The Haunted Drum (2007) User Reviews

Please help her out of her suffering

[nogodnomasters · 6/10 · 2 October 2017]

Ping goes to study music from Master Doung at his academy. They have a boy band with girls dancers. The master places a death curse on those that leave...or screw up...or think about leaving. He has special/holy Perng Mang drums. Cheng is the first player up and the drums take his life. Pai takes over the position. He is a good musician but has no feeling. He doesn't look good playing them. He is Pete Best when the master wants a Ringo. Meanwhile Ping goes next door to the off limits house and meets Tip, a woman who allows Ping to play her Perng Mang drums that she has laying around in her pond. After a few incidents at the academy, the Deputy wants to take over the band, consolidated with his band. He wants the special drums. It will be decided by a battle of the boy bands...not on MTV The film has a lot more plot than stated, Asian film are sometimes like that. The ending, i.e. why these drums are so sacred was clever, however the complexity of the plot dragged the film down. Yes, the drums were haunted. There were ghosts. There was killing and blood, yet it never felt like a horror film.

This Thai film had English subtitles.

Guide: 1 F-word. Implied sex scene. Rear nudity.

So boring that you want to bang your head against a drum...

[paul_haakonsen · 2/10 · 28 November 2016]

I was intrigued by this movie, as I happened to come across it by sheer random luck. And I was instantly drawn to it, because I do like Asian movies quite a lot. And Thailand have some pretty nice horror movies available, so I had expectations to "Perng Mang: Glawng phee nang manut" (aka "The Haunted Drum").

However, my expectations were butchered quite quickly as the movie started. It was so openly clear that this was going to be a stinker given the way the movie started and how it progressed.

I managed to stick with "Perng Mang: Glawng phee nang manut" for just about 20 minutes, then I just threw the towel in the ring and gave up out of sheer boredom.

The storyline was wholly pointless and lacked any kind of appeal that could make me continue to sit through this ordeal of a movie. Everything just seemed too random and too forced throughout the 20 minutes that I managed to suffer through.

As for the acting in the movie, well I can't claim to be familiar with anyone on the cast list here, nor can I claim to single anyone out for being particularly memorable for good or worse.

I will not be returning to "Perng Mang: Glawng phee nang manut" to give it a second chance. It just seemed like a waste of time and effort to me, and it was a slap in the face as I had expected somewhat more from it.

It manages to land a very generous two out of ten stars from me, given the production value. But take heed, "Perng Mang: Glawng phee nang manut" is really not worth wasting your time, money or effort on. If you enjoy a good Thai horror movie, then there are far better choices available.

A beautiful ghost story...

[GuineaPig · 7/10 · 9 June 2008]

Sometimes stories manage to surprise you in a good way, I was not expecting much from this Thai movie but I'm glad I saw it in the end.

A traditional Thai band struggles to keep the magic of their music alive with the help of a spirit inhabiting a mysterious drum. The drum's spirit makes sure the band members keep their vows towards their group and that the tradition coming back from generations would be preserved. It is up to one young man, who manages to create a special bond with the spirit, to honor all those who give their lives for the music.

It is a simple story full of color and traces of beautiful music. You really start caring for the characters while they make efforts to keep themselves faithful to the band and, at the same time, wishing for better days. It is also a story of love and loyalty with transitions of violent and bloody scenes which, strangely enough, feel natural to the melodic pace of the movie.

The movie is not perfect and has several flaws and weaknesses but it is, in the end, a really nice, original and enjoyable film.