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Welcome to Bangkok’s dark side – it’s louder, livelier, and far less subtle than you think. The traffic screams, the pavements mutter, and the skies above the Chao Phraya have long learned to stay out of the drama. But even this city, in all its maximalist glory, has found a way to get darker. This is the Bangkok Horror Film Festival – a three-day plunge into the beautifully grotesque, staged at the suitably eerie Maen Sri Waterworks building. Supported by the Department of Cultural Promotion, the Ministry of Culture and the Thailand Creative Culture Agency (THACCA), the festival runs from July 4-6. Entry’s free. The fear, less so.
No one’s here for faint-hearted metaphors or ironic nods to the genre. This is horror stripped of postmodern winks – a celebration of things that go bump, rattle and occasionally howl in the night. Beyond the moonlit screenings that repeatedly test your bladder, anticipate a haunted house exhibition that crawls out of the screen and into your peripheral vision, plus hair-raising stories from crews who’ve seen more on set than made it to the final cut.
There’s even a short film competition, and the chance to meet the ones behind the camera – not to break the fourth wall, but to peer behind it. To steady your nerves (or worsen them), there’ll be food stalls, live bands and activities that flirt with the line between funfair and fever dream.
Outdoor horror screenings:
- Ouija
Terror awaits five friends who unwittingly awaken a dark power by using an antique ouija board.
- Us
To escape their hectic lives, the Wilsons vacation in Santa Cruz – only to be terrorised by four strangers who look exactly like them.
- Smile
After a traumatic encounter with a patient, a psychiatrist suspects she’s being haunted by something uncanny.
Along with Thai horror icons:
- The Sisters
After a gig outside Bangkok, teen musicians stay in a hotel room hiding a deadly secret. To survive, they must solve a prostitute’s murder tied to that room.
- Coming Soon
Horror films can frighten us with ghosts and scare-jumps, but nothing beats coming home and feeling the story come alive.
- Shutter
After hitting a girl and fleeing, Jane and Tun are unsettled when strange shadows appear in Tun’s photos.
At the Bangkok Horror Film Festival, expect:
- Outdoor screenings designed to unsettle
- A haunted house exhibition lifted from the films themselves
- Chilling anecdotes from those who lived it (and filmed it)
- A short film competition for emerging scream-makers
Free entry. Daily programme updates via Facebook – Thai Film Director Association.