My Review Of “The Victim/ Phii Khon Pen (2006)

I never really appreciated the Asian horror industry until I saw the original film to “The Ring”. After that I have made it a mission to keep up with all Asian horror movies. The directing is so sophisticated, allowing more emotion and intensity into the film that Hollywood sometimes produces out of cinema. Take for example the quality of “The Victim” from 2006. The story is so multi-layered that just when you think you know how the movie will go a whole knew plot reveals itself taking the story in a new direction. This film tells the story of Ting, an actress who reenacts  murder scenes in Thailand. It is a big deal there! Fame and everything.

The story plays out this scenario toying with the deep superstitious nature of the Thai people who revere the dead always careful not to offend the spirits. So much so that the spirits are able to manipulate the observers with haunting and deadly results as is seen in this film. No one does revenge spirit horror like the Asian filmmaker. So anyway Ting finally finds the role to die for, playing a famous runner up Meen who is an ex beauty queen. She died violently and Ting aims to portray the dead woman perfectly. I can’t go too far into the synopsis with great detail because this move has at least two plot twists. If you give those away then the films ultimate pay-off is ruined.

So on to the review part. The acting is as intense as it gets. The actors give such life and depth to their characters that the emotion just permeates the screen. The suspense builds effortlessly as the story unfolds accompanied by one of the most  eerie and haunting soundtracks.  The scares are sudden with a few that make you flinch, one or two times I even jumped in my seat a little. The ghost effects quality is a little dated by todays abilities but as good as “The Ring” effects. This is a movie that seems to go on forever but you don’t really notice because the production and directing is such that you are entranced by whole story.

If you have not seen this film I suggest you do. The subtitles are a bit annoying because some translator's do not take in to account the context or representation of the words or phrases so some words show up improper. Not enough to matter but it is noticeable. That aside this is one hell of a ghost story with plenty of scares. One that I will watch over and over again.
IMDb