A young newlywed couple acquires an old abandoned house that bring them into contact with a vengeful spirit. At first the ghost protects the couple from unscrupulous visitors but it becomes apparent that it expects a terri... more »ble favor in return. Only by setting the spirit free can they escape its wrath. Studio: Genius Products Inc Release Date: 10/10/2006 Run time: 103 minutes« less
J. Gabriel Estrada Quintero | Mexico City | 01/01/2007
(1 out of 5 stars)
"This is by far Tartan's worst release. For a distributor that has brought us great titles as The Booth, the vengeance trilogy and else, this is scary at its lowest. The legend of the ghost is explained in other reviews, and it is quite interesting, to say the least. But this pseudo movie is not even that. Directed by a long-time contributor of B-movies (check his filmography), The Ghost of Mae Nak fails to be scary, is not stylish, and not even interesting. But it certainly is predictable, boring, lame, has the worst dialogues you'll hear in a long time, and it is plainly mediocre. Perhaps it is the style of the westerner director, he has shown that he likes/loves Thailand (Butterfly Man), but his skills as a director are not enough to create anything interesting.
Watch Shutter, that one is truly creepy and is told by Thais who really understand Thai and know how to film. Don't waste your time with this dud."
One Scary Ghost
S. Keel | Los Angeles, CA | 09/11/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The legend of the ghost of Nang Nak is a part of Thai folklore, the story of an 19th Century 'angry ghost' who lived in a bucolic palm-fringed village outside of Bangkok named Pra Khanong..
By 2005, Pra Khanong is part of the dirty old metropolis, the giant grey concrete slab of Bangkok. No longer a place for a rural ghost.
I have never even been there - there's no compelling reason to go. It is ten minutes from where I live, but it is just another part of inner city urban blight nowadays.
This movie works because it treats Bangkok not as a glitzy tourist venue, full of pachyderms, tuk tuks, ladyboys and long-tail boats, but a functioning, ordinary, third-world city in which regular Thai people live with limited budgets and modern fears.
Into this is transported a semi-Gothic, semi J-Horror story, that derives from the old mythology.
Thai movies are often unsophisticated, self-referential and burlesque. This one doesn't fall into that trap, perhaps because it is Directed by a Westerner and doesn't play to stereotype.
I liked it."
RENT IT IF YOU HAVE TO FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF
celestial3 | DALY CITY, CA. USA | 01/27/2007
(1 out of 5 stars)
"I'M SORRY BUT THIS IS NOT A MOVIE YOU WOULD WANT TO SPEND ANY MONEY ON. REALLY. I WOULD ALSO NOT RECOMMEND EVEN RENTING ( BUT DO THAT IF YOU MUST SEE FOR YOURSELF ) IT AS AFTER THE FIRST APPEARENCE OF THE GHOST IT'S ALL A STRAIGHT DOWNHILL RIDE. IF AMAZON HAD A NO STAR THAT'S WHAT I WOULD HAVE GIVEN THIS. YOU'RE WAITING FOR THAT MOMENT THAT REALLY NEVER COMES. A VERY WEAK EFFORT."
Enjoyable
Dancing Ganesha | Bangalore, India | 07/21/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"At first I thought I would be disappointed by this film, but in the end I was pleased with the storyline. Despite the sometimes clumsy CGI effects, I really liked this one, mostly because of the old haunted house and the legend of Mae Nak."
Good story, more about love than about horror
phoong dan | International | 02/23/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Another reviewer I think already hit on the key point that this movie is more about love than about horror. I watched this movie last summer on DVD and really enjoyed it. For many people this will probably be their first Thai movie they've seen. I've seen a few as I've travelled to Thailand on a few occasions. I've certainly seen scarier Thai horror movies than this one, but I don't think it was the director's intent to make this a "scary" movie. As others have pointed out, this is a folk tale, and the movie feels like a folk tale being told to us. It's not supposed to be Jason v. Freddy with special effects and 12 different camera angles showing someone's head coming off. And I think it is more of a love story than it is a ghost story. If you are expecting blockbuster effects you will be disappointed. If you like seeing a folk tale or a good ghost story you might tell around a camp fire come to life, then you'll likely enjoy this one."