There's little that thrills Thai movie fans more than a good horror flick, especially when it comes in a three-in-one horror package like the highly acclaimed franchise "Three" that had us shivering in our seats back in 2002.

Which is why Five Star Entertainment, Hong Kong's Movie-Eye and Japan's Filmko are banking on the latest trilogy "Black Night", which opens today at local theatres.

Directed by Thailand's Thanit Jitnukul, Japan's Takahiko Akiyama and Hong Kong's Patrick Leung, the three short movies all have romantic themes.

"Making a horror film is really scary. The scariest thing is that the audience will say it's not scary at all," deadpans Thanit who is responsible for the segment titled "The Lost Memory."

"The Lost Memory" tells the story of Prang (Pitchanart Sakhakorn), a single mother who lives with her young son (Athipan Chantapichai). They would be enjoying a happy existence were it not for a mysterious man who seems to shadow Prang wherever she goes. The young mother believes that the man has been sent by her ex-husband Wit (Kajonsak Ratananisai) with the intent of stealing her son and she's in a constant state paranoia.

While searching for clues, she visits an apartment that looks familiar to her. But Prang's memories keep slipping out of her grasp. And the more she searches, the more the incidents of the past come back to haunt her.

"It's a romantic drama tinged with mystery," says the director. "And the audience will be in suspense right until the denouement."

"Romance can always drive a horror movie because it's a vicious emotion when it disappoints," says Hong Kong director Leung who has worked mainly on comedy and action movies. He is best known for fantasy adventure "The Twin Effect 2."

Leung chose actors from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan for his part of "Black Night".

"It's about the promises and commitment in a relationship that brings both happiness and pain," he explains.

"Next Door" focuses on a love triangle that turns to tragedy. The tale is set in July when, according to the lunar calendar, people burn joss sticks and paper offerings in the streets to placate wandering ghosts.

One fateful night a Taiwanese girl Jane (Annie Liu) returns to look for her policeman boyfriend Joe (Dylan Kuo) only to discovers that he has already started a new affair with his beautiful neighbour, Hosie (Race Wong), a girl from Mainland China.

The tale of these three protagonists unfolds through a series of hair-raising but also heart-rending images and a soundtrack that's likely to have moviegoers clutching the edge of their seats.

"The fact that the actors grew up in different cultures means that they don't look at things the same way and that is reflected in their characters," says the director.

Japanese director Akiyama directed and wrote the script for the Japanese episode "Dark Hole" while he was working as Visual Effects director on "Final Fantasy: The Spirit Within". He also directed sci-fi adventure "Hinokio", which was released in Thailand last year.

The movie centres on bride-to-be Yuki (Asaka Seto) who is tortured by nightmares. One day, she sees the same boy in a yellow outfit who visits her dreams in real life but when she approaches he disappears leaving behind a pool of water. Worse still, it seems he's only visible to Yuki. Worried by these mysterious phenomena, her fiance Satoshi (Takashi Kashiwabara) takes her to see a psychiatrist, Dr Kawai (Tomorowo Taguchi), who eventually tracks down Yuki's memories to the death of a classmate at elementary school.

"Usually horror movies are about ghosts and superstitions. But I think anything that creates fear makes for a valid plot. We get scared when we come across something that shouldn't exist in real life," says the director.

Akiyama says that his skills in creating special effects helped him visual the idea for "Dark Hole".

"With computer graphics you work shot by shot. With directing you have to able to see the whole picture," he says.

He also feels that the horror movie offers Asian filmmakers a low cost ride to Hollywood.

"When people die we cremate them whereas in the West they bury their dead. That affects the style of horror movies as in western films dead bodies wake up and rise from the grave. We Asians are much more concerned with the spirit and with how superstition relates to human emotions,

"And that makes Asian horror films much more interesting," he concludes. 

Parinyaporn Pajee

The Nation