Directors:
Banjong Pisanthanakun (segment director)
Paween Purikitpanya (segment “Tit for Tat”)
Youngyooth Thongkonthun (segment “Happiness”)
Parkpoom Wongpoom (segment “In the Middle” and “Last Fright”)
Writers:
Banjong Pisanthanakun (segment “In the Middle”)
Paween Purikitpanya (segment “Tit for Tat”)
Youngyooth Thongkonthun (segment “Happiness”)
Parkpoom Wongpoom (segment “Last Fright”)
Starring: Laila Boonyasak, Maneerat Kham-uan, Apinya Sakuljaroensuk, Witawat Singlampong, Pongsatorn Jongwilat, Chon Wachananon
Producer: Jira Maligool
MPAA Rating: NR
Running time: 110 min
Country of Origin: Thailand
Toronto After Dark Film Festival

Last year’s undeniable front runner for audience favorite at Toronto After Dark was Alone. These same film makers (who also brought you Shutter and Body #19) are bringing more of that same tradition to Toronto After Dark once again with their anthology piece, 4Bia (Phobia), which does toy a bit with the conventional Asian horror themes, but still manages to deliver some good scares as well as bringing about huge laughs and quality film making. Difficult and pointless to review the film as a whole, here’s a taste of what one can expect from each of the four segments in 4Bia…

HAPPINESS:
A young woman, confined to her apartment due to a broken leg, takes solace only with txt messaging on her cell phone. Corresponding with an interesting stranger soon takes a nightmarish turn however. This segment is highly effective when it comes to the jump scare. The set-up is elaborate and takes time. While jump-scares aren’t normally my cup of tea, when they are put together in a manner so obviously pain-stakingly and deliberate, I can’t help but be taken by surprise with glee and applause.

TIT FOR TAT:
The weakest of the segments, “Tit for Tat” is somewhat of a revenge story for a high school boy tormented by bullies. While there are a couple of interesting kill shots, the frantic editing and overuse of cheesy CGI imagery detracts from what could’ve been an effective atmospheric element for a horror movie. Unfortunately the jump scares don’t work and the chill tactics border on laughable. Think to yourself what it might look like should Tony Scott decide to direct an Asian horror movie. yeah.

IN THE MIDDLE:
Probably the best 15 minutes of the entire film festival can be found here. Four young men on a rafting trip spook each other out night after night while camping in the woods. After a disastrous overturn in the raging rapids, one of the men disappears and his friends fear the worst. Until he returns to camp late at night… but something about him just isn’t quite right.

What works here is not entirely the scare factor, but the laugh factor. Be warned, this is a no holds barred attack on some of the most well known horror films of the past decade; including some of this director’s own films. The characters are constantly comparing their situation to events of movies past and spoilers abound; hence, hilarity ensues. A particularly novel move is the shirt worn by one of the men that proudly displays spoilers for various movies. This puts the icing on the proverbial cake and you can see the shirt by clicking the “show spoiler” button below…

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THE LAST FRIGHT:
One cannot help but be reminded of John Lithgow in Twighlight Zone: The Movie when his paranoia and fear of flying get the better of him during a late night flight. While the comparison really is unfair since the only similarity is the bumpy, late night airplane ride during a thunder storm, it still hard to shake the nagging feeling that there had to be some inspiration from that picture. Here though, putting the backstory aside, a beautiful flight attendant is assigned the task of caring for a deceased body on a flight back to the home country. Unfortunately for her, she’s the culprit of the fact that she’s traveling with a corpse and not a living person.

While the segment does have it’s moments and provides for a few scares, had the film stayed in the psychological realm of fear rather than conventional methodology of Asian horror (the very tactics poked fun at in the previous segment), things could’ve worked out much better. Shot well and chilling at times, but unfortunately nothing really new or overly exciting.

There are lots of different flavors packaged within 4bia so that there is certainly something for everyone’s tastes and vulnerabilities to enjoy – whether it be your sense of “fight or flight” or simply your funny bone. Sure to be a crowd pleaser anywhere it plays – and that will even include your home DVD player should you decide to confront your Phobias.

Links:
IMDb profile
Official Site
Flixster Profile for 4Bia
Toronto After Dark Film Festival