DVD - March 06

The Brutal River

For some years Thai horror movies it has to be said have been mainly on the awful side. But as I've said before they seem to be catching up fast with the rest of Asia with their inventiveness and quality. So will this movie will catapult the Thai horror movie industry to the heights of excellence? Hell no. It basically just is about a giant crocodile terrorizing the inhabitants of a village and eating them. Not in many ways anything new, but the Thais seem to go about all things horror with such a gore filled abandon it brings something fresh to even this well trodden genre.

Brutal River (Review by 'Pygar')

Brutal River Official site

The Heirloom (aka: Zhaibian)

Not for gore fans,this ones a slow burner that takes it time. Synopsis....Twenty years ago, an inexplicable mass suicide occurred in the millionaire Yang household, where the entire clan hanged to their deaths at the exact same hour, place, and height. Only one member survived. To this day, the case remains unsolved. Twenty years later, distant relative James inherits the Yang MANSION, moving in with his girlfriend Yo, a dancer who aspires to study in the U.S. To celebrate the engagement, they invite their friends ?Yi-Chen and Ah-Tseng - to their new home and stay the night. As supernatural events begin to take place, James and Yo discover the eccentricities of the house including a mysterious fourth floor. Delving deep into the Yang family history, James and Yo find out that the Yang fortune was built with the aid of “child ghosts”, dead babies fed on blood and refused the opportunity to reincarnate. Raising child ghosts may bring great fortune, but at the same time great doom. From here on, James and Yo will unearth more secrets about the Yang family - and even about James himself - while they must confront the evil dwelling on the fourth floor. Trailer (Streaming Windows media)

Whispering Corridors 4 : Voice

Fourth in the loosely connecting Whispering Corridor series. Also known by such alternative titles as Whispers and Voice Letter, this new film follows the story of Young Eon, a timid high school student who dies mysteriously while singing in the school's music room. But even in death, Young Eon's voice continues to be heard by her best friend, Sun Min. Although startled by this supernatural development, Sun Min adapts rather quickly to the situation and tries to uncover the reasons for her friend's untimely demise. But Sun Min's absolute faith in her dearly departed friend is soon shaken when a plague of mysterious deaths start to occur on campus! Are these murders Young Eun's doing?

Rahtree: Flower Of The Night

A popular Thai horror comedy that gives more than a few jumps. The synopsis of the story... 'A girl named Buppah Rahtree, who through a series of unfortunate events ends up bleeding to death, and haunting an apartment building full of weirdos'. The director Yuthlert Sippapak is an admitted Exorcistphile and it clearly shows. There is enough new and inventive in the plot to keep you interested. No trailer that I can find is available online, but I did stumble across a site for the sequel 'Rhatree Returns'

Rhatree Returns official site

Female Convict Scorpion: Beast Stable

Following her successful prison break, Scorpion (Meiko Kaji) begins this third episode in the series hiding out in a brothel. Her prostitute friend tries to keep her identity secret, but the brothel's madam discovers that Scorpion is the ex-girlfriend of the vice officer who killed her lover. Torture follows, as the madam's lover was a member of the Yakuza, and his thuggish cohorts frame Scorpion and get her re-arrested. Available late March.

Death Trance (R1)

An over the top but fun martial arts epic from the 'action' director of Versus. Story synopsis In an unknown place and unknown time, a master Samurai known only by the name of Grave (Tak Sakaguchi) searches for the ultimate battle. Never showing fear for any fight, Grave is the one and only swordsman able to steal the mysterious and legendary coffin from the holy Tougan Temple. In this world without reason, a young girl from the temple grounds follows Grave and the coffin wherever they may go. And so begins the deadly race to re-capture the coffin and its hidden power from Grave for good or evil. Released by 'media Blasters'

Official site.US.

Phantom

Reiji's life is changed forever when he is the chance witness to an assassination. The organization perpetrating the murder gives him a choice: have his memory erased and work for them, or die. Reiji chooses to live and now he is a highly skilled, trained killer with no memory of ever being otherwise. Another assassin named Zwei, a girl whose code name is Phantom, becomes closer to Reiji, and as the two form a bond amid the bloodiness of hired killing, the walls holding them in their violent life seem closer everyday. The two may have no past but could they share a future?

The Sisters (R1)

Curse, Murder, and Revenge lie hidden within the air conditioning vent. Based on a chilling true story that rocked and rattled Thailand, a band of teenage musicians are drawn to an unmentionable fate inside a cursed motel. Within room #409, hanging down from the air conditioning vent, a mysterious strip of white cloth lures each of the band members to investigate. After having visions of a woman with long hair and demonic eyes they visit a Buddhist monk who reveals what horrors await them, as they must all face the curse of a beheaded prostitute.