Phobia 2 (2009)

Best movie of this year hands down!

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Absolutely Fantastic

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

An anthology is the sum of its parts, so how does this particular set stack up?Novice: A young man with a troubled past is left to live among monks, where karma catches up to him. Interesting idea, but lacking in execution and a bit boring until the end. (5/10)Ward: An injured teenager spends the night in a hospital room with a brain dead old man on a respirator who is slated to be taken off life support the next day. Spooky and violent, with a twist ending. (7/10)Backpackers: My favorite of the bunch. Two young hitchhikers are picked up by two truckers with cargo more dangerous than any of them know. I'd love to see a full movie made from this one. (9/10)Salvage: A dishonest car saleswoman had a terrifying night when one of her vehicles is returned by an angry customer and her own son disappears. A gruesome little ghost story, once again featuring karma as a main theme. (8/10)In the End: A funny and subversive tale about the filming of one of those "spooky long-haired ghost girl" horror films that had been coming out of the east so frequently in the last 10+ years. (8.5/10)Phobia 2 gets off to a rocky start, but overall it's an entertaining and varied mix of Thai horror.

What I like about this sequel is that it was not the typical heavy, depressing Thai horror film unlike the others. Though there are several endings which are not really favorable for the protagonist, some parts of it contains comic scenes which lightens up the vibe. There was one episode though that I found a bit too exaggerated, especially in terms of the Special Effects, good thing the gore and the morbidity saved it.:) Another thing is that, unlike the first installment, the movie was not at all about the title, if I was the producer of the film, i would name it "KARMA" :) I like how the movie portrayed that your actions may affect the future and how your wrong doings may get back to you someday. It is like a modern horror version of a tale with a moral lesson. Criminals and bad people should totally watch this film. :) You could really see the regret in the eyes of the featured character. I also enjoyed the suspense and the make up of the monsters in this film. It was worth watching though, I recommended it to my friends and when they watched it, they also recommended it to their friends and they actually liked it and would give it a score of 10.

"Phobia 2" was a vast improvement from the first movie. There is a feel to this movie that the directors had an actual goal and ambition with their stories, unlike the first movie, which seemed like someone went "hey, lets make some short horror stories" and it was put on film.The stories in "Phobia 2" are more thought through and more thoroughly fleshed out. The characters are given more depth and it is so much more easy to immerse yourself in the different stories.The first segment, "Novice", deals with a troubled teenager sent away to a monastery where he must come face to face with the demons in his closet. This story wasn't really scary, but it had a nice twist along the way.The second segment, "Ward", takes place in a hospital room, where a young man shares the room with an old man hooked up to life support. But all is not well here... This story was a bit disturbing, because there was always a shock just around the corner. The ending, however, was somewhat of a disappointment.The third segment, "Backpacker", is my personal favorite. Two Japanese hitch hikers are picked up by a truck in Thailand. But the truck is carrying a dreadful secret both in its compartment and with one of the drivers. Now, what made this segment so unique (in my opinion) was because it had zombies in it, and I am a huge zombie fan. Lots of adrenalin and edge-of-your-seat thrills here.The fourth segment, "Salvage", tells the story of a used car dealership that sells restored cars that were involved in accidents. And the cars carry the ghosts of their terrible past. This particular story was interesting and had some good moments along the way.The fifth and final segment, "End", revolves around a film crew making a ghost movie. A horror movie within a horror movie, clever eh? However, the set is beset by trouble and things quickly fall apart. This particular segment was interesting because you had the group of young guys from "Phobia" (the first part) return to the sequel. There is a lot of humor in this segment, and it doesn't really fit in a horror anthology, but it is still good to watch. And well worth a couple of laughs along the way.That being said, then "Phobia 2" is a good enough movie in the Thai horror genre, but there are far better movies available out there. But in comparison to "Phobia", then the stories are better here, the scares are better, and there is just a more wholesome touch to the entire movie. "Phobia 2" is a good choice for an evening of smaller scares, if you like Thai horror movies.

Phobia 2 is (as is predecessor) divided into short segments, directed by an all star team of Thai movie makers. That is makers of movies of the scary kind! It's rather unfair to write a review of the movie as a whole, so instead I'll write a bit about the individual parts.The movie starts out with "Novice", the story of a boy being dropped off at a Buddhist monastery. The segment is eerie and set in a beautiful environment. The horror theme is a mix between a few jumpscares and some painfully gory bits. All in all an OK segment, but it lacked in the scary department. 6/10 Segment number two, labeled "Ward" takes place in (surprise) a hospital ward. A young man is injured and confined to a hospital bed, next to a man on life support. He can't leave his room and bed as scary events unfold. That is also what the horror theme is based around, completed with a fair amount of well-directed jumpscares. 7/10 The third segment is named "Backpackers" and could be used as a propaganda film on why you shouldn't hitchhike. It has the feel of a classic horror movie, with great makeup, gore and sound effects. It also deals with morals in pressed situations as the protagonist has to make some tough decisions. It has been done before, but I still loved this segment. 8/10 The fourth segment, "Salvage" is set in a second hand car store, dealing in a very special type of cars. It's built around a lot of cool ideas and there's plenty of both gore and jumpscares, but the story is a bit weak in my opinion. 6/10Finally, my favorite part. I loved the segment "In the middle" from the first movie and this one is even better. The cast from "In the middle" is back to poke more fun on the horror genre (including their previous adventure). The twists, turns, plot holes and clichés creates a truly hilarious and fantastic short. Banjong Pisanthanakun has a great deal of self distance and both Shutter (once again) and Alone are made fun of, as well as the entire Hollywood horror genre. 10/10