4BIA

4BIA was one of the two breakthrough works, including Hormones, by well-known studio GmmTaiHub, better known as GTH, first to offer omnibus films in the domestic market of Thailand. These are compilations of several shorts by a single director (as in Hormones) or different directors, shown on a luxurious theatrical screen. The idea worked well. It became a hit and several studios followed the trend, by making several omnibus films, on the themes of love story as in Hormones and of horror as in 4BIA. Because of 4BIA's high production quality, the country's award juries included it in the competition category of feature-length. The film smartly shows four different kinds of Thai talents telling tales of horrors.  

Happiness by the director Yongyoot Thongkongtoon, made famous in the film world by his sense of humor in Iron Ladies saga, Maid, and Metrosexual, tells of a moment of should-be happiness faced by a young woman in hospital. Both her legs are in casts; her best friend is away. She can go nowhere. On the trail of loneliness, she finds a surprising friend through a mobile phone message. She does not know him but still chats with him. Suddenly, he is closer to her than she expected - in fact, he is in her room. Director Yongyoot offers a dark, silent fear throughout the film. He proves to the world that he can also make a good ghost story using silence.

On the contrary Tit For Tat, is a heavyweight of special effects. No surprise, seeing as the director is Paween Purijitpanya (Body, 2007). Tit For Tat covers the dark turn of black magic. A young boy tries to empower himself through the use of black magic, after being radically bullied by a group of his classmates. But black magic cannot take sides. And it is ghosts who triumph. Tit For Tat is the most unpleasant looking section in which audiences often close their eyes instantly.

Banjong Pisanthanakun, the co-director of Shutter, tries his solo horror with something that can be interpreted in two ways. Some said it was the weakest of the four; while some others consider the director's talents in controlling the camera, the editing, and acting that hide the truth until the finale. In The Middle is the journey of four friends in a holiday camp in a jungle. They refuse to sleep in the middle, according to the old belief that the one in the middle will be first taken by ghosts. Suddenly, one friend dies in an accident. The rest are terrified with the return of their friend’s ghost. All of them deny to stay in the middle. But when the finale comes, it is full of fun and you feel like going back to see this section again in order to find out how we are tricked throughout the film.

Pisanthanakul’s co-director Parkpoom Wongpoom employs his tight, concise rhythms and minimal setting in detailing the encounter between an Arab queen and her husband's mistress in The Last Fright. The film was shot only in an airplane cabin, with only the use of two lead actresses. But fear disperses throughout the film. Well edited, and deadly scary in the final scene.
4BIA, despite they fact that they are shorts, still proves that GTH is a master of Thai horror tales.