Director
Monthon Arayangkoon
Cast
Pitchanart Sakakorn Ting
Apasiri Nitibhon Meen
Penpak Sirikul Fai
Kiradej Ketakinta
Chokchai Charoensuk Dr. Charun
Sompong Tawee
DVD Release Date: September 18, 2007
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 108 Minutes
The Movie
Ting is a struggling actress that is merely trying to get her foot into the door of the business any way she knows how. That’s when she stumbles across a gig that isn’t necessarily a big time movie part, but at least its work. Ting is now working with the Thai police force and plays the parts of the murder victims in crime scene reenactments. Albeit dangerous at times, Ting likes the job and takes to it from the start.
One day a case comes along that really hits home inside Ting for some reason. A beauty queen named Meen has been violently and brutally murdered, and the police are clueless as to what might have happened. Ting gives her solemn promise to Meen in prayer that if she gets the chance to play her part in the reenactment then she will do whatever she can to help solve her murder. Ting doesn’t get the part originally, but a few unfortunate circumstances for the other actress happen that hands the role over to the rising star.
Ting is now able to play the beauty queen’s part and hopes that her acting will help the police solve the crime and bring Meen’s killer to justice. But Ting feels that playing the role of Meen is not nearly enough. She takes it upon herself to start searching for clues and doing her own investigation in order to solve the murder. Ting is hot on the trail and seems to be doing a much better job then the authorities, but she has also put herself in grave danger. She needs to solve the case before she ends up just like Meen.
Take that summary with a grain of salt simply because I can guarantee you that you will not understand half the film. It starts out simple enough with the story you just read, but then it takes a drastic turn into a totally different direction. It goes from an interesting story that is a bit of a nice change from the normal J-horror Tartan releases, and turns into one of the most confusing films I’ve ever seen. The twist comes a little bit more then halfway through the film and is extremely idiotic and quite pointless. Well, I guess it’s hard to say pointless because obviously the filmmakers wanted it that way, but it’s still dumb.
The Victim is essentially two films in one and taking away the time for the credits; that just can’t be done in a little over an hour and a half. Some films don’t actually get moving until halfway through them yet here a totally new one begins as the other just gets going. It had promise and a few innovative plot ideas, but then the twist came along and ruined the whole thing.
The Video
The film is shown in Anamorphic Widescreen and looks great. Any colors, especially blood, are nice and bright without ever looking blinding. The darker scenes are nice and create a great eerie feel which is necessary considering the material in the film itself doesn’t do it.
The Audio
The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and also sounds wonderful. The music is another thing that was done right because it really helps the mood set for something that might scare, but never really comes. Subtitles of course are there for the non-Taiwanese speaking crowd such as myself.
Special Features
The Making Of The Victim – Coming in at around twenty minutes, this feature is your basic behind the scenes bit with the camera behind the camera while cast and crew discuss what went on during filming. Some interesting things are revealed about the different crime scenes and all, but mostly it’s everyone talking about how “scary” it was film so they know it’ll be even scarier to watch.
Original Theatrical Trailer
TV Spots
Trailers – Dorm, Carved, The Ghost, and Shutter (The Original)
The Inside Pulse
Check out one of Tartan’s other releases because this is the one in five that just sucks. I really was hoping it would work because when I read the description on the DVD case, it seemed quite interesting. And the first half of the film showed that my assumption was right, but then the middle of the film hit and shot all that to hell. If you own The Victim and would ever need to watch it a second time; it’s merely because you’re trying to understand what is going on a little bit more. It surely won’t be for entertainment purposes. The special features were a downer too because there is usually a commentary or at least a stills gallery, but all there is this time is the “making of” and some trailers making this one not even worth a rental.
