Review: Sick Nurses (Thailand, 2007)

Sick Nurses (สวยลากไส้) is a Thai Horror film about a rundown, shabby looking hospital in Bangkok. Tahwaan, who happens to be a lady-boy, was to marry Dr. Tar, until discovering that the good old doctor had gotten one of the other nurses pregnant, feeling betrayed he/she/’IT’ threatens to go to the police and inform them of the body-selling scam that’s been taking place, in order to save themselves, the other nurses kill her off. Tahwaan, returns to haunt them, killing them one by one, in the goriest ways possible.

I sometimes got confused watching this movie, not because of the storyline or anything, but the way it came across felt like a porno at times. It’s probably the most sex-charged horror film I’ve ever seen … yet there’s no sex! Soft-porn-Horror! Despite this the film is quite good, it doesn’t hang about, wasting time with a “plot”; the action is prominent from the get-go.

You get the idea that the film is not to be taken too seriously, but yet it does have some strange and unexpected twists towards the end and there’s some intriguing camera work throughout the film.

So, the film’s nothing spectacular, but if you like pretty girls in nurse outfits getting slaughtered, you should definitely watch it... and who doesn't like that?

Review: Audition (Japan, 1999)

Audition (オーディション) is the much talked about Japanese horror film directed by the infamous Takashi Miike. The film is a story of an older man attempting to find love after losing his wife seven years before. To find himself a woman the man holds an audition, with his friend and he comes across a girl he believes to be “the one”.

It’s hard to review this film without going on to spoil the end, so I urge you to buy, borrow, rent, steal, download or watch online … basically go to any length you can to see this film and avoid getting information on the actual storyline as the film will lose some of its impact.

Because of my ever growing hunger for films from the East I couldn’t avoid people mentioning this film. I’ve heard everybody from Jonathan Ross to Quentin Tarantino praise it. So I kind of already had an inkling into what was going to take place.

So watch it, then come back and highlight what is under this sentence.

Audition isn’t you’re typical horror film, but of course you know this now, seeing as I’ve told you to watch it and you shouldn’t be reading this if you haven’t. It sets itself up as some sort of romantic drama in which we find Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) in search of woman to marry and the story moves at a steady pace. Although we get treated to little things that could be to come, such as Yoshikawa’s (Jun Kunimura) uncertainty about Asami Yamazaki (Eihi Shiina).

And of course Yoshikawa was right to be uncertain, because Asami’s a fucking basket case. The torture scene is incredible. It just counterbalances the movie so well. It’s not for the squeamish, as my girlfriend found out as she watched through the gaps in her fingers and complained about another “romantic night in”. The acting is brilliant too, Eihi Shiina pulls it off as a shy girl, but you get the feeling something else is going off and it’s hard not to feel sorry for Aoyama and you do want him to find a new love.

I was unsure if Audition would live up to the hype, especially after seeing Ichi The Killer (don’t get me wrong, great film – but I was promised that I’d feel sick, which I didn’t), but it did. Kudos Takashi Miike.

Review: 13: Game of Death (Thailand, 2006)

13: Game of Death aka 13 Beloved (13 เกมสยอง) is a psychological thriller with elements of black comedy. The story revolves around a young man; Phuchit (Krissada Terrence), who is at rock bottom after losing his job, his girlfriend and his car.

Phuchit then gets a mysterious phone call, the voice on the other end of the phone tells him he has a chance to win 100 million baht, all he has to do is 13 tasks. Phuchit is apprehensive at first, but eventually takes on the tasks one by one, instructed by the voice on the telephone. The tasks start out simple enough but as time goes on they get more brutal. Some tasks are funny (Task 3), some are kind of gross (Task 5) and some are a mixture of both (Task 7).

As the tasks go on Phuchit has to face up to aspects of his past and make moral decisions that will affect his future. The films manages to hold the viewers suspense throughout and you are forever wondering what the next task will bring. The film also demonstrates the lengths that people will go due to their greed and love of money.

This is by far one of the best films I have seen from Thailand yet.

Director: Chookiat Sakveerakul
Year: 2006

Review: The Host (South Korea, 2006)

The Host (괴물) bills itself as a monster movie, when in fact it’s so much more, with terrific elements of black comedy and a political undertone that is evident throughout, director Bong Joon-ho has put together a superb film.

The film is based around a mutated creature living in Han River that kidnaps a young schoolgirl; Hyun-seo (played by Ko Ah-seong), it is then up to her family to try and rescue her. Each family member has their own little quirk or personal obstacles to over come, for example the aunt Nam-joo (played by Bae Doona) has a tendency to hesitate under pressure.

As the film progresses it becomes harder for the family to attempt to save Hyun-seo because of government intervention and an overwhelming American presence around Han River. After a fear over a outbreak of a deadly virus, that started with the creature and passed on to Park Gang-du (played by Song Kang-ho); Hyun-seo’s father, the family become wanted fugitives and the pressure mounts on them as the continue to find the monsters nest to save Hyun-seo.

What was I found good about this particular picture was the monster itself, unlike typical monster movies I’ve seen before, we actually get to see a good view of this particular monster form early on. The monster itself is quite bizarre; it does have a look of a mutation (or what I would imagine a mutation to look like). The film also has some quite funny moments and I like the political aspect included about the American involvement too.

I highly recommend this film to anyone, I’m not a massive fan of monster movies, but I found this film a delight to watch.

Director: Bong Joon-ho
Year: 2006