The Movie: Premika (เปรมิกาป่าราบ)
The Director: Siwakorn Charupongsa
The Cast: Gena DeSouza, Nutthasit Kotimanuswanich, Todsapol Maisuk
The Story: Thai horror comedy about a karaoke obsessed, revenge seeking ghost.
The Review:
At first glance, this is a super cheesy horror comedy that relies on cheap humor and excessively blood soaked mayhem to entertain the audience. Yes, to all of that but it's so much more. Yes, the story is pretty straight forward and the roster of characters is a who's who of stereotypical caricatures we've seen time and time again but every moment is pulled off perfectly and the whole thing is just so much fun. There is no excessive exposition and the the film makers never take themselves too seriously and I really liked how there was no time wasted in getting right to the point of the movie which is basically people getting chopped up and dismembered by ghosts for singing bad karaoke.
Real life singer Gena DeSouza plays the ghost who is found dead and literally in pieces. Without any way to identify who she is, she is named after the brand of school girl outfit she was forced to wear as a trafficked sex slave. As more and more is revealed about her character, the movie, with all of it's comedy and gore, ends up delivering a powerful message about girls who are sold into slavery and the effect it has on them and their families. For me, this elevated the movie to something much more than just fun throwaway entertainment, it actually has a heart and a message that is very important to bring awareness to one of the biggest criminal activities in the entire world.
The Verdict:
Premika is a super fun horror comedy that hits you with a powerful message as it's chopping you up with non stop laughs. Siwakorn Charupongsa hits all the right notes with plenty of scares, buckets of blood, and an over the top visual style that is quite beautiful to look at.
Premika is an official selection of the 2018 New York Asian Film Festival.
TwoOhSix.com coverage of NYAFF 2018.
No comments :
Post a Comment