After a short lull in the past few years, Thai horror returns to the screen again with the arrival of Taveewat Wantha’s fourth feature Long Weekend. Thanks to collaborative teamwork between Wave Pictures (a new producer, an affiliate of Thailand’s second biggest television mogul), underrated veteran director Taveewat, and popular cult storyteller Eakasit Thairaat (13 Beloved, Body), this spooky flick became a sleeper hit, characterized by a twisted plot, disturbing scares and a shocking atmosphere. A group of five university students secretly plan a weekend holiday, without telling their nerdy friend Thongsook. A nice-looking young guy, Thongsook doesn’t mind. He sneaks onto the tour without his friends’ knowledge and with expectations of his own. But not only is the destination an isolated island untouched by visitors for a decade; it is also Friday the 13th. The friends even make fun of this, being told of the last bloody visit by the boat driver. And then when Thongsook appears, they mock him by locking him in a cave where worshippers are said to have been swallowed by a hungry ghost. In an extreme panic, Thongsook tries every way to get out of the cave. To make matters worse, he loses his lucky amulet while searching for a way out. Only Namcha knows the significance of this amulet and the reason why he wears it at all times. Back in their childhood times, Thongsook once asked Namcha if they could still be friends if Namcha knew his secret. The child Namcha nodded. Thongsook then took off the necklace and suddenly his body was radically shaken. He became possessed by a monster, which could only be controlled by this amulet. Thus it is no ordinary Friday 13th...
Taveewat Wantha has long been known as a cult director who is under-recognized in his own country. His works always explore strange worlds which are inhabited by groups of weird people who encounter unexpected situations – from the SARS-infected zombies in SARS War (2004) to the sex fantasies of a rock musician in The Sperm (2007) – in bizarre fusions of comedy and fantasy genres. Long Weekend, despite being his first horror thriller, is a tour de force of plot twists, weird ghosts and bloody spirituality. A dancer ghost twists her body and swirls her hands and arms to dance for you. And this isn’t even the strangest scene. The victims never know when the ghosts will appear, or even who is a ghost.
Worse of all, these ghosts are smart. They can enter your dreams to eat you up! Taveewat plays with his audience this time. Not only are the characters tricked by the ghosts, but we the viewers are also drawn into this cat-and-mouse game.
All this is helped by fast cutting and a good performance from indie musician and first-time actor Chinawat Indracusin.
Anchalee Chaiworaporn