3AM Part 2 is the latest Thai horror omnibus to make it to our shores. It is also the latest Tagalized Asian Film to be released under the SineAsia label. The film tells three more stories in the Thai horror mold, all of them involving ghosts wreaking havoc on the lives of ordinary people. It is extremely boring. The genre was once a place for hungry filmmakers to show off their skills, but it has since evolved into little more than an established brand, wielding all the same tropes into increasingly uninteresting and dispassionate ways.
The Third Night is about the associates of drug dealer Rang, who died in a motorcycle accident while chasing his cheating girlfriend and her new beau. Three nights into Rang's wake, Tar and the rest of Rang's gang go in search of some money that Rang was supposed to split between them. But Rang isn't quite done with the world of the living, and makes his presence known. This is a very standard vengeful ghost story, with a nigh omnipotent threat taking its time doling out punishment to those that wronged him. There is barely a plot to the whole thing, the segment just running through the motions of the genre. Bad CGI further cheapens the already tedious, unimaginative experience.
The Convent takes place at an all-girls Catholic boarding school. A small group of girls are stuck in the dorms doing extra course work while the rest of the school in on vacation. Students Khem, Linin and Mia deal with the consequences of making a wish to a ghost. The best thing about this segment is its defined look, with a mostly muted palette bringing attention to splashes of stark red. Otherwise, it is just as pointless and illogical as the first part of the movie. The film plays at an emotional arc that just isn't there, making much out of a third act betrayal that fails to land.
The last segment is titled The Offering. It is the requisite comedic portion of the omnibus. Mod works at a place that makes paper funeral offerings. He and his boss spend the night trying to evade the boss' wife, who they suspect is actually a ghost. The comedic segments of these films tend to have the most energy, but this part isn't particularly inspired, either. It all feels just as random and as perfunctory as everything else in the movie. It all falls apart in a series of reversals that just aren't earned, the story folding back into itself as it tries to justify the characters' complete lack of awareness.
It could be mentioned that the three parts are loosely connected, but it doesn't really matter. The connections don't add anything to the larger story, the movie failing to build anything bigger through the shared milieu. But the real failure of the film is that none of it is any way scary. So little effort is put into building atmosphere or crafting creepy images. The movie doesn't really do much more than have ghosts pop up at random times, as if that were enough to get a reaction out of people.
3AM Part 2 represents the continuing decline of Asian horror. The omnibus wields the familiar elements of the genre, but puts no thought into what makes these elements work. It has no new ideas, and simply shuffles through the three or four tropes that have been done to death in the last ten years of genre copycats. At this point, it feels like the entire genre is more about branding than it is about delivering scary stories. The only thing scary about this film is just how lazy it all feels.
My Rating:
