Phobia 2

I didn't even know that there was a Phobia 1.

I already have a moniker (if you could call it a moniker) for this movie. It's Shake-Rattle-And-Roll, Thailand Version. That's because Phobia is essentially like that (Shake-Rattle-And-Roll, or SRAR from hereon). It's a movie with short stories in it, just like SRAR. But Phobia has more stories in it, I think, because as far as I can remember, SRAR has like three (or four tops) stories to a movie while Phobia has five. I could be wrong though.

Anyway, Phobia really brought out the fright in me. I can't remember screeching and screaming like that while watching SRAR. Consider the fact that I watched SRAR when I was a kid. And kids tend to be more frightened more easily than adults like me. That shows how frightening Phobia really is to the average moviegoer. Good thing that they made the last part funny. It's a funny ghost story is what it is.

Now for the short stories (in the movie), here are my three cents...I'll just label 'em in parts to avoid confusion.

Part I
This part made me cringe. Supernatural elements were at work. Trees were movin' and bushes were comin' to life. There was even an "unyango" (or a gecko, I don't know), to which said, "Tuko!" I even reckon seein' a "kapre", or was that just a shadow? But I'm pretty sure that was a "kapre" (or a tree giant smokin' cigars). In the end, the Shaolin boy turned to a tree.

Part II
For me, this was the scariest shit. I screamed out the loudest during this part. It was all about this kid involved in a motorcycle accident. He requested for a private ward, but he was placed inside a "shared" ward, with a dying patient beside him and only a curtain that separated them.

Now this dying patient was only breathing through a respirator, or breathing machine, or whatever that thing was. In short, he was a vegetable lyin' in soup. So it was really creepy when the kid peeped through the curtain, only to find out that the other dying patient wasn't in bed but was instead, standing behind him, staring like a madman. What's more, the dying patient (or ghost or what not) was trying to strangle him every single time that the nurse wasn't in the room.

Part III
This one was about zombies. People in a truck were bein' smuggled. Or rather, drugs I believe were bein' smuggled, and they used the human bodies as vessels.

Obviously, the director got his cue from Dawn Of The Dead or 28 Days Later because the zombies were running. Sprinting even! Not so scary though in my book. That's because I know I could outrun a zombie in real life. I just don't know if my cardio could hold though.

Part IV
The penultimate episode was kinda' scary too. It had shock factor like in the second part. Ghosts were just suddenly poppin' up!

Here, ghosts in car wrecks haunt the new owners because the wrecked cars were only restored and sold as new. Have you ever ridden ridden in a car where people have died, or got killed in? You could just imagine the fear factor at work when it comes to drivin' haunted cars.

Part V
Finally, some comic relief. What's more, one of the PAs doin' the movie shoot (they were shooting a movie about a person seeing ghosts) looks like Piolo Pascual.

The lead actress looked hot too! She's half-Caucasian I'm pretty sure. I bet she's a daughter of a white dude who happened to be on vacation in Bangkok (or Phuket or wherever) and somehow ended up fuckin' a Thai lady.


Overall, this was a 6 out of 10 for I really ain't a fan of horror movies. 9 outta 10 for frightening me. I'm just concerned that Philippine cinema is gettin' left behind in the dust. Our special FX is just not at par with the other Asian countries. I just don't get it!



*image from www.lynks4you.com