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Horror and gore are the pet genres of Thailand’s filmmakers. ‘Shutter (2004)’ was a massive hit not only in Asia, but in America and Europe as well. ‘Shutter’ was recently released in the USA, but it was a different English version shot and produced in America. Ever since Shutter, I pinned similar expectations on Thai horror films that I watch, and this most recent one has indeed lived up to expectations.

Body #19 (2008) was released in January this year to a rather muted response. I felt that this was a misrepresentation of the quality of this movie and I felt that I should take this opportunity to introduce this movie. The story revolves around a Thai engineering student named Chon haunted by recurring dreams and inexplicable visions about an unnamed female stranger. The dreams become increasingly violent and he ends up witnessing the woman being murdered. He then experiences hallucinations of himself being dissected and chopped up like the woman and out of fear and frustration he consults a psychotherapist.

Amidst all his fears, he feels that it is the woman’s spirit trying to ask him for help. He then enlists the help of his sister to assist him to uncovering the truth behind the murder. As he delves deeper into the truth, the malicious spirit manifests itself and actually killed the people that he talked to, people who try to help him uncover the truth. A man gets burned alive by acid poured forth from the ghoul’s body and a woman getting lacerated and asphyxiated by a tightening coil of barb wire; Chon fears for his life and his sister’s and becomes increasing hysterical and frantic.

Since this movie was produced by the same studio that produced ‘Shutter’ and ‘Alone’, it would be likely that it offers a dramatic late twist in storyline. How right I was, but how wrongly did I guess. In retrospect, this was a brilliant twist, comparable to the ones in the ‘Saw’ series. For the sake of people who still do want to catch this movie, I will not be shedding any spoilers.

Although I am not a horror fanboy, I must say that I am inclined to praise this movie. This is one of the better horror flicks that I have watch to date. Story-wise, it was commendable. It was nothing groundbreaking but it was enough to make me sit back and appreciate the twist in storyline. Apart from the plot, my favourite aspects of the movie were the computer-generated effects as well as the music. The CG effects was so meticulously detailed that the gore was absolutely revolting. The hacking of the corpse of the woman was crafted so realistically that it did threaten to upend my stomach. Also, the sound design was excellent. The opera-style theme song transited from being classy to eerie and to downright bone-chillingly spooky. In horror movies, sound is an instrumental tool in enhancing the scares and this, Body #19 does to brilliant effect. Coupled with well-designed graphic displays, this show’s ‘boo’ moments will always jolt you.

One thing that Body #19 could have improved on was the length of the movie. Running at more than two hours long, it could have ended much earlier if the producers did not drag the storyline more than necessary. The trend of scare-moments in Body #19 became predictable after the first hour. Instead of choosing the climax of suspense to insert the jolting scenes, producers chose to insert a lull period after suspense reaches the peak, before unleashing the shocking moment. This was a change from usual horror flicks, but this happened close to every single time in the show, making it rather predictable towards the end.

All in all, Body #19 (2008) is a good show to watch, but make sure you have the stomach to digest the graphic scenes of dismemberment. No doubt, it was a very impressive effort by the production team and worth every penny for the ticket, but it is nothing spectacular.

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(1 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
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