internationally. What he particularly uses in this film is a tribute to the master of Thai illustrations, Hem Vajakorn both in story and visual production.
Just the house in the set is worth all seeing this movie. I am such a sucker for this 1900′s East-West architecture. I even dreamt I lived in one. Now I am not sure I could do so after I have seen this film.
I Finally SAW It
Recently, BRW magazine announced 50 Australian’s Top Entertainers. The only none-performer in the top ten are James Wan and Leigh Whannell, the Creators of Saw series. The couple won the Hollywood lotto when they got the green light from the studio to finance the film. They make millions of dollars by churning the sequels every year. Saw IV is about to be released this year. I had to see the original on DVD with curiosity.
The story starts with a hi-concept, two men (Cary Elwes and Leigh Whannell) wake up to find out that they are chained in a filthy bathroom. They don’t know where they are, how or why they got there. They have to play death games of the mastermind, Jigsaw (Tobin Bell). While they are trying to get free, a cop (Danny Glover) is relentlessly trying to catch him. And of course, it ends up with ultra-violent climax and now predictable anti-climax.
There are the keys of this franchise’s success. Hollywood is always looking for new horrors but it has not been fresh lately. Jason’s Friday 13th cannot be resurrected any more. They’ve already remade Texas Chainsaw massacre. They’ve borrowed Japanese’s The Ring and The Grudge with sequels. George Romero’s made a come back with another zombie flick. Their last original horror as far as I can recall was Final Destination dated in 2000 and Hostel in 2005.
Saw fills the gap with the evil puppet master. Jigsaw is psycho, intelligent and unbeatable. It’s the combination of Hannibal Lecter, Jason and Se7en’s John Doe. Despite of many holes in the scripts and over-the-top acting of Cary Elwes and Denny Glover, it has the elements that this genre gives, the cinematography, the editing and unnecessary blood scenes.
An Aussie home-grown horror has cracked the international market with Wolf Creek in 2005 but it didn’t have the momentum push and Hollywood backup like Saw. They all are in the new blood of horror filmmakers group called the Splat Pack. Watch out for more blood shed and they make money.
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