ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Wyatt There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Paul Magne Haakonsen Usually the horror / ghost movies that come from the Thai cinema tend to be rather interesting and have captivating stories. "The Victim" ("Phii Khon Pen") however, didn't really live up to many others in the same genre from Thailand.The story is about a young actress who comes into a streak of fame and fortune when she is hired to portray victims in a TV reconstruction show of criminal cases. However, her portrayal of those killed and forced to leave Earth prematurely draws the attention of a malignant spirit that lingers.Story-wise, then "The Victim" doesn't really impress much with the storyline. I am not fully sure whether it is because of the script or if it is the editing of the movie that made it seem like somewhat of a half-hearted attempt at a ghost story movie.Effects-wise, then "The Victim" does deliver a good amount of effects and CGI. It is not really overly scary, but it does make good use of effects, both mundane and CGI alike.As just mentioned above, then "The Victim" isn't really a movie that will scare you or leave you afraid of the dark. Sure, there were some nice enough shock moments to make you jump out of your seat, but in overall, then the movie isn't really scary.Pitchanart Sakakorn, playing Ting / May, did a good job with her given role, and really carried the movie quite well. However, she was struggling with an uphill battle, as the rest of the movie didn't really give her much to work with.For a Thai ghost horror movie, then "The Victim" was fairly weak and bland, and there are far better and far scarier ghost movies available from the Thai cinema market. And the DVD release comes as scraped as they get; there is the play movie feature and chapter selection - nothing else! No extras, no nothing. That was just weak.

GL84 When an aspiring actress is hired by the police to help them film reenactments for various murders, she becomes haunted by the ghost of her most recent assignment and must stop the ghost from running havoc through her friends and her personal life.This was a rather solid and enjoyable Asian ghost story. It has what is generally found in most of these types of films in a rather impressive visual style for the scares, and this has some good ones. Some of the better scenes include the ghostly assistance in the bathroom during her rehearsal, a creepy attack in a bathroom as well as the big highlight of her confronting the main one in a hallway making a cry for help, only to back away and be confronted with a horde of them clawing at her before the other ghost attacks her amidst the scrum. The fact that it gives off a spectacular twist in the second half makes it all the better, due to it being so perfectly executed in regards to how the storyline is presented that there's just a lot to like about what happens, even if it is somewhat cliché and doesn't really speak of any originality. Even still, that main sequence with the movie-within-a-movie revelation comes off nicely, yet that only happens to bring about it's flaws as it begins a terrible time of making sure we understand what reality we're in as it flips between three different story lines and trying to explain them all grinds the film to a halt and doesn't really feature a lot of good stuff afterward as opposed to the front-half, yet this is still entertaining enough as it is.Rated UR/R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence.

mapb The Thai horror films I've seen have all been pretty similar, neatly packaged (but effective) ghost stories heavy on the scares. This film goes for a much greater degree of complexity, but I'm afraid it may have overreached itself a little bit. Other reviews will familiarize you with the plot. I'll just say that the "twist" halfway through - that the entire movie up to then has been a movie in the filming process - is interesting, no doubt, but feels very unnecessary. The two segments have very little to do with each other, other than the first half serving as a gigantic red herring for the second. I will go ahead and reveal that the ghost responsible for the mayhem in the second part has no relation to the first part. In fact, it seems almost like the director had two very good ghost story ideas but couldn't make a full movie out of either, so simply decided to throw them together.All that aside, if you're just after scares "The Victim" serves up its fair share. Even this aspect feels a little disorganized, though. There are a couple truly well-done, beautifully eerie scenes that really add to the atmosphere, but the movie is packed with rapid-fire scares that get very desensitizing very fast. I found myself actually wishing that they would slow down and build some tension. As strange as it may sound, "The Victim" might do well as two short films. The theme of victim-hood certainly applies well to both halves. As two films in one, though, it's something of a mess. However, it still shows some really good ideas and even a certain touch of elegance, and might be preferable to many Asian horror flicks.

massaster760 After watching multiple horror flicks from Thailand, I was very skeptical of Monthon Arayangkoon's The Victim. The success of Thailand's The Shutter has bred a list of copycats trying to imitate the success of that Asian horror classic. Some with good results, some with terrible outcomes (Ghost Game comes to mind). The Victim is neither a great film nor a bad film... but is entertaining and original enough to be a worthy use of 100+ minutes of your time.The story centers on Ting, a wanna-bee actress, who one day inadvertently secures a job with the local police working as a actor in crime scene re-enactments. After successfully completing a few jobs, Ting is asked by police departments countrywide to assist with their re-enactments. Ting becomes well-known and is also looking at television acting, until a famous crime rips through the headlines. A woman named Meen, who is also Thailands runner-up for Miss Universe, is missing and presumed dead. After an short investigation the husband is accused of the crime. Ting knows that this high profile case will either make or break her as an actress and decides to study the life of Meen throughly and intimately. Unfortunately, she becomes too involved as strange occurrences start to pile up, Ting soon finds out she may be more connected to Meen than she ever thought possible.One of the greatest selling points of The Victim is that the film was actually shot on location using real crime scenes and the reenactments are also based on true crimes. This helps give the film a bit more creepiness and scores major points in the originality factor(although the film itself does surrender to a few prevalent Asian horror cliché's). Also of note, is that the film's credits feature actual ghost sightings caught by the camera's during the filming.Another strong-point of The Victim is in it's disturbing imagery. The film elects to take the road of the creepy atmospheric visuals, which are very indicative of Asian horror. There are a few "scary" moments in the film but those pale in comparison with the bloodily beautiful imagery in (for instance) the bathtub scene or the hallway scene (those who have seen this will know what I'm talking about). Monthon's direction in this aspect is spot on and this is one of the major reasons that I can recommend this film.My major complaint about The Victim is how it seems to want to be too many things at once. A detective story, a romantic love triangle story, and a horror film. There's also a complete change in the film fifty minutes in which results in a MAJOR plot twist that will leave the viewer asking, "...What!?". The plot twist is so unexpected that it almost brings the film to a crashing halt. After which it sputters and coughs like an old engine until the last third of the film where it picks up again and finishes strongly (but also predictably). Bottom Line- Asian Horror fans should dig this. Clichéd and disorganized, but plot wise it's different enough to be entertaining. It's also accessible to the average viewer, but this ones really for the fans.