The House (2007)

Beautiful, moving film.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

I have been particularly fond of Asian horror movies, because most of those I've seen were based on old cultural Folklore or legends, which in my opinion are always one of the best fodders for a good film. Another common ingredient they usually contain are ghosts or spirits that are out for justice. However, in the film Baan phii sing, or The House, it was said to be "supposedly" based on true crime stories, which is another favored movie subject as it can sometimes shed new light on an otherwise closed perspective.The movie centers on the life of a female journalist who eagerly accepted an assignment of making a documentary report about some murder cases that was very big news during its time, but has already been forgotten through the years, namely: The Nuanchawee Murder. In September 18, 1959 Nuanchawee Patchara, a nurse was strangled and drowned by a group of men. Her body was found in the Choa Praya River. Around the time of murder, she was having an affair with a married doctor, Utid Kajorndate who became a suspect. He finally confessed that he hired a group of men to kill his secret lover after she had threatened to tell his wife about their affair.The Jarmjuree Murder. In September 28, 1999 Chalerm Songkramkrad, a medical student, murdered his girlfriend, Jarmjuree Ploysawangsri in a cold-blood manner, and then tried to discard the body by amputating the limbs and slicing his dead girlfriend into tiny pieces, after she tried to break up with him. He later confessed to the police that he did it out of jealousy.The Dr Pusuratt Murder. In February 20, 2001 a female doctor, Pusuratt Bhungaysornpan was reported missing. The police later found pieces of human tissues which matched the DNA of hers in the central drainage at the famous hotel in Bangkok. Doctor Watson Bhungaysornpan, her husband immediately became a murder suspect with the motive, that he had wanted a divorce and start a new life with his new lover.During the course of her investigation, she finds one common ground among the accused: They all lived, at one time during their lives, in an old house. When she went there to investigate, weird things suddenly start to happen to her and her husband as well.While watching the first part of the movie, I was taken in by the creepiness of the house and the way the ghost seemed to appear. But it was a bit short-lived because the story unraveled in a way that I thought was dragging and unnecessary. The acting of the main character was a bit over-the-top and her fainting scenes were somehow, well, pathetic. The story had a lot of potential, but it seemed it was not realized in this movie. The film revolved on a plot that had too many implausibilities and left the viewer with more questions rather than the expected answers. Also, it failed to tie all the cases involved in a coherent continuity.Still, I wouldn't write this off as a total failure. I have enjoyed it on some parts, and there were enough buckets of blood to rival even the slasher movies of the 80's.