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(aka "Onthakan" )

 

directed by Anucha Boonyawatana
Thailand 2015

 

Beaten and cast out by his family and friends when they discover he is gay, teenage Tam (Atthaphan Poonsawas) has spent the past few days sleeping in any kind of shelter he can find. When he meets up with Pham (Oabnithi Wiwattanawarang), a teenager he met on the internet also estranged from his family and sleeping/working at a garage, they arrange to meet at an abandoned swimming pool believed to be haunted because of a number of drowning deaths and the discover of bodies that have lead to rumors of ghosts that are able to hide bodies until the lives have drained out of them. Although Tam is initially reticent to get physical, the relationship turns intense as the two reveal details of their lives: since his sexuality was discovered, Tam has become the literal whipping boy of the family, blamed for everything that goes wrong (sometimes opportunistically by his brother [Panutchai Kittisatima]), and Pham's family has deteriorated since village locals seized property from his family that has since become a garbarge (and body) dump. As the two find comfort and strength in one another, Tam and Pham begin to push back at their sense of victimization. Pham fantasizes about doing away with the people responsible for taking his family's land so that he and Tam might get it back and live there. Tam, on the other hand, has stood up to his brother and mother (Djuangjai Hirunsri), guilting the latter while simultaneously living up to their perception of him and pawning family valuables to keep him and Pham fed and sheltered. He also may have killed his abusive brother who turns up as the latest of the bodies discovered in the haunted swimming pool's washroom after the ghosts have hidden him. The film is shot through with images of desolation and decay (as if symbolizing the twilit world in which these outcast characters inhabit) as well as unnerving details like the sinister human-like silhouettes painted on the swimming pool and washroom walls, only condescending once to a typical piece of post-RINGU/JU-ON Asian horror image imagery. The slight narrative, however, does not quite hold up as a mood-piece, and was apparently re-edited into Boonyawatana's episode of the television anthology ThirTEEN TERRORS.

Eric Cotenas

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Theatrical Release: 30 May 2015 (USA)

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DVD Review: Strand Releasing - Region 1 - NTSC

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

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Distribution

Strand Releasing

Region 1 - NTSC

Runtime 1:39:10
Video

1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 8.39 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 Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles English, none
Features Release Information:
Studio: Strand Releasing

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1

Edition Details:
� Theatrical Trailer (16:9; 1:52)
� Previews

DVD Release Date: March 8th, 2016
Amaray

Chapters 8

 

 

 

Comments

Strand Releasing's dual-layer disc sports a high-bitrate transfer that is generally strong apart from some banding in the night skies and some tense errors in the optional English subtitles. The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is front-oriented with subtle surrounds building up to a couple horrific jumps. The only extras are the film's trailer and previews.

  - Eric Cotenas

 


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DVD Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

 

 

 

Distribution

Strand Releasing

Region 1 - NTSC

 

 


 


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