In this Thai horror film, writer and director Mark Duffield updates the legend of Mae Nak — which many Thai people reverentially believe in — adds a bit of J-Horror styled makeup and shock-cuts, and then ups the ante with a few well-choreographed gore stunts. Due to budgetary issues, the gore stunts rely less on bloody chunks and more on creative lighting, timing, and framing to deliver chilling tableaus of vengeance wrought by the ghost of Mae Nak.
And, she can certainly get pretty nasty when anyone gets in her way.
Along the way, Duffield maneuvers through the Thai cultural nuances of family and society skillfully to keep the story moving for Western audiences not accustomed to seeing young people turn to elderly family members and Buddhist monks for help and guidance. In Western horror movies, it's usually your family and the authorities that are either ignoring your pleas for help, or trying to kill you; so it's a refreshing change to see grandmothers who believe in ghosts and take you to blind seers for help. He also tones down the usually exaggerated acting common in Thai films to more polished performances here.
Nak and Mak are soon-to-be newlyweds, so the pressure is on. Not only do they need to find a place to live fairly quickly, they also must cope with the usual pressures of work and doting families while preparing for their wedding in present day Bangkok. Mak is also coping with prescient nightmares regarding one disgruntled ghost with long black hair and a hole in the head you could drive a bus through.
When they find a fixer-upper of an old house in the Phra Khonang section, the unscrupulous, and very superstitious real estate agent pressures Mak into signing the contract without reading the fine print. Two thieves have also staked out the old house, patiently waiting for Nak and Mak to move in with their wedding presents. The old house also contains one previous tenant not mentioned in the lease — possibly the original owner — late of this world, but still looking to fill the void left by the loss of her husband and child. Mae Nak, the ghostly tenant, takes a fancy to Mak and haunts his dreaming and waking moments.
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