Sunday, August 31, 2008

4bia (NC16)

4bia


official site

Language: Thai
Running Time: 120 mins

Rating: NC16
Genre: Drama / Horror / Comedy
Starring: Apinya Sakuljaroensuk, Chermarn Boonyasak, Maneerat Kham-uan, Nuttapong Chatpong
Directed by: Parween Purijitpanya, Yongyoot Thongkontoon


TRAILER




MOVIE SUMMARY
The movie comprises of four different stories of four different lives, directed by four directors. The first story tells a tale about 'Happiness' where a lonely girl finds companionship with a guy that she knows through phone text. The second story 'Tit for Tat' depicts the anecdote of a young artiste who is out to make a good-looking portfolio instead of a good movie. 'In The Middle' is more towards a parody of Hollywood movies with bits of humour and lastly, 'Last Fright' is a melodramatic story about a widow and her foe.

REVIEW
When you watch "4bia", you not only pay for the price for one horror movie but four put together! What a bargain! It's rather refreshing to see this kind of anthology played on the big screen.

In this movie, four uniquely independent horror stories that could have easily become whole movies on their own are put together back-to-back as they are not linked whatsoever. By sequence, the stories are "Happiness", "Tit For Tat", "In The Middle" and "Last Fright". Each runs about half an hour and you will find that they go straight to the point, without much hesitation and the unnecessary chitchat in between.

In "Happiness", it is a very short and simple story to play around. I adore the fact that you can relate to how the main feels in every situation she's facing, like the intense fear of being watched by someone or something. The main character plays her role convincingly well.

"Tit For Tat" - this isn't the kind of story I would want to make into a full feature. It didn't really capture my interest except for the ending. The cinematography was unforgivable as the shaky effects were used too frequently and at some point, the scenes didn't show the audience clearly what had really happened. The effects used were rather average but the effort is there.

Next, "In The Middle" is possibly the best story out of the bunch. It gives the audience a dose of both horror and comedy. The actors who played four best friends conversed with one another so fluently and convincingly that you just couldn't seem to hate them. In the story, there is a familiar twist (been there, done that), however it still made the story better.

Lastly, "Last Fright" tells the story of a flight attendant who is haunted by a spirit (or rather the dead body of a woman) on a plane. Out of the bunch, this was a very 'plane' (please excuse the intended lame pun) story. Story line wasn't up to par with the others. It's a weak attempt. The ending didn't have that extra "oomph" to end the whole movie either.

However, "4bia" was definitely a unique blend of horror and comedy; and it does give a good scare-you-out-of-your-pants reaction that makes it worth the watch.




4bia deserves a 4/5 rating..


xoxo
D.diva

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