Ghost of Mae Nak Reviews

Director Mark Duffield gives the Mae Nak legend the ol' J-horror makeover, coating the titular ghost in overly familiar white body paint and black hair dye. But besides a few gratuitous death sequences and the presence of phantom Nak, the script is much closer to the romantic, folk religion-tinged origins of the original Thai story than the eerie gore of most Asian horror. If there's a subtext to be gleaned from the sloppy narrative, it involves the evocation of ancient traditions connecting the two Mae Nak stories. Several key scenes (including the couple's opening marriage and a final exorcism) involve Buddhist rituals, and the putting down of Mae Nak corresponds with the idea of ending cycles of rebirth. Mak and Nak live in a Bangkok of dreary sheet-metal facades, where smart young adults work in high-tech office buildings only to return to cramped homes on dirty streets. Mae Nak is a connection to a simpler past of devoted families and loyal marriages. But this past is corrupted and it is Nak's duty to reconcile these errors to restore a sense of balance to the present. Technically the film is pretty crude. The images are grainy and framed without any tension. Montage and scare scenes progress with arrhythmic awkwardness, further marred by premature money shots of a spirit willing to show her face early and often. Mae Nak is a strange ghost. She helps and seems to like Mak and Nak, but also scares them and eventually possesses Mak without explanation. Her method of killing is dull and accidental; usually she simply shows herself and the seer falls out of a window from fright. By creating a modern correlation of the Mae Nak legend in order to uphold traditional values in an industrializing society, Ghost of Mae Nak projects a certain sweetness. However, by updating the story with a much happier ending from the original lore, the film ignores the creepier and more subversive elements of the original story that may be the reason for the legend's popularity. The horror story and the love story never sufficiently gel together, making for an awkward muddle of a genre hybrid.