Phobia 2

Phobia 2 (Thai: ห้าแพร่ง or Ha Prang, lit. "5-way Intersection") is a 2009 Thai horror film in five parts, directed by Songyos Sugmakanan, Banjong Pisanthanakun, Parkpoom Wongpoom, Visute Poolvoralaks, and Paween Purijitpanya.^[1]

Synopsis

Phobia 2 is dissected into 5 shorts stories; Novice, Ward, Backpackers, Salvage, and In The End.

Novice

by Paween Purijitpanya

The story focuses on a 14 years old teenager; Pey, who has committed a crime, Pa-Hin (throwing rocks at oncoming cars) with his partner, Tee. In order to keep the news low, his mother decides that Pey must be ordained to become a Buddhist novice to escape from the crime he committed as monks cannot be arrested. While Pey remains unnoticed as a criminal by the law, his actions at a sanctuary disturbs a ceremony which was performed in order to "feed" the ghosts of the punished youth. Also, it is here where he has flashbacks of the night he caused his father's accident (and death) by throwing rocks at his car, mistaking him for a normal driver. While seeking repentance, was being punished by an invisible presence hurling rocks at him until he becomes severely disfigured. He attempts to call his mother for help but she only hears a high pitched cry. Pey is then transformed into one of the punished ghosts for his crime.

Ward

by Visute Poolvoralaks

Arthit is a playful teenager who crashes his bike and fractures both his legs, requiring him to spend the night in a hospital. He is moved from the Emergency room into a shared room, where he meets an old man in a coma who has been waiting for almost a month for his family to decide to pull the plug on his life support. He is scheduled to be let go the next day, as his last relatives need to travel from the North to see him. As the night progresses, Arthit begins to see strange things, such as a tray of food left for the old man suddenly disappearing. He tries to convince a nurse to move rooms but to no avail. As the night draws to an end, the old man suddenly gets up and attacks Arthit. He almost gains the upper hand when the old man pukes into his mouth and the screen fades to black. The next morning when the nurse checks on Arthit, she finds that the old man's spirit has been transferred into Arthit. It appears that this was the family's intention as they are seen bowing to him as he exits on a wheelchair.

Backpackers

by Songyos Sugmakanan

Backpackers begins with two Japanese travelers (a boy and a girl) hitchhiking through the Thai countryside with no luck. No one will pick them up until the Japanese boy waves a small wad of money at a truck passing by which stops to pick them up. The truck is driven by a rough man who immediately extorts them for more money and a young man named Joi who refers to the older as 'boss' and asks him not to pick up the passengers. However, the travelers realize that something is wrong when the driver repeatedly gets phone calls that sets him shouting down "don't make trouble!" and when there is a continuous loud banging from the back of the truck. The driver eventually drives the wrong way and holds the travelers hostage at gun point while he and Joi check the truck. They open up the cargo and is surprised when they see the truck filled with dead bodies as flashbacks reveal that the two men are father and son who work as drug runner; they transport people who swallowed buns of drugs and they tried to keep them alive, but eventually fail. The Japanese boy gains the upper hand by getting the gun, but the dead bodies return to life and kill him, after which the two men and the Japanese girl run for their lives as the zombies chase them, though the truck eventually crashes down and the zombies kill the driver.

Joi and the Japanese girl wake up at evening and find that the bodies have become motionless again. Joi checks up his father and found him dead with his stomach cut open, while the girl sees a corpse of a boy comes alive, seemingly innocent. The girl shoots Joi dead after he tried to convince her to abandon the boy and she and the boy drives a stray car (which crashed the truck earlier) away. The two eventually arrive at a fair and the girl tries to shoot the boy while he sleeps, but the boy knows and instead kills the girl, after which he runs to the fair maniacally.

Salvage

a film by Parkpoom Wongpoom

Nuch is a car dealer with a difference. She makes her comfortable living by rebuilding severely damaged cars, many from fatal accidents, and sells them to the unsuspecting with a sweet smile and a hand shake. But little do these unsuspecting bargain hunters know, that beneath the new upholstery and shiny repainted exteriors are cars with horrific pasts. One night after closing the car garage she discovers her son is missing. She tried to look for her son in her compound, and was spooked by the ghosts of accident victims. She got locked in a car, and witnessed how some of the victims got burnt to death in the car during an accident. Eventually she managed to escape, and tried driving her own car away. She had difficulties starting her car, and the engine sounded weird. As she pulled away from the compound, her car's engine suddenly died. She stepped out, and found her son's shoe in front of the car. She stepped forward, bracing herself for the worst, and opened the bonnet of the car. There, she found her little boy, incinerated by the engine of the car. The parts closed with Nuch crying motionless to her body-squashed dead little son.

In The End

a film by Banjong Pisanthanakun

Ter, Puak, Shin and Aey are the movie crew of an upcoming ghost/horror movie "Alone 2", starring Marsha as the lead character and Kate, who is sick, as the ghost. They are shooting the last scene where the ghost appears crawling out of a dark hallway, but Kate collapses and is taken to the hospital by Aey in which the doctor tells him she has died. Ter, Puak, and Shin are discussing a possible ending change with the director who agrees, but Kate appears in the set shortly, seemingly alive enough. Kate requests Shin to be taken to the toilet at the same time when Aey phones him informing about Kate's death. Shocked, he passes Kate to Marsha and tells Ter and Puak about Kate. The rest of the studio (except Marsha) overhear their conversation through the microphone and hastily leave the set. Having no choice, they three and an oblivious Marsha decide to shoot the final scene to appease Kate's wish to complete the film. However, the power got off and a ghostly Kate pursues Ter, Puak, and Shin who drives off the set leaving a confused Marsha behind.

The trio see Aey standing alone in the road and take him up. When they see the remnant of his car crashed onto another car, they initially think that Aey had died and now haunts them, though he tells them that he managed to leave his car with minor injuries before the other car hits him. Kate suddenly appears much to their shock afterwards, though she tells them that she secretly left the hospital and the doctor who tells Aey is merely the twin of the real doctor. As they wave for a car to take them to the hospital, a car which is driven by a sleepy Marsha crashes them off.

• Note: The characters of Ter, Puak, Shin, and Aey also starred in the short "The Man In The Middle" from 4bia, the film's predecessor. The fictional film "Alone 2" is likely an allusion to director Banjong Pisanthanakun's previous film Alone, also starring Marsha Wattanapanich as the lead character.

Cast

• Novice:
  • Jirayu Laongmanee: Pey
  • Chumporn Theppitak: Senior Monk
  • Ray MacDonald: Monk
  • Apasiri Nitibhon: Pey's Mother

• Ward:
  • Worrawech Danuwong: Arthit
  • Chartpawee Treechartchawanwong: Nurse
  • Gacha Plienwithi: Old man

• Backpackers:
  • Charlie Trairat: Joi
  • Sutheerush Channukool: Driver
  • Akiko Ozeki: Japanese Girl
  • Theerneth YuKi Tanaka: Japanese Boy

• Salvage:
  • Nicole Theriault: Nuch
  • Peeratchai Roompol: Toey

• In The End:
  • Marsha Wattanapanich: Marsha
  • Nuttapong Chartpong: Ter
  • Kantapat Permpoonpatcharasuk: Aey
  • Wiwat Krongrasri:Shin
  • Pongsatorn Jongwilas: Puak
  • Phijitra Ratsameechawalit: Kate
  • Nimitr Lugsameepong: Director

Production

The movie is produced by GTH GMM Thai Hub; Thailand's leading film production company following the very successful previous chapter; 4bia (aka See-Prang).^[2]

Release

The movie premiered on 09 September 2009 in Thailand and is part of the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International.^[3]

Reception

It was a big hit, making 15.5 Million Baht on its opening day and 64.4 Million Baht in its opening week, highest in Thailand's movie history.^[4]

References

External links

• Phobia 2 at the Internet Movie Database
• 5 Prang Official Thai Website
• GTH
• Official UK Website