Dorm - Dek hor

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Dek hor" )

directed by Songyos Sugmakanan
Thailand 2006

Chatree is shipped away to boarding school and believes his parents do not love him anymore. The staff and students have not been entirely welcoming and they've told him ghost stories about hanged women and a drowned kid who haunts the bathrooms. Chatree eventually strikes up a friendship with fellow outsider Vichien only to discover that his new best friend is a ghost. Bullied by fellow students, yelled at by teachers, avoiding his father, Chatree realizes that having a ghost for a friend isn't such a bad thing until he finds out that Vichien must relive his drowning death each night. A fellow student tells Chatree that ghosts must continually relive their deaths until they are reborn and the only way to help a ghost is to become a ghost yourself. While waiting for something sinister to happen, the viewer is blindsided by how humorous and moving the film turns out to be; managing to balance the somber ghost story with the "coming of age" style comedy/drama (like a lighter Thai boys school variation on the Korean girls school horror films like MEMENTO MORI). The child actors are excellent and are given characters with depth (Chatree's emotional isolation is well-rendered so it does not become readily apparent that Vichien is obviously a ghost) and the two cold adult characters (Chatree's father and teacher Ms. Pranee who feels responsible for Vichien's death) also acquire depth as Chatree grows emotionally. While the cover and poster art are a bit misleading about the tone of the film, viewers will not be dissatisfied with the experience.

Eric Cotenas

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Theatrical Release: 2 February 2006 (Thailand)

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DVD Review: Tartan Video (Tartan Asia Extreme) - Region 1 - NTSC

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Tartan Video Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	1:51:12
Video	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.71 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	Thai DTS 5.1; Thai Dolby Digital 5.1; Thai Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
Subtitles	English, Spanish, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Tartan Video Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Director and Cast Commentary (in Thai with English subtitles) • The Making of DORM (4:3; 11:15; in Thai with English subtitles) • Deleted Scenes with Optional Director Commentary (4:3; 20:38; in Thai with English subtitles) • Behind the Scenes (4:3; 5:57; in Thai with English subtitles) • Below the Pool - Special Effects (4:3; 5:06; in Thai with English subtitles) • Character Introductions (4:3; 4:13; in Thai with English subtitles) • Theatrical Trailer (4:3; 1:35; in Thai with English subtitles) • Trailers for ACACIA, ARANG, SHUTTER, THE GHOST, and THE HEIRLOOM DVD Release Date: 22 May 2007 Amaray Chapters 15

Comments

Tartan Video offers this Thai film in an anamorphic, progressive transfer (some of their recent Asian titles - while not being standards conversions - have been interlaced) chock full of extras from the Thai DVD release (with English translation). The film's English subtitles do not seem to have been thoroughly proofed (and may be taken directly from the Thai DVD translation) but they are coherent without glaring errors.

The director and his teenage cast provide commentary (with subtitles) and there are a handful of deleted scenes (running 20 minutes) with or without director's commentary (and English subtitles). The HK import lists 6.1 DTS-ES and 5.1 Dolby Digital EX but do not appear to have the amount of extras on the Tartan disc or the subtitles for them. A fairly solid Tartan release.

- Eric Cotenas

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