21st Century Horror: Thailand (tapekebab's Top 10)
Disclaimer: This is just my personal Top 10, not necessarily the best films from this region. I also include horror and horror-related titles, so if you see any movies on the list that you don’t think are technically horror movies, let’s not argue about it.
If you have any recommendations for movies from Thailand, please let me know in the comments!
Honorable mention: Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s otherworldly “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives” isn’t really a horror film (but then again, it’s as much horror as it is any other genre), but Weerasethakul has stated that he considers it to be one, and he was influenced by classic Thai TV horror. It’s a curious, almost psychedelic look at some of the same Thai folk beliefs that pop up in these Top 10 films.
If you have any recommendations for movies from Thailand, please let me know in the comments!
Honorable mention: Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s otherworldly “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives” isn’t really a horror film (but then again, it’s as much horror as it is any other genre), but Weerasethakul has stated that he considers it to be one, and he was influenced by classic Thai TV horror. It’s a curious, almost psychedelic look at some of the same Thai folk beliefs that pop up in these Top 10 films.
List activity
2.2K views
• 10 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
- 10 titles
- DirectorsBanjong PisanthanakunParkpoom WongpoomStarsAnanda EveringhamNatthaweeranuch ThongmeeAchita SikamanaWhen Jane and Tun run over a girl in a car accident, they speed away immediately from the crime scene. However, Tun, a photographer, soon discovers strange shadows in his photos, which unsettles them.(Banjong Pisanthanakun & Parkpoom Wongpoom, 2004) - 8/10
The first Thai horror movie I’ve seen, and it was creepy as shit. Similar to "Ju-On: The Grudge" in some ways, but even better in that it's full of both startling jump scares and deeply unnerving found footage-esque images. Don't watch it right before bedtime. - DirectorsPiraphan LaoyontThodsapol SiriwiwatStarsChon WachananonWichan JarujindaChidjan RujiphunA group of sexy nurses who harvest organs are haunted by the vengeful spirit of one of their dead patients.(Piraphan Laoyont & Thatsaporn Siriwant, 2007) - 7/10
Uhh, did I just watch somebody's sexy-nurse-illegal-organ-harvest fetish vid? The nurses don't seem to do much but eat candy and play patty-cake, but they're being haunted (I love it when the ghost brushes one girl's teeth too hard). As campy as it gets and it rules. - DirectorKomsan TreepongStarsNote Chern-YimJaturong MokjokSuthep Po-ngamBefore his death, Diao's father instructed him to look for an old friend in a remote village. In this village, he became famous by winning a buffalo-racing competition, the boxing competition and the attentions of the village beauty. He also managed to upset the local gangsters by protecting the poor people. After the competitions, Diao chase thief's, who have stolen the head of a Buddha image in a temple. He managed to retrieve the relic but on his way back to the village, he was accosted by the irate gangsters, who be headed him. Waking as a headless ghost, he's ready for revenge.(Komsan Treepong, 2002) - 7/10
This ridiculous horror-comedy would be such a cult classic if anyone outside Thailand had heard of it. It's filled to the brim with bloody murder, Muay Thai fights, water buffalo racing, awesomely bad CGI, and idiotic slapstick and toilet humor that had me in stitches. - DirectorPaween PurijitpanyaStarsPae Arak AmornsupasiriOrnjira LamwilaiKritteera InpornwijitA boy has reoccurring nightmares about a beautiful girl being cruelly murdered, but everyone around him tries to convince him that the girl is only a figment of his imagination.(Paween Purijitpanya, 2007) - 7/10
If good CGI ain't in the budget, go with weird CGI. Paween Purikitpanya knows this well - once our protagonist Chon is immersed in the mystery at the heart of this movie, we're shown a barrage of bizarre visions. My favorite is the tiny writhing fetus in Chon's soup. - DirectorSophon SakdaphisitStarsSaharat SangkapreechaPiyathida WoramusikSutatta UdomsilpWhen a family moves to Laddaland, an upscale housing development with large, beautiful homes, they discover life in their new neighborhood isn't so perfect when they encounter a series of terrifying, paranormal events that drives the family to the edge of insanity.This is a short description of the content.(Sophon Sakdaphisit, 2011) - 7/10
Like all my fave Thai horror movies, this has a few moments of inadvertent hilarity (character names like Pip, Golf, and Parn were cracking me up when I watched this at 2 AM) as well as some moments that scared the living shit out of me - a twofer! - DirectorsBanjong PisanthanakunParkpoom WongpoomStarsMarsha WattanapanichVittaya WasukraipaisanRachanu BoonchuduangPim is a Thai woman living in Korea with her husband Wee. At her birthday a friend reads her fortune with a deck of cards and informs that something she has lost will soon return to her. But some lost things are better off staying lost.(Banjong Pisanthanakun & Parkpoom Wongpoom, 2007) - 6/10
An outlandish premise involving conjoined twins and a whole lotta sisterly jealousy sets up lots of crazy twists and turns in this corny but engaging Thai ghost story. Not quite as spooky as "Shutter," but these directors are masters of scaring the piss out of you. - DirectorSophon SakdaphisitStarsVorakarn RojjanavatchraChantavit DhanaseviSarinrat ThomasWhat kind of scenes in a horror film scares you the most? When a ghost appears totally unexpectedly? When the main character does not see the ghost sneaking up behind him? When at the very end you find out that the main character was actually a ghost all along? But none of this compares to the feeling of arriving home alone and suddenly being stuck by a feeling of deja-vu that you are reenacting the very same scenes in the horror movie you just saw!(Sophon Sakdaphisit, 2008) - 6/10
Sophon Sakdaphisit's debut as a director is fun pop horror just like its movie-within-a-movie, "Evil Spirit." It won't scare you half to death like "Shutter" or "Alone," but it's got a nice genuine terror-to-campiness ratio. Good one for easing normies into the weird shit. - DirectorChookiat SakveerakulStarsKrissada SukosolAchita SikamanaSarunyu WongkrachangAfter losing his job, his car and his money, Phuchit, Krissada Sukosol, races against time to complete 13 tasks ordered by an anonymous caller who promised 100,000,000 Thai Baht upon completion.(Chookiat Sakveerakul, 2006) - 6/10
Awkward but entertaining Thai mash-up of "Falling Down" and "The Game." Like "Falling Down," it starts off like an early 90's crime caper and gets progressively darker, and like "The Game," the ending is ludicrous. If only Michael Douglas spoke Thai... - DirectorSophon SakdaphisitStarsNamthip 'Bee' JongrachatawiboonNichapalak ThongkhamThunyaphat PattarateerachaicharoenIb and Boum decide to commit suicide together in Bangkok in 1997. After reneging on the promise, the vengeful ghost of Ib returns 20 years later to haunt Boum and her 15 year old daughter, Bell.(Sophon Sakdaphisit, 2017) - 6/10
I can dig even the most generic horror flicks if they take place somewhere cool, and this tale of ghostly revenge has one hell of a setting in Bangkok's Sathorn Unique Tower, left unfinished and abandoned due to the 1997 "tom yum goong" financial crisis. - DirectorPoj ArnonStarsJaturong MokjokSukonthawa KoetnimitEkkachai SrivichaiTaew, Cartoon, Mot-dum and Songkram are four aging-yet-still-outrageous katoey (drag queens) who run a boarding house for boys in provincial Thailand. After helping to cover up the mysterious deaths of two local teens (obese ladyboy "Pancake" and a beautiful local girl named Num-Ning), the two spirits begin haunting the dormitory, forcing the "girls" to try all sorts of crazy schemes to get rid of the ghosts. Eventually, they realize that the only way to do this is to help one the ghosts to avenge their deaths.(Poj Arnon, 2007) - 6/10
I'm really starting to like Thai horror-comedies. They're just so darn silly and slapstick. This one's about a group of aging ladyboys who are being haunted by the ghost of a ladyboy named Pancake who looks like Danny DeVito in a bob wig.
