Editorials
It Pays to Do Bad Things in Twisted Thai Movie ’13: Game of Death’ [Horrors Elsewhere]
Horrors Elsewhere is a recurring column that spotlights a variety of movies from all around the globe, particularly those not from the United States. Fears may not be universal, but one thing is for sure — a scream is understood, always and everywhere.
As if things were not bad enough for the miserable main character in 13: Game of Death, he is then laid off. Things seem to be on the up and up once Phuchit “Chit” Puengnathong gets a fortuitous phone call from a stranger; the omnipotent organization she represents pays people handsomely after they complete a series of thirteen challenges. While this sounds like a dream come true for someone who has fallen on hard times, the game becomes more and more sinister with each dare.
Matthew Chookiat Sakveerakul’s 13: Game of Death has the trappings of films like Saw, The Most Dangerous Game, and The Running Man. One person’s suffering is another’s entertainment. Rather than confining victims to an enclosed space rigged with booby traps, turning people into prey, or having contestants battle for their own freedom, 13 reworks the formula so its story feels fairly innovative. Even so, Sakveerakul preserves the two most crucial elements in these sorts of stories: the puppet and the puppet master.
Chit (Krissada Sukosol Clapp) is the ill-fated player in this so-called game, while a network of unknown parties act as his exploiter. The most glaring difference between this film and Saw, however, is Chit plays of his own free will. He is not physically forced to comply. On the contrary, he is given several opportunities to quit and forfeit the money he has earned. The fact that Chit goes along willingly with their sick sport reveals a dark side of the human psyche not always touched on in torture-for-fun stories.
The character at the center of 13: Game of Death seems like a harmless everyman overwhelmed by life. Adding to Chit’s neverending aggravation is a spiteful work rival, years worth of family baggage, and a shallow ex-girlfriend he still pines for. Flashbacks show Chit suffered at the hands of his father (Philip Wilson) and those around him. For years he let the abuse continue without resistance, or he hesitated when given the opportunity to fight back. As an adult, Chit remains stoic and suffers mistreatment from all sides. Someone else in the same shoes might have turned out differently, but Chit is kind and gentle. Which is why his quick decision to play the game comes as a surprise.
Offsetting Chit’s innate goodness is the unconcealed and exaggerated immorality of other characters. From a vindictive and shrill coworker to a negligent family consumed by self-interest, many others here are plain awful. The exceptions are Chit’s concerned friend Tong (Achita Sikamana) and his mother. These harsh overstatements of personality and depravity more than border on cartoonish, but 13: Game of Death is a darkly comical tale to begin with. Sakveerakul finds humor where it normally would (or should) not exist. Laughing at Chit and others’ expense does not take away from the horror at hand, though. On the contrary, the comedy seen from time to time only underlines the dreadfulness of Chit’s situation.
The main events of 13 happen all in one day, although shooting lasted seven months. This sense of urgency is fruitful as it allows for non-stop action and adrenaline-fueled thrills. There are no lulls here as soon as Chit accepts his first challenge and races off to fulfill twelve more. The tasks range from mildly foul to utterly vile; Chit goes from eating a fly to consuming a plate of fresh feces. As disgusting as that all sounds, things only get wilder. Again, the desire to laugh at Chit’s misfortune is only natural because all of this is so absurd. And the film absolutely knows this — Sakveerakul reaches a point of no return and never backs down. The story inevitably feels like one sustained breath.
A remake called 13 Sins and directed by Daniel Stamm was released in 2014. The setup is the same: a recently sacked man named Elliot (Mark Webber) is given the chance to win a huge jackpot if he performs a set of bizarre and often dangerous challenges. All of this happens in the middle of Elliot’s engagement to Shelby (Rutina Wesley), his pregnant fiancée. Along with other major changes from the original, the detective on Elliot’s trail (Ron Perlman) has a more substantial part to play. Family is emphasized too; Elliot has a brother (Devon Graye) as well as an all-around abusive father (Tom Bower).
After some time, the remake starts to go in a different direction. The morbidity is still clear and present, but Stamm and co-writer David Birke punched up the nihilism and intentionally reinterpreted the initial elation that the protagonist feels as he satisfies his thirteen “sins” and asserts himself in a dog-eat-dog world. Elliot’s ordeal is now treated as a metaphor for drug addiction; he experiences empowerment along with an overwhelming comedown fraught with regret. The family angle is carried over from the original, but how it all plays out here is more devastating. An alternate ending, one that Stamm dropped because he felt it was much too bleak, is available on the Blu-ray.
The original Thai film goes a step further in explaining itself, whereas the remake desires more mystery while also making room for a delicious twist. Either way, both 13: Game of Death and 13 Sins are dark fantasies that reel audiences in with a shared preposterous plot, then deliver their own unique, gut-wrenching conclusions that equally comment on the troubling state of society.
Editorials
‘Immaculate’ – A Companion Watch Guide to the Religious Horror Movie and Its Cinematic Influences
The religious horror movie Immaculate, starring Sydney Sweeney and directed by Michael Mohan, wears its horror influences on its sleeves. NEON’s new horror movie is now available on Digital and PVOD, making it easier to catch up with the buzzy title. If you’ve already seen Immaculate, this companion watch guide highlights horror movies to pair with it.
Sweeney stars in Immaculate as Cecilia, a woman of devout faith who is offered a fulfilling new role at an illustrious Italian convent. Cecilia’s warm welcome to the picture-perfect Italian countryside gets derailed soon enough when she discovers she’s become pregnant and realizes the convent harbors disturbing secrets.
From Will Bates’ gothic score to the filming locations and even shot compositions, Immaculate owes a lot to its cinematic influences. Mohan pulls from more than just religious horror, though. While Immaculate pays tribute to the classics, the horror movie surprises for the way it leans so heavily into Italian horror and New French Extremity. Let’s dig into many of the film’s most prominent horror influences with a companion watch guide.
Warning: Immaculate spoilers ahead.
Rosemary’s Baby
!['Rosemary's Baby' - Is Paramount's 'Apartment 7A' a Secret Remake?! [Exclusive]](https://i0.wp.com/bloody-disgusting.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Rosemarys-Baby.jpeg?resize=740%2C416&ssl=1)
The mother of all pregnancy horror movies introduces Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow), an eager-to-please housewife who’s supportive of her husband, Guy, and thrilled he landed them a spot in the coveted Bramford apartment building. Guy proposes a romantic evening, which gives way to a hallucinogenic nightmare scenario that leaves Rosemary confused and pregnant. Rosemary’s suspicions and paranoia mount as she’s gaslit by everyone around her, all attempting to distract her from her deeply abnormal pregnancy. While Cecilia follows a similar emotional journey to Rosemary, from the confusion over her baby’s conception to being gaslit by those who claim to have her best interests in mind, Immaculate inverts the iconic final frame of Rosemary’s Baby to great effect.
The Exorcist
William Friedkin’s horror classic shook audiences to their core upon release in the ’70s, largely for its shocking imagery. A grim battle over faith is waged between demon Pazuzu and priests Damien Karras (Jason Miller) and Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow). The battleground happens to be a 12-year-old, Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair), whose possessed form commits blasphemy often, including violently masturbating with a crucifix. Yet Friedkin captures the horrifying events with stunning cinematography; the emotional complexity and shot composition lend elegance to a film that counterbalances the horror. That balance between transgressive imagery and artful form permeates Immaculate as well.
Suspiria
Jessica Harper stars as Suzy Bannion, an American newcomer at a prestigious dance academy in Germany who uncovers a supernatural conspiracy amid a series of grisly murders. It’s a dance academy so disciplined in its art form that its students and faculty live their full time, spending nearly every waking hour there, including built-in meals and scheduled bedtimes. Like Suzy Bannion, Cecilia is a novitiate committed to learning her chosen trade, so much so that she travels to a foreign country to continue her training. Also, like Suzy, Cecilia quickly realizes the pristine façade of her new setting belies sinister secrets that mean her harm.
What Have You Done to Solange?
This 1972 Italian horror film follows a college professor who gets embroiled in a bizarre series of murders when his mistress, a student, witnesses one taking place. The professor starts his own investigation to discover what happened to the young woman, Solange. Sex, murder, and religion course through this Giallo’s veins, which features I Spit on Your Grave’s Camille Keaton as Solange. Immaculate director Michael Mohan revealed to The Wrap that he emulated director Massimo Dallamano’s techniques, particularly in a key scene that sees Cecilia alone in a crowded room of male superiors, all interrogating her on her immaculate status.
The Red Queen Kills Seven Times
In this Giallo, two sisters inherit their family’s castle that’s also cursed. When a dark-haired, red-robed woman begins killing people around them, the sisters begin to wonder if the castle’s mysterious curse has resurfaced. Director Emilio Miraglia infuses his Giallo with vibrant style, with the titular Red Queen instantly eye-catching in design. While the killer’s design and use of red no doubt played an influential role in some of Immaculate’s nightmare imagery, its biggest inspiration in Mohan’s film is its score. Immaculate pays tribute to The Red Queen Kills Seven Times through specific music cues.
The Vanishing
Rex’s life is irrevocably changed when the love of his life is abducted from a rest stop. Three years later, he begins receiving letters from his girlfriend’s abductor. Director George Sluizer infuses his simple premise with bone-chilling dread and psychological terror as the kidnapper toys with Red. It builds to a harrowing finale you won’t forget; and neither did Mohan, who cited The Vanishing as an influence on Immaculate. Likely for its surprise closing moments, but mostly for the way Sluizer filmed from inside a coffin.
The Other Hell
This nunsploitation film begins where Immaculate ends: in the catacombs of a convent that leads to an underground laboratory. The Other Hell sees a priest investigating the seemingly paranormal activity surrounding the convent as possessed nuns get violent toward others. But is this a case of the Devil or simply nuns run amok? Immaculate opts to ground its horrors in reality, where The Other Hell leans into the supernatural, but the surprise lab setting beneath the holy grounds evokes the same sense of blasphemous shock.
Inside
During Immaculate‘s freakout climax, Cecilia sets the underground lab on fire with Father Sal Tedeschi (Álvaro Morte) locked inside. He manages to escape, though badly burned, and chases Cecilia through the catacombs. When Father Tedeschi catches Cecilia, he attempts to cut her baby out of her womb, and the stark imagery instantly calls Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s seminal French horror movie to mind. Like Tedeschi, Inside’s La Femme (Béatrice Dalle) will stop at nothing to get the baby, badly burned and all.
Burial Ground
At first glance, this Italian zombie movie bears little resemblance to Immaculate. The plot sees an eclectic group forced to band together against a wave of undead, offering no shortage of zombie gore and wild character quirks. What connects them is the setting; both employed the Villa Parisi as a filming location. The Villa Parisi happens to be a prominent filming spot for Italian horror; also pair the new horror movie with Mario Bava’s A Bay of Blood or Blood for Dracula for additional boundary-pushing horror titles shot at the Villa Parisi.
The Devils
The Devils was always intended to be incendiary. Horror, at its most depraved and sadistic, tends to make casual viewers uncomfortable. Ken Russell’s 1971 epic takes it to a whole new squeamish level with its nightmarish visuals steeped in some historical accuracy. There are the horror classics, like The Exorcist, and there are definitive transgressive horror cult classics. The Devils falls squarely in the latter, and Russell’s fearlessness in exploring taboos and wielding unholy imagery inspired Mohan’s approach to the escalating horror in Immaculate.
Looking for New Episodes of “Chucky” on Peacock? Here’s What Changed
Five Underseen Vampire Horror Movies to Stream This Week
Dev Patel’s ‘Monkey Man’ Is Now Available to Watch at Home!
‘The Blair Witch Project’ – Original Stars Release a Statement Asking Lionsgate for Residuals & Recognition
‘Mountain Man’ – Joe Manganiello Will Battle Zombies in Upcoming Horror Movie
You must be logged in to post a comment.