GHOST OF MAE NAK

After a brief opening wherein an elderly lady explains the legend of the Thai ghost Mae Nak, we meet Mak (Siwat Chotchaicharin) - a young man awoken from his slumber by a knocking at his door. When he answers the call, there is no-one there. He closes the door and returns to bed, only to be alarmed when the knocking returns - louder and more aggressive. When he answers the door a second time, Mak is confronted by a ghastly female apparition.

Then he wakes, sweating onto his pillow. His mobile phone rings, and he tells the caller - his fiancé Nak (Pataratida Pacharawirapong) - that he has just suffered another of his recurring nightmares.

They meet for breakfast, where it becomes apparent that the pair are to be married very shortly, and Nak has arranged for them to go and view a house that morning.

The house, in an old rural part of Bangkok, is old and run-down. But when Nak leaves early and Mak is left to decide by himself whether or not to take the place, he signs on the dotted line. Despite, it must be said, the fact that he also saw the ghost in the house!

The swindling landlord who hands the keys over to Mak gets his though, meeting a messy end on a late night train ...

Mak and Nak move into their new home, marry, and start to do their place up. Little do they know, however, they are being watched by two burglars. One night while the couple are out, the burglars break in and steal their wedding gifts.

A few days later, Mak recognises his wedding gifts being sold on a street corner. He gives chase to the burglars, but is knocked unconscious by their speeding van.

Nak rushes to the hospital where she finds Mak laid in bed with breathing apparatus wired to his wife. The doctor tells her he's in a coma - but when they are alone, Mak suddenly wakes temporarily to ask of Nak: "Get Mae Nak".

Nak asks her wise old Gran (the elderly lady from the film's opening) who Mae Nak is, and learns -as we do, via flashbacks - of a legendary ghost called Nak who swore revenge against anyone who dared to jeopardise her relationship with her love, Mak.

Understandably intrigued, what with Mak's stories of seeing ghosts, then suddenly learning of a legend that shares her name, Nak delves deeper - convinced that Mak has given a pointer on how to save him.

Meanwhile, the burglars - and anyone who dares to upset Nak - meet supernaturally sticky ends after coming face-to-face with a ghostly figure ...

GHOST OF MAE NAK is the feature debut of highly regarded cinematographer Mark Duffield. It shows. While the film looks gorgeous (he acted as his own DP), it lacks imagination in its storytelling and is guilty of throwing every horror cliché in the book at you.

Take the opening nightmare scene, for example. When Mak gets out of bed, a figure scuttles across the screen behind him. It's an old trick that's had its day, surely. And we certainly didn't need the melodramatic score accompaniment! Then, he answers the door and there's no-one there. But he looks down the corridor and - hey! - the lights are flickering on and off. Small examples, but GHOST OF MAE NAK is rife with them. You can literally predict every "spook", "shock" and musical jump coming from a mile off.

The story is simple enough, and allows for quirky characters to be introduced without too much excess baggage. Duffield, at least, keeps his scope trim and sticks on track with his haunted love story of sorts.

The performances are average, with only Pacharawirapong registering as a talent to watch. But the film belongs to its visual style. It looks fantastic - like a Coca Cola commercial, in fact: all golden-hued exteriors, CGI-enhanced skies, young attractive casting, etc.

All of which makes GHOST seem, if anything, vacuous. Peer beneath the cool visuals and all you have is a horror-by-numbers that, aside from the fact that we have a Thai-speaking cast, does not distinguish itself from the endless glut of mainstream US genre crap released in recent years.

Tartan provide a solid disc as per usual.

The film is presented uncut in it's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, and is anamorphically enhanced. Although the images are not as sharp or as clean as you'd first expect, they're free from grain or artefacting.

The Thai audio is available in 5.1, 5.1 DTS and 2.0 stereo mixes. All are solid, loud, well-balanced mixes. Hardly surprising, as Duffield notes on the commentary track that he paid particular attention to the use of sound when shooting.

Removable English subtitles are also available.

The film can be accessed via 16 chapters.

There's some decent extras on offer here too.

First up is a comprehensive commentary track from Englishman Duffield, who starts off quite self-congratulatory then settles in for some interesting facts.

Next is a substantial 66-minute video diary, shot by Duffield. It offers a wealth of behind-the-scenes footage, as you'd expect.

Then we get two minutes of jokey outtakes, and a 6-minute montage of footage from the film's Thai premiere.

Watchable, with a couple of wryly amusing gore set-pieces, but largely forgettable stuff.

Review by Stu Willis