Director
Songyos Sukmakanan
Cast
Chalee Trairut Ton
Sirachuch Chienthaworn Vichien
Jintara Sukaphatana Ms. Pranee
Jirat Sukcharden
DVD Release Date: May 22, 2007
Rating:Not Rated
Running Time: 111 Minutes
The Movie
Ton is a normal teenage boy who enjoys life like all other thirteen-year-olds his age. He is carefree, happy, and curious about the new things that come into his life as he gets older. Too bad for his father that he may be a little too curious. Ton finds out some things about his father that were meant to be kept secret and therefore knowing a small child has a big mouth, Ton must not be able to speak of what he has seen. He is sent off to boarding school because it will help him be a “better student.”
Upon Ton’s arrival at school, he is treated with a lot of disrespect as is what happens to almost every new kid in school. And at the age these boys are at, cruelty just comes natural. On Ton’s first night, they decide to scare him by telling him ghost stories about the school and how it is haunted by evil spirits. They share with him stories of a school worker who once went crazy and committed suicide. But the story that seems to have the most effect on Ton is that one of the spirits is that of a young boy who once drowned in the school pool and is doomed to roam the hallways forever.
The school continues to frighten Ton at every turn thanks to its overall haunting demeanor and especially the head mistress/teacher Ms. Pranee who was so distraught over the drowning of the boy that she hasn’t been right in the head since. Ton is in so much fear that he wants to make sure he makes no mistakes or cause any reasons to draw attention to himself. But one night when he hears the eerie dogs howling outside and looking up at him through a window, he is so frightened throughout the rest of the night that he wets himself. No better way to draw attention to yourself then that.
Ton has grown distant from everything now. He has no desire to speak to anyone or even focus on his schoolwork. Going home isn’t really an option or something he even wants to do, so he’s kind of stuck just in a drab state. That is until he is befriended by Vichien who is very friendly to Ton and actually treats him like a human being. Problem is, Vichien also happens to be the boy who drowned in the pool years ago and he desperately needs Ton’s help. Ton must do all he can to help his new friend by convincing the cruel boys that their help is also needed. But in order to find out the truth and help Vichien, Ton may end up losing his own life.
It may not seem like it to those unfamiliar with Tartan’s past horror films, but for someone who has seen a lot of them such as myself; well this is a huge leap from what I was used to. Dorm has the entire eerie and creepy feel to it that past Tartan films have been known for, but there is more of an endearing quality about the story. Instead of a huge case of rapid-fire deaths happening, the film focuses on deaths that happened in the past and how they can be resolved.
Don’t get me wrong for there are some scary moments but they are more mood intensifiers then the jump scares you may be used to with your average Japanese horror film. The story is really quite deep and tells a nice tale of someone pleading for help and looking to children for their assistance; even if that someone happens to be a ghost. It is very pleasing to see something different then the pale white female ghost that creaks as she moves and ends up killing a bunch of people. Dorm doesn’t have us watching people die off one by one until someone finds the solution. We are introduced to a tale from years ago that happened to be true and needs a resolution. And for once, that remains the focus of the entire film instead of trying to frighten every five minutes.
The Video
The film is shown in 1.66:1 Anamorphic Widescreen and looks beautiful. There is an overall greenish hue to the entire film which gives it a feel of continuously staying eerie and creepy. If you look at the DVD art actually, the green color evident in the film’s title is the same that seems to remain throughout the duration. Everything is still crisp where it needs to be and dark where is necessary, but don’t expect many bright colors as it would kill the entire mood.
The Audio
The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and comes through great. The music creeps through every speaker making for an eerie experience throughout. Dialogue can be heard almost clearer then I’ve heard in any DVD yet, but again there are subtitles so hearing the dialogue isn’t necessarily the biggest priority.
Special Features
Audio Commentary – Director Songyos Sukmakanan is joined by critics Ajarn Daeng and PiTida Plitpolkarntin for commentary. Quite interesting as this is the first time I have ever listened to commentary where actual critics were involved and it’s mighty informative. Songyos gives a lot of insight into his film while the two critics actually talk about what they like or dislike from it right in front of him. A really good conversation starts up immediately as Songyos discusses how much more work could be done with colors in the DVD version of the film as compared to when it was in theatres and actually too dark for most people. Some amusing moments and a lot of laughing also makes for an enjoyable experience watching Dorm the second time around.
The Making Of Dorm – In a bit of a weird making of featurette, almost half of it is focused on how they got Ton’s younger brother Toh to actually do his parts and be where he was supposed to be in each scene. From what I can gather, it seems bribery had a lot to do with getting the young boy in the right places. The rest is basic showing backstage stuff and different scenes being filmed, nothing special.
Deleted Scenes (with optional commentary) – Twelve deleted scenes that actually could have been left in the film and made it even better then it already was. Not all of them mind you, but there was one in particular where Ton had written a letter to his new boarding school asking them not to accept him as a student. It was short but I believe would have made his feelings against his father’s wishes seem even that much stronger.
Behind The Scenes – Here is a summary of the film’s story and some interviews with cast and crew. Interestingly enough, the director and lead actor had worked together on a film called Fan Chan before which they said made for much lighter working conditions this time around. One confusing thing is that in the interviews, everyone seems to call each other by different names or nicknames so you kind of have to figure out or guess who they are talking about.
Below The Pool – A very cool feature in which the entire drowning scene is dissected. It had to be shot in multiple layers and in two different locations which made for a lot of work. Two full days of shooting, and a lot of budget money, were given to just filming this one scene. But as from the film, their hard work paid off.
Character Introductions – The director sits down and tells the story of the film a little bit at a time while a couple different actors give information on the characters they played. Even the director goes as far to say that Dorm terrified people at times without actually being a horror film.
Original Theatrical Trailer
Trailers – Acacia, Arang, Shutter, The Ghost, and The Heirloom
The Inside Pulse
Dorm veers off the usual Japanese horror path while keeping aspects of it that will leave it in that genre and I must say they pull it off flawlessly. The atmosphere and mood created keeps you on edge a bit while the story sucks you in so much that you aren’t worried about being scared. The film highly impressed me and giving close to ninety minutes of special features made everything even better. Most of the times with Tartan Extreme, the special features are rather bare unless it is a two-disc set but they went all out with this one. Highly recommended that you pick this DVD up and not worry about just a rental for it is surely one you’ll want to watch often.
