July 11, 2006

A heartwarming ghost story

If you are going to watch DORM expecting a typical Thai horror movie, you will be greatly dissapointed. Although the movie is made by the same team who brought us 'Shutter', this one does not have any long-haired female ghost. Instead, it is a heartwarming story about friendship and growing up.

Directed by Songyos Sugmakanan (My Girl), the movie is set in an all-boys dormitory run by the creepy dorm mistress, Ms Pranee. Charlie Trairat (who also acted in the lead role in My Girl) plays Chatree, a young boy who is reluctantly sent to a boarding school by his father.

He feels angry, lonely and abandoned. To make matters worse, his classmates start to spook him out with eerie ghost stories. One day he befriends a mysterious boy, Wichien (Sirarath Jianthavorn). Together, the two boys began a journey of discovery and friendship. As the movie unfolds, we start to understand more about Wichien and the dark secret he is keeping.

The first half of the movie has some suspenseful scenes like shadows along the corridors, howling dogs and creaking toilet doors. The second half slows down and starts to focus on the frienship between the two boys, making it more of a family movie.

The plot is weak and predictable, and by the third quarter of the movie I have started to look at my watch and wondering when the exciting parts will be coming. The saving grace is the strong performance by the two boys. The cinematograhy of the movie is also quite good as it gives a very nostalgic feel to the movie. The scene where Chatree sees the ghost drowning (or rather floating) in an empty pool is very effectively done.

Overall, watch this only if you do not have anything else to watch in the cinema. Better yet, save your money and just buy the DVD.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

i was over-expected that this will be a horror movie, but i am not dissapointed, it's still a good movie and i will watch and watch again.......