Behind the Couch

2012 Dir. Monthon Arayangkoon A recent emergence of striking fright flicks from Thailand has included a number of memorable titles such as Shutter, 4bia , Meat Grinder , Sick Nurses and The Victim – not forgetting of course the moody The Eye films. The House is the latest edition to this strikingly eclectic fold and it boasts the same unique tone and idiosyncrasies as its creepy peers.  The serpentine story coils around investigative journalist Shalinee (Inthira Chaloenpura) who is commissioned to make a documentary about several doctors who brutally murdered their wives. As her investigation continues, she uncovers some odd connections and similarities between the killings, including the sinister fact that throughout the years, all the murderous doctors had at one time or another lived in the same house near the hospital. Despite warnings from spooked (and spooky) neighbours, Shalinee enters the house in search of further clues. What she finds there plunges her and her hu...

2009 Dir. Tiwa Moeithaisong Troubled Buss (Mai Charoenpura) struggles to make ends meet and pay off her absent husband’s debts, selling noodle soup from her food cart. One day she is caught in the midst of a student riot and dragged to safety by activist Attapol, with whom she begins a tentative relationship. Buss later discovers the body of one of the rioters in her food cart and decides to cook it, adding the meat to her noodle soup. Before long, her business becomes very successful, meaning she must find a steady supply of fresh human meat to use in her cooking… Heavily marketed as the latest Thai ‘torture-porn’ export, Meat Grinder wears its promise of gut-wrenching gore and sadistic scenes of violence rather proudly. And so it should, for they are amongst the most startling and insistent scenes of carnage in recent memory. The opening monochromatic montage depicts a woman calmly preparing a human cadaver for cooking, smearing it with herbs and spices and marinating it befor...

2009 This Thai horror anthology features the work of four different directors and comprises of four self-contained but tentatively connected tales of terror. In the grand tradition of Tales From The Crypt, Twilight Zone: The Movie and Creepshow , Phobia is an eclectic and at times compelling fright flick for those who like short, sharp and shocking horror compendia. Director Yongyoot Thongkongtoon’s dialogue-free instalment Happiness features a young woman, housebound due to injuries received in a taxi accident, whose only connection to the outside world is via her mobile phone. One evening she begins receiving friendly text messages from a mysterious boy. Things take a turn for the sinister however when it becomes apparent that the texts are being sent from beyond the grave… Thongkongtoon is perhaps better known for his gentle comedies, but with Happiness he really proves himself to be capable of spinning a good old fashioned slow-burning horror yarn, with an emphasis on chill...