maura-wesen I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I love to watch horror movies but I always dread how they end because most horror movies end with a scary 'it's after you now!' kind of ending. Although this film was listed as horror, I would definitely not categorize it as such. I loved the plot, I just wish it wasn't claiming to be a horror movie. It started off creepy with not even the audience knowing what was going on, as horror movies do, but it came to a peaceful ending with the poor drowned boy finding his resolution as the main character, Ton Chatree, makes peace with his family and especially his father. I very much enjoyed this movie. The only thing that could raise it to a 10 out of 10 would be if the ending had resolved all of the conflicts brought up, rather than just the most important ones. The two other conflicts being that Vichien wasn't the only person who had died on the campus, the cook's pregnant daughter also died, but that wasn't addressed after the beginning. The other conflict was that it was clear Vichien didn't drown by accident, it looked like someone was pulling his right foot down into the water causing him to drown. If this movie was correctly labeled not as a horror movie, and if it wasn't set up as a horror movie in the beginning and then turning into a drama movie instead, this movie would be a lot better.

Claudio Carvalho In Thailand, the young Ton Chatree (Charlie Trairattana) is sent to a boarding school by his father to be more disciplined, study harder and have less entertainment with television. Once in the school, Ton feels outcast and misses his family and friends. He becomes scared with the ghost stories his new schoolmates tell about a boy that died in the swimming pool and a young pregnant woman that committed suicide. He becomes a close friend of the also lonely boy Vichien (Sirachuch Chienthaworn), and later Ton realizes that Vichien is the boy that drowned in the swimming pool, and his death repeats every night. Ton tries to find a way to help his friend to rest in piece.When I bought "Dorm" on DVD, I expected to see another Asian horror movie, my favorite genre. However, this good movie, in spite of having a ghost, is actually a dramatic supernatural story. The solid screenplay is supported by a great direction and excellent performance of the boy Charlie Trairattana, very credible in the lead role of Ton Chatree. This film has been promoted as a horror movie and I believe that many viewers may be disappointed, expecting to see a frightening and scary story. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Dorm – O Espírito" ("Dorm – The Spirit")

emailmaggie I would've given this a 10 if the unnecessary sex scenes were cut out. Afterall, as you can see from the movie poster, this movie is about a bunch of kids in a dorm, nudity is uncalled for. I really like the hilarious parts of the movie where they integrate some mixed feelings of horror and comedy. I would say the Thai are pioneers in terms of putting funny elements in a scary movie - especially in those specific parts. The two little actors did great. They really depicted their short-lived friendship so dramatically without too much exaggeration. I especially liked the kid who starred as Vicien, he did an exceptional job portraying the solitude and benignancy yet he still managed to send chills down the spine at some parts.

DICK STEEL It was quite uncanny, a group of us were discussing making a movie about ghost stories told in schools. Sure, every school has its fair share of ghouls and goblins, and we'd thought it was interesting to have it done on film. Heck, we were actually in the premises of a school when we started to talk about it at night too. So imagine our surprise that Thailand actually made it first, and screened in local theatres no more than a month after we discussed.Dorm refers to the dormitory of an all boys boarding school. Chatree (Charlie Trairattana) gets sent to the school by his parents, against his wishes. I believe almost everyone would be familiar with the feeling of being uprooted from one school to go to another (be it upon graduation or otherwise), where there's a sense of loss somewhat, especially with friends.As with all new schools, the new kid on the block gets treated with suspicion, and he finds it extremely difficult to integrate into the school. It doesn't help that his initial gang of friends harbours thoughts of going all out to scare Chatree with many ghosts stories about the school (I could've sworn the toilet one was familiar territory, because I encountered something similar before), and making matters worst, the teacher (Jintara Sukphat) also becomes a key character in one of these stories, hence making Chatree wary.Despite being the social outcast, and a recluse, Chatree befriends another pupil, Wichien (Sirarath Jianthaworn). They become fast friends, but Wichien has a deep dark secret come 6pm everyday, when he disappears. By now, you would've guessed what would happen.Along the way, this movie somehow forgotten that it was supposed to be a horror movie. That, or the marketing folks have gotten it all wrong in promoting this flick. The horror genre is undoubtedly an extremely popular genre in Asia, one that will put folks into cinema seats, and riding on the wave of Shutter's success, it's easy to get caught up in what essential are the few and far between sense of fright that's packed into the trailer. Be warned, halfway through the movie, the horrifying moments get thrown out the window, and Dorm becomes more of a standard fare mystery. Quite a plain one actually, as the narrative gets stuck in cruise control throughout. You'll be able to guess the ending, and plot devices are thrown in only to help the movie proceed to the following scene.But there's a fun element thrown in, which I thought was quite neat. Fans of Hong Kong horror cinema would clearly identify the "Mr Vampire" remake in Dorm, where the students congregate for one of their night movie screenings. It's a deliberate cheesy remake, but I felt this was one of the more powerful scenes that snuck up on you, incorporating the twist revelation so well, I give it the thumbs up. And yes, the twist is revealed midway through the movie in this scene, and thereafter, "horror" gets forgotten.How's the horrifying content earlier in the movie you ask? It's not all that frightening, again relying on cheap tricks like musical crescendos to make you jump. You don't get to see much, except for shadows, sudden movements and closeups (hey, if I can survive this, so can you!). If I had a gripe, it would be with Chatree's hair continuity problem. Unless there's a barber in the school who cuts hair as good as he restores them, you'll probably get perturbed by the changes in Chatree's hair length. In the same scene. Talking to the same person. You get the drift. It's rather sloppy film-making, and the continuity person ought to get shot. The special effects department though, gets my thumbs up for its imaginary swimming pool effects. Really cool stuff there.Horror aside, this film essentially similar to like M Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense, though it doesn't dwell as deep into the psyche of Chatree and the spirit. It works on another level, along the themes of friendship, sacrifice, forgiveness and closure. I'd recommend it, not as a horror movie, but a coming of age one.P.S. the version shown here rated PG, is the censored version. Not because of anything frightening, but for a sex scene, which I thought was quite pivotal to identify who it was Chatree's father was humping. Edited away, it comes across as "so what's the big deal?"