Movie|Make Me Shudder [Spoop Fest #10]

Hello, hello loves~ Not gonna lie, I’m still kinda mentally and physically drained. So let’s use this Spoop Fest post for something pretty enjoyable. Today, I’ll be talking about a Thai horror-comedy film that I really enjoyed a few years back.

Today, we’ll be talking about the 2013 Thai horror-comedy film มอ6/5 ปากหมาท้าผี , also known by it’s international title Make Me Shudder. We all know how I love my Thai horror-comedies. It was directed by Poj Arnon, and released by Phranakorn Films. If I remember correctly, the film was being advertised and hyped up as being a 3D horror film. It is currently available on Amazon Prime Video [LINK].

PLOT
A mischievous group high school boys enjoy telling ghost stories, visiting supposedly haunted places, and trying to scare one another. The school break is drawing near, all the students must leave the dorms and return home. However, the group of friends decide to take on another challenge before returning home. They decide that they’ll test out their campus’ famous urban legend. There was supposedly a former student who failed his university entrance exams, and failed to get accepted in his university choices. Distraught, the student jumped off the roof the old school building. They say that the side of his skull was crushed. Since then, the old school building has been abandoned and the students have been restricted form the building. The boys decide to sneak into the building at night. They challenge the ghost to scare them and make them shudder. Little do they know, they might be getting more than they bargained for. 

Here’s the official English subbed version of the trailer. I know, the subtitles suck…like really bad. As someone who does subtitles, this kills me inside. If I could, I would make the damn subs myself. Buuuut…I can’t, and it’s all we have… Luckily, the movie subtitles were decent and much more accurate. Still some inaccuracies, but better than the trailer.

I’ll be upfront, there were some mixed reviews on this film. I personally like the film, despite it being a teen film. If you didn’t know, I’m usually not a big fan of teen films. We all know I love horror-comedies. This film is full of funny moments. It honestly reminds me of messing around with my friends. Despite the comedy, there are some decent scares as well. It did seem to do pretty well with the Thai audience, seeing as there were 2 sequels. However, the lower ratings seem to be from foreign viewers. I think a part of it would be due to cultural differences. More on that later.

So first off, the original Thai title literally translates to something like, “Grade 6/Class 5 ‘Dog Mouth(s)’ Challenging Ghosts”. So in Thai, there’s the word/phrase ปากหมา/Bpaak Maa. Literally means “Dog Mouth”. The phrase means someone who talks too much or says inappropriate things without thinking/caring for the consequences. It’s also used for people who say alot of insults and things like that. So it’s very fitting with the characters. I do like the characters. I find them all pretty funny and they’re all pretty quirky. Nick, the leader, is overly confident. He doesn’t seem to be scared of anything. However, he’s going to get exactly what he wanted. You have Bryan, the mixed Thai kid, who is a mama’s boy. He’s a goody-two shoes that would tell his mom everything. Yeah, he’s that kid you’d find hella annoying. James is your main comedic relief. He’s also apparently very into his looks and fashion. I personally enjoyed seeing the boys in the situation they put their selves in. However, I also liked this movie because the characters do undergo changes. I will admit that some of the acting is a bit shoddy. The kid who played Bryan bothered me the most.Still, I kind of expected it. Again, it is a teen film. Still, it’s not that awful. It’s still better than some of those Disney channel movies. I personally thought that overall, everyone’s acting was pretty decent. It’s just mostly that Bryan kid that’s kind of awful… It might be hard to tell if you don’t understand Thai, but his acting is really stiff and emotionless. Like hellaaaaaaa stiff.

[Warning: Some Spoilers Ahead]

While it is a horror-comedy film, it also had a bit of an important message people often forget. You see, this film is also centered around teachers. You see, teachers were seen as leaders and outstanding members of the community. They had the utmost respect. We have Teacher Appreciation Day in the States. In Thailand we having something similar, Teacher’s Day. However, it goes beyond the US equivalent. Typically, there’s a whole ceremony at the school where students show their appreciation for the teachers. There are Buddhist prayers and students give flowers to the teachers. They also sing a song about appreciating the teachers. The movie actually opens up the boys singing an eerie sounding version of the song. However, these days, teachers often go underappreciated. It often seems that teachers often get alot of flack from both students and parents. They’re underappreciated and not as respected as they had been. My grandma (maternal) had been a teacher in Thailand during her younger years. So I appreciate the movie’s message to remind us to respect and love our teachers. After all, teachers are here to guide us/the children and only want what’s best for us.

Now for some cons. Other than the shoddy acting at times, there were some cons. The CGI was unimpressive. That’s typical of Thai movies though. I rarely see a Thai movie with decent/good CGI work. So meh. Also, the movie did start off fairly well in my opinion. However, it does derail a bit towards the later half. It’s not awful. However, it does seemed a bit rushed and half-assed. At times it also seemed a bit of a stretch. Like I wondered, how did we go from this to that….?? I honestly would’ve loved to see a bit more on the teachers’ backstories. Despite the cons, I still thought this was a pretty decent movie.

I admit the CGI can be laughable, and some of the acting is pretty bad. However, I enjoyed this movie. It’s funny but had some pretty decent scares. It also had some fun twists. I also really loved one of the messages this movie had. So I hope you can check it out. It’s definitely a fun movie to watch with friends~

BONUS: MINTY’S CULTURAL GUIDE

As per usual, I find that the movie would be enjoyed even more if you understood some of the cultural references and differences.

Teacher Appreciation Song

The movie opens up with the boys singing a somewhat eerie version of a Teacher Appreciation song. Well, part of it. Yes, there are different songs. I believe they sing the words that are in Pali (An old Sanskrit language that’s used in Buddhist texts and teachings)? I believe it’s something like “We ask to humbly pay homage to…” Basically asking to pay homage to our educators? Y’all I barely can grasp Thai. Pali is literally a foreign language to me.

Joss House/Spirit House and Shrines
We’ve talked about spirit houses before. Basically, Thais are superstitious AF. We also believe there are spirits tied to the land. Typically we’ll have a spirit house for those spirits. The spirit house gives the spirits shelter. We can say prayers and give offerings in exchange for the contentment and protection of the spirits. In doing so, it should prevent misfortune and mischief. It’s typically believed that when you go somewhere, you should pay your respects to the land’s spirit(s) and ask for their permission to enter. You’ll also later notice there’s a Buddha shrine against the wall in the classroom. Thailand is predominantly Buddhist and typically have shrines in alot of places.

Teacher Uniforms
Teachers are seen as civil servants. Civil servants like teachers do have a uniform. It’s a tan uniform. My grandma had one~ So we see these two teachers. I knew right away what was off about them. They had hella outdated hair. And mostly because the female teacher looked very much like how my grandma did in her portrait from when she was a young teacher. The curled sideburns and poofy hair lol. I’ll also add you might’ve noticed the boys’ school uniforms. Uniforms are on a nationwide level. Although it can vary depending on the school.

James Pretending He’s a Shaman/Witch Doctor 
Foreign audiences may have missed this one. There’s a scene where one of the boys suddenly convulse on the floor. They believe him to be possessed at first. This is where James takes his amulet, says some kind of prayer/incantation, and spits before putting the amulet on the boy. These kinds of actions are the stereotyped actions of shamans/spirit doctors. Some of these shamans/spirit doctors are seen as fakes and are known to be hella theatrical/extra (like spitting “holy water” and shit).

Ghost Boy’s School Choices
These are top universities in Thailand. The universities that have a royal’s name in it, are typically hella prestigious schools. In this case, there’s King Chulalongkorn and Prince Siriraj. King Chulalongkorn, aka Rama V, is remembered as one of Thailand’s most beloved kings. He’s known for trying to blend in with the common folk and for abolishing slavery. You also might recognize him as the eldest prince from The King and I (which is fiction; It’s actually banned in Thailand). Prince Siriraj was King Chulalongkorn’s son.  Chulalongkorn University (also known as Chula or CU) was originally where royal pages and civil servants were trained. Thammasat University is another well known university in Thailand. It’s also the second oldest university? Anyway, you can equate these to the levels of schools like Yale, Harvard, Stanford, etc.

Feet
This is kind of more minor. So in Thai culture, it’s incredibly taboo to have your foot higher than the head or in/on someone’s face/head.  This is because the feet are viewed as dirty and the lowly part of your body. To put your head on someone’s head/face or above their head is seen as incredibly disrespectful. Especially in regards to elders. Using your foot to point at something is also seen as a no-no for such reasons as well. That being said, I believe the feet jokes are a bit funnier when you remember this taboo. The underclassmen putting their feet on James’ face/head is more laughable because it’s like “We’re scared AF, screw respect.”

ไหว้ครู/Wai Khru 
We kind of talked about the Teacher Appreciation Ceremony already.  It’s called the Wai Khru Ceremony. So Khru means teacher, and wai is like the Thai version of bowing. When you wai, you’re putting your hands together and showing respect. There are different variances of the wai, each one showing a different amount of respect as well. In this scene the boys are on their knees and doing the wai. It is a way to show complete respect to the teachers.