Thai horror refers to horror films produced in the Thai film industry. Thai folklore and beliefs in ghosts have influenced its horror cinema. [1] [2] [3] [4] Horror is among the most popular genres in Thai cinema, and its output has attracted recognition internationally. [5] [6] [7] [8] Pee Mak , for example, a 2013 comedy horror film, is the most commercially successful Thai film of all time. [9]
Thai Cinema: The Complete Guide states that "the history of Thai cinematic achievements is to a large extent the history of Thai horror." [10]
Nang Nak (1999) has been described as a key part of "Thai New Wave". [11] [12] Shutter (2004) was critically acclaimed and commercially successful locally and internationally. [13] [14] The film was successful in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Brazil, and was remade in the United States and in India. [11] Pee Mak (2013), a comedy horror, became the highest-grossing Thai film of all time upon its release. [15] The Medium (2021), a Thai-South Korean co-production, was awarded Best Film at the 25th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival [16] and was the Thai submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film in its year of release, but was not nominated.
However, "the appearance of zombies in Thai horror films is a relatively new theme." [17]
Nang Nak is a 1999 Thai supernatural horror film based on the Thai legend of Mae Nak Phra Khanong. It was directed by Nonzee Nimibutr and released in 1999 by Buddy Film and Video Production Co. in Thailand. It depicts the life of a devoted ghost wife and her unsuspecting husband.
Mae Nak Phra Khanong, or simply Mae Nak or Nang Nak, is a well-known Thai ghost. According to local folklore the story is based on events that took place during the reign of King Rama IV.
Sombat Metanee was a Thai actor and film director, who was honored as National Artist in the performing arts branch in 2016.
The cinema of Thailand dates back to the early days of filmmaking, when King Chulalongkorn's 1897 visit to Bern, Switzerland was recorded by François-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. The film was then brought to Bangkok, where it was exhibited. This sparked more interest in film by the Thai Royal Family and local businessmen, who brought in filmmaking equipment and started to exhibit foreign films. By the 1920s, a local film industry had started and in the 1930s, the Thai film industry had its first "golden age", with a number of studios producing films.
Yuthlert Sippapak is a Thai film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for his genre-blending films Killer Tattoo and Buppah Rahtree.
The Krasue is a nocturnal female spirit of Southeast Asian folklore. It manifests as the floating, disembodied head of a woman, usually young and beautiful, with her internal organs still attached and trailing down from the neck.
The Unseeable is a 2006 Thai horror film directed by Wisit Sasanatieng. This is the first film of another writer's screenplay by the director. The writer is Kongkiat Khomsiri, one of the "Ronin Team" credited with directing the 2005 Thai horror film Art of the Devil 2.
Buppah Rahtree is a 2003 Thai comedy-horror film written and directed by Yuthlert Sippapak. With its comic references to The Exorcist and Audition, Buppah Rahtree gained a cult following through screenings at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival and the Fantasia Festival. Its sequels are Buppah Rahtree Phase 2: Rahtree Returns (2005), Rahtree Reborn (2009) and Rahtree Revenge (2009).
Buppah Rahtree Phase 2: Rahtree Returns is a 2005 Thai comedy-horror film written and directed by Yuthlert Sippapak. It is a sequel to the 2003 film, Buppah Rahtree.
Ghost of Mae Nak is a 2005 Thai horror film thriller about a protecting ghost directed and written by British director Mark Duffield. The film stars Pataratida Pacharawirapong, Siwat Chotchaicharin and Porntip Papanai as the ghost.
Bangjong Pisanthanakun is a Thai filmmaker and screenwriter. He saw early success with his first two films, Shutter (2004) and Alone (2007), both horror films that he co-directed and co-wrote with Parkpoom Wongpoom. He also directed the 2013 comedy-horror romance film Pee Mak, which became Thailand's highest-grossing film of all time, and the 2021 horror film The Medium, which was a commercial and critical success in South Korea. In addition to horror films, Bangjong directed the romance films Hello Stranger (2010) and One Day (2016).
Rahtree Reborn is a 2009 Thai comedy-horror film written and directed by Yuthlert Sippapak. It is a sequel to the 2005 film, Buppah Rahtree Phase 2: Rahtree Returns.
Nak is a Thai animated dark fantasy horror film that was released on April 3, 2008 and aired on TV in Thai PBS Kids.
Belief in ghosts in Thai culture is both popular and enduring. In the history of Thailand, Buddhist popular beliefs intermingled with legends of spirits or ghosts of local folklore. These myths have survived and evolved, having been adapted to the modern media, such as Thai films, Thai television soap operas, and Thai comics.
Pee Mak is a 2013 Thai supernatural horror comedy romance film directed and co-written by Banjong Pisanthanakun. The story is an adaptation of the Mae Nak Phra Khanong legend of Thai folklore. The film stars Mario Maurer as Mak Davika Hoorne as Nak, and Pongsathorn Jongwilas, Nattapong Chartpong, Auttarut Kongrasri and Kantapat Permpoonpatcharasook. The film was a major commercial success upon its release and became Thailand's highest-grossing film of all time.
Inhuman Kiss, also known as Krasue: Inhuman Kiss, is a 2019 Thai supernatural horror film directed by Sitisiri Mongkolsiri. It was selected as the Thai entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, but was not nominated. In 1940s Thailand, a krasue lives a normal life as a woman by day, but at night her head detaches from her body and seeks out for flesh and blood.
Thai queer cinema is a category of Thai films that in some way represent non-normative gender and sexuality. In other words, the narratives explored in Thai queer cinema go beyond heterosexual relationships and the male-female gender binary. The classification of this genre of Thai film as "queer" rather than LGBT, is used by film scholars, Brett Farmer, Oradol Kaewprasert, Karl Schoonover, and Rosalind Galt, in an effort to fully capture the range of Thai gender and sexuality, or phet portrayed in film which may not be accurately represented through Western LGBT terminology.
Folk horror is a subgenre of horror film and horror fiction that uses elements of folklore to invoke fear and foreboding. Typical elements include a rural setting, isolation, and themes of superstition, folk religion, paganism, sacrifice and the dark aspects of nature. Although related to supernatural horror film, folk horror usually focuses on the beliefs and actions of people rather than the supernatural, and often deals with naïve outsiders coming up against these. The British films Blood on Satan's Claw (1971), The Wicker Man (1973) and Witchfinder General (1968) are regarded as pioneers of the genre, while The Witch (2015) and Midsommar (2019) sparked renewed interest in folk horror. Southeast Asian cinema also commonly features folk horror.
Santi-Vina is a 1954 Thai Bildungsroman film directed by Khru Marut. It was produced by Ratana Pestonji and Robert G. North, with American sponsorship, and won major awards at the Asia Pacific Film Festival in Tokyo. Widely regarded as a classic, it was the first Thai film to be shot in 35-mm color, but was considered lost until its rediscovery in 2014 and subsequent restoration.
Horror films in Asia have been noted as being inspired by national, cultural or religious folklore, particularly beliefs in ghosts or spirits. In Asian Horror, Andy Richards writes that there is a "widespread and engrained acceptance of supernatural forces" in many Asian cultures, and suggests this is related to animist, pantheist and karmic religious traditions, as in Buddhism and Shintoism. Although Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Korean horror has arguably received the most international attention,