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 03" is a film that is hardly original, and
is in fact very reminiscent of American slasher films, even though at
times it shows promise in the solid direction and excellent camerawork.
Then again, despite the flashes of brilliance, this echo will never
overcome the voice.
The film takes us to St.
Georges', a private Catholic boarding school. Touring the school's Hall of
Fame room, a group of students become fascinated with a picture of one
student in particular. He is Prince Davodaung Sira, the only picture with
only a nameplate and no listing of accomplishments or information on his
life. Intrigued, the students form a fan club devoted to Sira and begin an
investigation into who he was and why his name is never spoken.
They learn he was a former student who was only there for a short time
before committing suicide. Clearly not thinking, the students hold a séance
to contact him. What they encounter is an angry spirit who claims he was
the victim of a murder. Soon, grotesque murders begin occurring, and the
campus is thrown into a panic. Worse, a powerful storm has knocked out the
phone lines and blocked the only road out. Trapped, the students must find
the killer and in doing so, learn the truth about Prince Sira.
The most impressive thing about "303" is the artful direction of
director Somching Srisupap. He seems to have studied in the David Fincher
school of filmmaking, majoring in bleak visuals and minoring in foreboding
atmosphere. He gives the film a beautiful and grim aura that is at times
breathtaking to behold, not to mention enhancing the film with imaginative
camera angles and well-placed lighting. He even manages to pay homage to
Alfred Hitchcock with a unique "re-imagining" of the infamous
shower scene from "Psycho".
The cinematography by Taweesak Kumphati is also
excellent, complementing the director's ideas with gorgeous camerawork.
The two men give the impression of working in tangent, and that work pays
off onscreen. Unfortunately writer Cher Kori's effort doesn't come off
quite as well. The script features enough scary scenes and gory deaths to
keep horror fans happy, as well as managing a fairly good retelling of a
concept that has begun to get tired to the point of dying from exhaustion.
Kori even throws in an absorbing mystery, but he never develops the cast
into individuals, and they all remain stock characters with predictable
traits. As a result, you don't care about the people being killed; you
just wait and see who's next.
Not that the cast does anything to help matters. The
actors say their lines and hit their marks, but there's no conviction or
effort in any of the performances. That may be expected in the younger
members of the cast, but the adults are guilty as well. They mainly come
across as stiff and at times mildly disappointed that a killer has shown
up to ruin their evening. It's hard to feel any empathy towards these
people; if they don't seem overly concerned that they're facing a bloody
death, why should we?
"303" has the right ingredients and talent, but it nevertheless
fails to come together fully onscreen. Fans of the horror and suspense
genres should enjoy this offering from Thailand, but others may find
better films made in the USA. |
