The Hotel
Director: Anukul Jarotok
Year: 2002
Starring: Winai Klaibutr, Panu Suwanno
Time: 109 minutes
This low budget horror/supernatural film
plays out very slowly and has next to no scares. The ending is actually fairly
good and somewhat touching but by then you will likely long have lost interest
in the proceedings. The most annoying thing about the film is that it falls
into that horror genre that should be labeled “stupid characters who deserve
to die”. Fairly early on it is clear that living in their environment is deadly
and yet no one has the good sense to just say adios even after a number of
deaths.
A family of two older brothers and a nephew and niece has just purchased
an old hotel and begin the process of renovating it. One day a wall is torn
down and a Buddhist relic is uncovered and soon very bad things begin happening
to people. A college friend of the nephew arrives and is immediately attracted
to the niece and a small romance blooms. It starts off slowly – an accident,
then an apparent suicide by one of the guests and then murder. The finger
of guilt seems to point at one of the uncles but he swears that he knows
nothing. It soon becomes apparent that an angry ghost is taking possession
of the hotel inhabitants and causing them to commit violence. A priest is
brought in but he can do no good and slowly it seeps out that the roots of
this go back a generation and is very personal.
The Thai DVD and VCD have English subs.
My rating for this film: 5.0