Nang Nak

A perennial Thai ghost story (filmed something like 30 times before) gets definitive treatment in this relatively big budget effort from the talented Nonzee Nimibutr. After Mak has reluctantly left his pregnant bride Nak to fight, he returns bearing the scars of battle. She greets him with all her heart, and they have a beautiful baby now, yet their old friends avoid the household. Nak died in childbirth, they tell him. The dialogue is rudimentary, but Nonzee goes to such pains to establish his characters and their love, the horror when it comes is as moving as it is grisly (and believe me, it's grisly!).