It’s not Chang and Eng, but from Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom, the directors whose 2004 box office smashing debut Shutter practically redefined the Thai film horror genre, comes a no less forgettable and hair-raising tale of a pair of Siamese twins, Pim and Ploy.
Conjoined at the abdomen since birth, both girls promise that neither would ever separate from the other. That is until a boy, Wee, steps into the picture. In love with Pim, his constant presence and acts of affection send Ploy into jealous rages. In time, this drives Pim to insist on an operation that will separate her from Ploy so that she can be with Wee. Unfortunately, one of them fails to survive the procedure.
Fast forward to present day South Korea. Pim is a socialite who has it all; Wee, the love of her life, a beautiful house, supportive friends and oh, a beagle named Lucky. But on her birthday, Pim receives a call from home informing her of a stroke her mother suffered.
Reluctantly, and accompanied by Wee, she rushes back to Thailand to take care of her ailing mother. Instead of checking into The Marriot and enjoying the benefits of room service, the couple find themselves, instead, staying at Pim’s childhood home – a large creepy looking manor – creaky staircases and wooden flooring and all –in need of a good paint job. Bad move.
Upon moving in, Pim starts to feel her dead sister’s ominous presence in the house but everyone figures it may be because of her guilt at Ploy’s death. It is not until a trip to the hospital after seeing a materialised Ploy that Pim begins to realise that it may not just be a simple case of guilty complex. Haunting or hallucinations? That’s for you to decide.
The person to look out for in the movie is Thai-German pop singer Marsha Wattanapanich who plays the twins, Pim and Ploy. Her turns in this Jekyll and Hyde role is both convincing and applaudable, considering most singers turned actresses usually end up making box office duds.
The plot too, though filled with holes, is solid enough. It deals with the usual themes of ugly family secrets, sibling rivalry and unreciprocated love with a sort of heart breaking insight. This way, the audience can’t really despise the film’s antagonist. All that’s left is a sense of pity though she does become uncomfortably psychotic in an ‘I’m gonna hack you to pieces’ sort of way towards the end.
The mood of the film is dark and eerie throughout. Unlike Shutter which intelligently clued the audience in with subtle ominous hints creating a spine-tingling tension, Alone seems to play solely on the appearances of a very hideous spirit to send you screaming for your mummy; sudden flashes of a long-haired Ploy accompanied by typically creepy sound effects gives the film its ‘been there seen that’overall shock factor.
Fortunately, the directors were able to inject into the movie the same psychological suspenseful horror factor seen in Shutter, though not entirely as impressive. Note-worthy original scenes such as the trail of footsteps following Pim on the beach and the phantom in the lift are enough to send your imagination running amok.
If it’s any indication of its success, a western remake of Alone is in the works after its right were bought up by an independent company, following the recent trend of Hollywood producers working with Asian horror scripts such as Ju-On and The Eye. Not to be outdone, Bollywood, too, has come a knocking and the Hindi version will star attractive actress/model Katrina Kaif.
Not bad for a B-grade horror production though it is time to depart from the same old crawling sinister apparition shock tactic. A decent way to spend your cash and time, Alone is one horror flick you don’t want to miss.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Movie Details:
Opens: Jul 26
Running Time: 95 min
Rating: PG
Genre: Horror
Cast: Marsha Wattanapanich, Vittaya Wasukraipaisan, Namo Tongkumnerd,
Director: Banjong Pisanthanakun, Parkpoom Wongpoom