9.9.81 (2012)

Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Rapeepimol Chaisaena
Cast: Patthita Attayatomwittaya, Setsit Limkasitdej, Thiti Vetchabul
Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Encore Films & Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/encorefilms

Opening Day: 28 February 2013

Synopsis:  One morning, beautiful lady, Wipawee, wearing her white bridal gown jumped from 20th floor of apartment. The motivation of her suicide is still questioned and mysterious. It is not an ordinary suicide. There may be something behind the incident. It may involve with the bad spirits, black magic or Thai beliefs. More than anything, this incident is related to 9 other accidents unbelievably. Either the man staying in the other side who fell in love with her, the maid, her close friend, teenage who steal her belongings, father and mother, investigation police, new tenant, and specially her boyfriend. All 9 incidents was told by 12 directors while all will reveal the mysterious and lead to the fearsome roundup.

Movie Review:

Over the years, Thai horror films have proven themselves to be some of the best in the world, and have cultivated high expectations for themselves, especially with psychological masterpieces such as Shutter (2004) and Coming Soon (2008). These expectations will unfortunately be dashed with the latest Thai horror movie to come to cinemas in Singapore, 9.9.81.

9.9.81 is a portmanteau film, meaning that it is made up of a few separate movies put together. In 9.9.81, there are no less than nine short films which essentially tell the same story, but from the point-of-view of different characters. We see the plot unravelling through the eyes of Wipawee’s fiance, her mother, and even the young man who lives in the same apartment block as her who, at the time of her brutal death, had stolen a pair of her panties from the communal laundry.

Apart from the obvious telling of the events through the eyes of nine different characters, having a different director (or directors) for each short film also meant that the story was told from nine separate points-of-view.

The directing styles in each of the nine shorts are largely similer, but one or two of the segments prove to be distinct with their approach to relating the story. Friend, which is told through the experiences of Wipawee’s best-friend is outrightly disturbing while The New Tenant shows a more comical, abstract approach.

That being said, some of the films in the nine would have been better off excluded from the final movie. Towards the third-quarter of 9.9.81, the repetitive narrative structure meant that the film begins to get boring, with the same story essentially being retold over and over again. The occasional revelation was not enough to re-engage the audience. It doesn’t help much that the audience doesn’t get to know every character before they are either killed or their episode in the film ends, and we begin to explore another character instead. The character development was, for the most part, touch and go.

Patitta Attayatamavitaya (who plays Wipawee) and Setthasitt Limkasidej (who plays the character Kong) are a real-life couple, but that did not help the fact that there isn’t much chemistry between their characters on-screen. It’s a pity because their characters are two of the few in this film that the audience has a chance to really connect with for a longer period of time. Even the cliché of the bride killing herself in her wedding dress and the poor portrayal of Wipawee’s mental state overshadows their relationship.

With a poor story and character development, the only saving point of 9.9.81 is its visual appeal. In this regard, the production design and exquisite lighting brought together all nine directorial styles and enabled each segment to flow smoothly into the other. That said, it still isn't up to par with what we have come to expect from Thai horror films - simply put,  the effects looked cheap, unconvincing and not very frightening.

On the whole, this is a poorly-executed and sad entry into the Thai horror genre.  

Movie Rating:

(Nine films for the price of one, all of which fail to satisfy what one would expect from a Thai horror film)

Review by Nishanthini Ganesan