MOVIE REVIEW: PROJECT HASHIMA (THAILAND)

“PROJECT HASIMA” PRESS REVIEW

Are THAI HORROR FILMS really the best thing in town?

Most everyone I know would rate that Thai ghosts are way on top, as compared with those from other countries.

Questionable.

There’s nothing like a Thai chiller, I hear this all the time.

They have probably forgotten that THAILAND also produced some pretty bad ones too.

Here is a Thai paranormal thriller called PROJECT HASIMA directed by Piyapan Choopetch that offers tons of jolts, thrills, spills, walking zombies and everything such.

You will be thrilled to bits. I was.

It’s competently directed for the THAI audience, not without its fair share of flaws though.

As an added bonus, you are rewarded with five pretty young things (three guys and two gals) , their screen characters groping in the dark, screaming out for survival.

They are strapped onto a metaphorical swinging pendulum, waiting to be slaughtered in the movie.

They are yours for the asking, as you would see them being bumped off, one by one, for your viewing pleasure. Ah, isn’t this sadism most foul?

This young creative team is trained in film making, and has just returned from an exciting all-expenses-paid assignment called PROJECT HASHIMA.

For no apparent reason, everyone is now mysteriously struggling with the demonic after-effects attained after their short shooting stint on the “devil” island.

Have they been cursed?

This island is renowned for the spooks dwelling there who wish not to be disturbed, as HASHIMA island  has long been abandoned by the Japanese.

As time goes by, it becomes the breeding nest for nasty apparitions.

Incidentally this locale has  also inspired Sam Mendes, Hollywood film maker to use this deserted island as a villain’s hideout for his James Bond’s movie “Skyfall”.

How does the PROJECT HASHIMA story start?

First, five eager film-school graduates gleefully upload a clip onto YouTube, and it unexpectedly becomes an online overnight sensation.

Because they are the “flavor of the season”, these aspiring filmmakers are offered an attractive deal by a local TV production company whose sole intent is to cash on their popularity.

Their assignment is to shoot a horror-genre TV program on Hashima Island, with all expenses paid.

The ensemble team comprises of the self-assured, pain-in-the-ass  leader Off (Alexander Rendell) and his trusting  girlfriend Nan (Apinya Sakulkaroensuk0), the clingy beauty May (Sushar Manaying), the artistic Nick (Pirat Nipitpaisalkul), and the long-haired airhead Dog (Mek Mekwattana).

The movie is overloaded with a generous dose of teen-romance, a love triangle, loan sharks, witchcraft and apparitions when Off stupidly messes with possessions of the dead on the island.

You see, Off steals a demonic ring from an altar at the shoot location, brings it back to Bangkok, thereby kicking off the curse for the rest of his team.

Who’s next for the execution?

PROJECT HASHIMA has an interesting premise with excellent acting from the cute actors.

There’s a menacing zombie lurking in the dark.

It’s waiting to pop out suddenly to give you the creeps whilst the ghost exacts her revenge one-by-one.

Who will die, who lives?

Go watch the movie for the answers.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5