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Archives for July 2008

It Dies Today – Sirens

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It Dies Today is a New York based metalcore band that was formed in the year 2001. ‘Sirens’ is the bands second studio album and was originally released in America through Trustkill Records in 2006. In 2007 the album got its official UK release and ‘Sirens’ remains unchanged as to how it was originally released in the US. The album consists of eleven tracks and this therefore provides for 39 minutes of music. ‘Sirens’ is an album which brings nothing new whatsoever to the genre of metalcore, it’s an okay album however and although nothing special; It Dies Today has certainly taken a reasonable stab at the genre here.

The album begins with ‘A Constant Reminder’, ends with ‘Turn Loose the Doves’, and throughout this album the band bounces between harshly shouted vocal growls and sweetly spoken melodic verses also. This is an extremely generic album, if you’ve listened to a lot of albums in this genre then the music may well make you yawn; if you haven’t however then this album could well be quite appealing.

If you’ve got a soft spot for such bands as Still Remains and Bullet For My Valentine then you may well love this album, the music of It Dies Today possesses an extremely similar sound and it’s hard to listen to the music without drawing comparisons to other such metalcore bands as these. The guitar riffs are hugely hard hitting, the drumbeats are highly heavy, everything is entirely contrived here however and every last scream/melodic moment has been carefully placed and generically executed.

It Dies Today is a band that has taken its sound straight from the metalcore handbook and thrown as many clichés into the music as possible. Vocally the bands sound is like a million and one other bands of this sort and instrumentally also the bands sound isn’t exactly innovative. Instrumentally the sound is okay, every track present here sounds pretty much the same however and there is little telling these eleven tracks apart. Vocally the bands sound is actually quite well put across, the performance is not hugely passionate and the band does nothing that has not done before; the melodic vocal moments are very well put across however and the bands lead vocalist Jason Wood certainly has some strong vocal talent. Sadly with the shouted vocal lines the best use is not made of Jason Wood’s voice, were the band to make more of its melodic vocal element then this I feel would vastly improve upon the overall quality of the It Dies Today sound.

‘Sirens’ is no metlacore classic, it brings nothing new to its genre and due to the factor of all eleven songs sounding pretty much the same the album is therefore fairly dull to listen to. Only a few tracks into the album and you find your mind wandering, not enough is done here by It Dies Today in order to keep you interested; the sound has been done by others many times before, and it’s been done a lot better than this too. This ‘Sirens’ album lacks excitement, if you’ve not heard much metalcore music before then you may well quite enjoy this; if you’ve heard a lot of bands in the genre however then you’ll probably not be particularly enthralled with what you find here. There are some great metalcore albums out there, sadly however ‘Sirens’ is not one of them.

Label: Trustkill Records
Release Date: July 30th 2007

Rating:
Review StarReview Star

Brooklyn – Clandestine

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Brooklyn is a rock band from the French capital of Paris. ‘Clandestine’ is the bands début album and one which has been released through the record label Ctrl Alt Del Records. The album consists of twelve tracks and this therefore provides for 48 minutes of music; it’s not a great album, but it’s not too bad a first release from the band anyway. The music is pleasant to listen to, there’s just a bit of a lack of excitement in the sound and the vocal performance is not here particularly passionate. Brooklyn is a band with a soulful rock sound, a very clean vocal tone is taken here and there’s a definite indie rock vibe about the music and an almost swing element at times also.

Title track ‘Clandestine’ kicks the album off here with a drumbeat that makes me think of the band The Subways. There’s a definite Subways style of sound present here, it works out well for the band and begins this album on an extremely positive note indeed. The track lacks energy; the vocals are well presented in the sound however and instrumentally also the music is very well played. There’s nothing technically wrong with the music of Brooklyn, it’s just that the band is not very adventurous and always the band here chooses to play it safe through not venturing too far with its sound and always sticking to more or less the same soulful rock script. The album is interesting to listen to, every track does sound very similar though and it’s therefore very difficult to listen to this album from start to finish in one sitting.

There’s quite a Placebo sound about the vocal performance of Brooklyn throughout this album, a definite Brian Molko tinge and the vocals always are strong here. Although there is not a great deal of passion in the vocal performance, the vocals are pleasantly put across and provide an extremely positive and uplifting vibe about the music of Brooklyn. The sound created here is not hugely exciting but it’s definitely upbeat and the sweetly sung music of Brooklyn always provides a smile.

It’s hard to pick out highlights when the tracks all sound so similar, of all the tracks present here though I’d have to say that ‘Lonely Days’ is the one I enjoy listening to the most. The guitar sound is light and uplifting here and the vocals also come across extremely well. There is more passion in the sound than ever here and this is something that works out really very well for Brooklyn. With ‘Lonely Days’ the Brooklyn sound is more exciting than ever, and although that’s not exactly something greatly difficult this is one track from this album that I really do enjoy listening to.

As far as début albums go then ‘Clandestine’ isn’t too bad an effort at all, it’s not the best but I’ve certainly heard a lot worse than this over the years. The indie rock guitar sound works well in the bands music here, the music is pleasant to listen to, and if you like the sound of the soulful rock of Brooklyn then you should most definitely give this album a listen. This will never become your favourite album, if you’re looking for a relaxing rock record to chill to however then Brooklyn’s ‘Clandestine’ should certainly do the trick.

Label: Ctrl Alt Del Records
Release Date: July 7th 2008

Rating:
Review StarReview StarReview Star

Bedlight For Blue Eyes – Life on Life’s Terms

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‘Life on Life’s Terms’ is the second studio album from the New Jersey pop rock band that is Bedlight For Blue Eyes. Vocally the sound created by the band here is quite similar to that of Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump, instrumentally there are guitar hooks a plenty, and the music of Bedlight For Blue Eyes always here is hugely melodic. This album contains twelve tracks and this therefore provides for 44 minutes of music; an album you’ll either love or hate dependent upon your thoughts about radio friendly powerpop.

Right from the offset here the music of Bedlight For Blue Eyes really makes its mark; opening track ‘City and the Ghost’ is absolutely fantastic and has a phenomenal chorus to boot. Vocally the sound is excellent here, instrumentally the sound is bouncy and hugely melodic also; Bedlight For Blue Eyes is very much a band for the Fall Out Boy generation. Personally I’m a huge fan of bands such as Fall Out Boy and the like, every song on this album is absolutely excellent to sing along to and never does the bands music sound anything short of exceptional here.

Tracks such as ‘City and the Ghost’, title track ‘Life on Life’s Terms’, and ‘Waste My Time’ also really are the most impressive that this album has to offer; I fail to find fault with any of these tracks and all three of them make me smile a lot. The choruses are excellent, the lyrics fantastic, and the guitar hooks truly are magnificent. The bands sound is smartly put across here, the production is superb, and vocally is most definitely where the music of Bedlight For Blue Eyes impresses most markedly. The bands lead vocalist Daniel Rinaldi truly does have a terrific vocal range and there just seems to be no note that the man can’t sing.

This is a great pop album with which the band really does sound to be having a lot of fun. The music is very well put across in all areas and in no department is the Bedlight For Blue Eyes sound in the slightest bit lacking. There are of course a few tracks that are better than others, there’s not a bad track on this album however and vocally always the music has much to offer. Instrumentally the guitar hooks hit hard with their melodic mastery, and the drumbeats provided by the band here are also highly impressive from the first track right through to the last.

Eleven tracks here consist of the bands standard powerpop/pop rock succulence, the final track on the album is however a remix of ‘Waste My Time’; not exactly a vital track, but an interesting one to listen to nonetheless. The standard instrumental sound has here been replaced with an electronic instrumental element instead. The track doesn’t sound anywhere near as good with the electronic instrumental progression, it’s fairly fun to listen to though and although the computer generated sound definitely does detract away from the overall quality of the original track I’m sure there will be some out there grateful of the inclusion of this remix

For fans of such bands as Kids In Glass Houses, Fall Out Boy, and Boys Like Girls then the music of Bedlight For Blue Eyes should most definitely be of great appeal. The bands sound bears supreme similarities to all three of these bands, and if you’re up for a bit of emo tinged pop rock then the Bedlight For Blue Eyes sound will be right up your street. ‘Life on Life’s Terms’ is a pretty solid second album from Bedlight For Blue Eyes and I would most definitely recommend giving this release a listen; it’s not the best pop rock album you’ll ever hear but it’s certainly a very good one.

Label: Trustkill Records
Release Date: July 10th 2007

Rating:
Review StarReview StarReview StarReview Star

U.S. Bombs – We Are The Problem

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‘We Are The Problem’ is the 2006 album release from the American punk rock band that is the U.S. Bombs. The album was released through People Like You Records and features fifteen tracks. For the most part the music is straight up punk rock here, there are however a couple of different tracks thrown into the mix for good measure also. I’ve never been a huge fan of the bands lead vocalist Duane Peters, I have however in the past been impressed with the instrumental work of the U.S. Bombs and as always the sound created by the band here is really quite instrumentally impressive.

The album opens with title track ‘We Are The Problem’, immediately you are struck by the bands really rather amateur vocal approach and this I feel is the main failing of the music here. Duane Peters is not a good singer, he’s also a professional skateboarder however and I think that it’s safe to say that the man is a far better skateboarder than he is or ever will be a vocalist. There’s just no passion behind the voice whatsoever here, no personality in the performance and therefore the vocal sound created here is really rather lacking. There are few times here when the vocals sound fairly reasonable, with such tracks as ‘Don’t Get Me Wrong’, ‘Destroy the Nation’, and ‘Locked in My Skin’ the vocal tone taken is fairly adequate; even here however the vocal sound is not spectacular.

Instrumentally the sound created here is fairly basic, there is however some strong guitar work and excellent drumming showcased to keep you reasonably entertained. There’s not much variation in the instrumental department, it’s interesting enough though and if you can overlook the serious lack of imagination here then the album is really quite instrumentally enjoyable.

‘Heartbreak Motel’ is one of the few tracks here that does something a little different to the bands punk rock norm; the track is progressed by the sound of the piano, and lyrically here the issue of drug use/abuse is looked into. It’s not a serious track, the lyrics are quite fun, and although fairly boring to listen to musically; if you listen to the lyrics you’ll get far more out of this track than if you don’t. ‘Just Like You’ is another track from this album that’s a bit different; the sound is hard to define but it’s certainly a different sound to what is produced by the band for much of this album here. Vocally is where the main variation lies, something that does in fact benefit the band hugely as Duane Peters vocals here sound less lacklustre than ever. It’s not a great piece of music, the vocals are certainly more entertaining to listen to though and in my opinion this is a massive plus point about the track.

If you like the vocal tone of Duane Peters then I’m sure that you’ll love this album; personally I think the man has got a terrible voice though and with every passing track here the vocal drone just seems to get increasingly flatter. 38 minutes of music are contained within this album, pretty good value really for all major U.S. Bombs fans out there of the world; if you’re not already a U.S. Bombs enthusiast however then this will not be the album to convert you. This is punk rock music at its most basic and boring, it’s not exactly punk rock gold but this ‘We Are The Problem’ album does possess a couple of vaguely interesting tracks that should reasonably entertain.

Label: I Used To Fuck People Like You In Prison Records
Release Date: April 4th 2006

Rating:
Review StarReview Star

Make Me – It Only Hurts The First Time

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‘It Only Hurts The First Time’ is the début album from the Californian band that is Make Me. The sound of Make Me is very hard to define; it’s keyboard pop music with a lofi edge and an indie rock twinge also; even this description is not entirely accurate however as although all these sounds can here be heard in the music of Make Me, a lot of others can too.

This ‘It Only Hurts The First Time’ release is a strange album with which Make Me put across many different opposing sounds, sounds that really shouldn’t go together, and it really sounds that way too. There’s often a horrible cacophony of noise here; out of tune vocals, upbeat synth pop keyboard sounds, and a more powerful rock guitar edge also. The music of Make Me most definitely is different, the problem is however that it just doesn’t work. Make Me is not a band that can be accused of following fashions, copying popular musical trends, or in fact sounding at all like any other artist on the planet; it can however be complained that the music is not very good as it just really isn’t.

Final track ‘Odysseus in Wichita’ is the best that this album has to offer; more of a straight up rock approach is taken here than at any other point on the album and this I feel is something that works out well for the band. It’s not a great track, at least the music is a little more bearable to listen to here however as the sound created here doesn’t come across so messily as with all the other eight tracks on this album. The best is saved until last here, and although it’s not great; it’s the one and only track from this album that I’d happily listen to again in the future.

The lyrics are intelligently thought out here, there is great depth to the lyrical aspect of the music of Make Me but because the instrumental/vocal sound is just so dreadful here the lyrical importance just really goes out the window. The lyrics are great, to get to the lyrics you must first listen to the bands horrendous sound however and this I feel is the biggest problem.

This is really quite a terrible début album from Make Me; there’s a high level of intelligence and lyrical depth here but the music itself really is just too weird and out there. The band is here doing many things at once, too many things at once in fact and the sound created here is therefore not too great to listen to at all. Many different musical influences are showcased here, ‘It Only Hurts The First Time’ is an extremely unpredictable album from Make Me and although not at all to my tastes; it certainly is very different. If you’re after something different then ‘It Only Hurts The First Time’ is an album which most definitely will provide that; the fact that the music is so different will however surely limit this bands potential fan base significantly. Make Me is an artist like no other out there and for this the band must surely be given credit; not too much credit mind as quite frankly this album is absolute utter rubbish.

Label: Plastic Head Music
Release Date: January 1st 2008

Rating:
Review Star

This Is Hell – Sundowning

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‘Sundowning’ is the début full length release from the Long Island hardcore punk band that is This Is Hell. This Is Hell is not a band trying to reinvent the wheel with its sound, this album brings nothing new to its genre, what it is however is a hard hitting album of hardcore punk and one which always packs a hefty punch. Fifteen tracks feature here and the album has a total run time of just under 31 minutes; the tracks are short, the music is greatly powerful here however and always the bands sound has much to offer.

From first track ‘Retrospect’ right through to closing classic ‘Another Facade’ this album truly is brilliant. There’s not much variation here, none in fact; the album is strong though and although every track present on this album is incredibly stylistically similar the music most definitely has much to offer. The guitar work is excellent here, the vocals are brutally shouted, and always the drumbeats are absolutely excellent.

There’s a high level of aggression presented by the band throughout this album; the sound created here is instrumentally hard hitting and vocally powerful also. The tracks build well and there’s a lot of passionate anger which can here be heard in the vocal performance. If you’re a big fan of hardcore punk then you’ll have heard this sound done a thousand times before; This Is Hell is a band that does the hardcore punk genre proud however and although the sound created here is nothing too innovative, it’s most definitely an excellent album to listen to.

The hardcore punk sound is always here extremely well put across by the band, every vocal line is ferociously shouted and for a début album ‘Sundowning’ truly is incredibly impressive. This Is Hell is not a band that is doing anything particularly new, what this band is doing however is playing incredibly dark and excellent hardcore punk with great precision and power.

‘Sundowning’ is an album that all fans of hardcore punk should own in their collection; this will never go down in history as a classic, it is however a fantastic way for This Is Hell to introduce themselves as a band with a hardcore punk album of such high calibre. If you listen to a lot of hardcore punk then ‘Sundowning’ is an album that you should most definitely own, and I suggest you make the investment sooner rather than later also as I’m sure that this is one hardcore punk album that you shall be listening to an awful lot.

Label: Trustkill Records
Release Date: November 19th 2007

Rating:
Review StarReview StarReview StarReview Star

City Sleeps – Not An Angel

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City Sleeps is an alternative rock band from Atlanta, ‘Not An Angel’ is the bands début album and was released through Trustkill Records in November 2007. The band blends rock elements with post-hardcore tinges also, the sound created here is quite bouncy and melodic; the guitar work is strong and the bands choruses always are highly infectious. Thirteen tracks are present here and this therefore provides for forty minutes of music.

Although this album is fun and there is no denying that City Sleeps is a band that possesses great talent; I have one main complaint with this album in that the sound created here has been done a million times before. There are plentiful amounts of guitar hooks, the choruses are well sung out, and every track has an absolutely excellent melody; as you listen to this album you get a severe feeling of deja vu however as the bands sound really is extremely generic. The songs all sound fairly similar, all following the same melodic rock formula and therefore providing for a supremely unspectacular overall listening experience. It’s all been done before, and it’s been done better by other artists too. City Sleeps sound like a slightly more instrumentally hard hitting American version of Busted.

‘Just Another Day’ is I feel the best track that this album has to offer, it’s a strongly constructed musical piece in all areas and the guitar work most definitely is highly impressive here. The vocals are as excellent as ever and the chorus really has quite a bite about it which really is excellent to hear. This I believe is the best track of the bunch, all of the other songs sound pretty similar but this is the best one of the lot. ‘Bones’ is another hugely hard hitting crunching rock track from this album; the drumbeats are highly powerful and at times the vocal tone taken here escalates into a generic post-hardcore scream. The music of City Sleeps is highly contrived, it’s fun to listen to but nothing at all new.

The best way to describe the music of City Sleeps would definitely be to say that the vocal sound is very similar to that of Busted, and that the instrumental element is not too different either. The instrumental side of things is a little more powerful perhaps, the vocal performance isn’t however and if anything then Busted is actually the vocally edgier of the two artists.

If you like the idea of a not so impressive American Busted then this ‘Not An Angel’ album should be one that shall appeal. This is certainly no great album, the choruses are fun enough to sing along to however and the melodious nature of the music is always quite impressive. Busted’s ‘A Present For Everyone’ is an album which possesses an extremely similar sound, if given a choice between ‘A Present For Everyone’ and City Sleeps’s ‘Not An Angel’ however then I’d pick the Busted album every time without any hesitation whatsoever.

‘Not An Angel’ is an album which is worth listening to in full at least once, it’s not fantastic but if you listen to the album from start to finish then you’ll be able to pick out your favourite tracks and then in the future be able to ignore all the others. This emo tinged rock release is no genre defining album, it is however one that is fairly entertaining to listen to from time to time.

Label: Trustkill Records
Release Date: November 19th 2007

Rating:
Review StarReview StarReview Star

Malefice – Entities

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‘Entities’ is the debut album from Malefice; a metalcore band from Reading, UK. The band formed in 2003 and this album was released through Anticulture Records in summer 2007. The album consists of twelve tracks of hard hitting metalcore music, the band here puts across an instrumentally melodic opening before firing you into the true heart of the music and it is here that the sound really begins to explode.

‘Empirical Proof, Pt. 1’ is the opening track here; it’s a minute and a half of pleasantly put across instrumental sound which is then followed by ‘Risen Through the Ashes’. As the opening track plays you can’t really tell what will follow, there’s some underlying power within the sound but you’re certainly not prepared for what comes next. ‘Risen Through the Ashes’ is a powerful four minute track of brutal metalcore, there’s a hint of death metal in the sound here also and the vocals are growled out by the bands lead vocalist Dale Butler. Dale Butler grunts and growls his way through this album, the music is instrumentally powerful and the vocal performance also has much to offer. The tracks are all incredibly similar; the music is however interesting to listen to and the bands sound always possesses plenty of power and a large abundance of energy.

‘Empirical Proof, Pt. 2’ is the eighth track on this album, it’s a continuation of the opening track and once more here the sound is pleasantly put across by the band. It’s another instrumental offering of music and these instrumental pieces provided by the band really do break this album up nicely. Most of the tracks featured here sound very much the same, it’s nice that the band has included a little in the way of variation with this album and slipped in a couple of tracks that are a little more light and approachable than the others. As you’re listening to this ‘Entities’ album it’s these two tracks that stand out; as interesting as the bands brutal metalcore music is to listen to, it’s certainly nice to hear the band try out something a little bit different from time to time here.

Closing track ‘Bringer of War’ provides the album with a fantastic final moment, it’s my personal favourite from this ‘Entities’ release and always the music has much to offer here. The track possesses elements of grindcore, metalcore, and death metal also; it’s a fine mix of sound and with this track the album ends on a definite high. The guitar work is powerful, the drumbeats also are highly heavy, and vocally here the band jumps between grunts, growls, and the odd occasional spoken vocal line also. This final track is four minutes long and there are not a finer four minutes present on the album than this.

For those that love their metalcore then the music of Malefice should most definitely be of great appeal. The tracks are all quite similar, very similar in fact; the tracks are extremely finely constructed however and both instrumentally and vocally also the music created by the band here is always highly impressive. The two instrumental tracks break up the album nicely, the music is very well put across by Malefice but most definitely creativity is not one of the bands finest points. The tracks are all extremely stylistically similar; it’s a decent album of metalcore however from a band that implements strongly elements of death metal into its sound. Malefice’s ‘Entities’ album is well worth a listen, it’s not exactly the best album ever to have been released in the genre of metalcore but a noteworthy effort nonetheless.

Label: Anticulture Records
Release Date: August 20th 2007

Rating:
Review StarReview StarReview Star

Ghost Game DVD Review

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Originally released in 2006, ‘Ghost Game’ (Thai title ‘Laa-thaa-phii’) is cited as being ‘one of the most controversial horror movies ever made’; it was actually banned in Cambodia and for good reason too. ‘Ghost Game’ is a Thai horror movie which pits 11 contestants in a reality TV show where they must survive in a war museum which was once a prisoner of war camp. The reason? 5 million baht is up for grabs for the winner here, these eleven are therefore more than willing to be locked inside this apparently haunted museum on the off-chance that they may walk away with the big cash prize. In the 1970s it was estimated that no less than 17 000 people were tortured and executed here, it’s a horrible place for these eleven contestants to have to endure and they must spend all their hours locked within these blood stained walls.

In a Big Brother style situation, the eleven contestants will be on constant watch here and CCTV cameras will be transmitting their every waking move 24 hours a day. There’s no escaping the cameras, they’re situated everywhere in order to give the audience the best viewing experience possible and a variety of different tasks are set in order to keep viewing figures high and ensure that the contestants are constantly kept on their toes.

From the very beginning of the film I got the feeling of a Big Brother meets Battle Royale kind of scenario; its reality television taken to its absolute extreme and looks into the idea of just how far some members of society will go in order to gain a bit of fame and fortune. What’s so brilliant about ‘Ghost Game’ as well is that the cast chosen for this film were real-life contestants taken from the TV show Academy Fantasia; the Thai equivalent of American Idol. These are not actors, these are actual reality TV show contestants and this therefore adds to the overall atmosphere and appeal of the film for me. This casting choice could have resulted in disastrous consequences, it didn’t though and on the whole the performances put in here are really rather impressive. There are a few that fail to impress here, the majority of those cast within the film do a good job however and help to create a powerful atmosphere throughout this fine Thai horror.

The reason that this film was banned in Cambodia is that the prisoner of war camp location of ‘Ghost Game’ closely mimics the actual Cambodian location of the Tuol Sleng genocide prison in Phnom Penh. It’s called ‘Camp Case 17’ in ‘Ghost Game’ and is set in the fictitious country of Jedah, it’s not fooling anyone however and the real life resemblance to that of Cambodia’s Tuol Sleng genocide prison is just too close to ignore. It was argued by the Cambodian government that the film glorifies and exploits the events which took place in the genocide prison, manipulating facts and therefore giving people an inaccurate and misleading impression of what really went on at the Tuol Sleng genocide prison. It’s a fairly argued case by the Cambodian government and I understand entirely why it would be seen fit to ban this film in Cambodia, I am however glad that this film has been given its release in the UK as I truly did enjoy viewing it.

Whilst I did enjoy viewing this film I also found at times that the pace was a little too slow, relatively little was going on within the film and when there was action it was often a little stunted. As the cast were not professional actors there are times when this really does show, their inexperience shines through and becomes glaringly obvious as you watch the film unfold. Many of the cast are excellent, there are a few that just don’t work too well at all however and for me these performances did let the overall quality of the film down a little. The occasionally poor quality of acting reflects upon the film as at certain points when there is an element of action which should really have you jumping, the film fails to have its desired effect as you’re too busy thinking about the ineptitude of the actors present here. ‘Ghost Game’ is a film that builds tension fairly well when it wants to, some of the more intense moments of the film are definitely spoilt a little by the quality of the acting however and this really is quite a shame.

The funny thing about ‘Ghost Game’ is that its one of those films that really seems to get going only about 10/15 minutes from the end. Whereas other films of this sort fail however in that the rest of the film has been fairly anonymous, ‘Ghost Game’ is a film which does well to hold your interest throughout and although the best is left until the end; when the end is reached you do actually care what will happen which is more than can be said of some films of this sort. It’s a puzzling end to the film, one that is action packed however and definitely the final few minutes of ‘Ghost Game’ leave you thinking for long after the film has finished.

Directed by Sarawut Wichiensarn, this is a director that I had not come across before but most definitely one that I shall be watching out for in the future. As far as I can make out this is actually the mans directorial debut so he certainly did well here with this, his first film as director. This is not the best horror film in the world, I like the way that it works on a very much cerebral level however and instead of relying purely on showing you plenty of blood and gore; the film builds up tension and fright in your mind, allowing you to form the images for yourself rather than needing to display them visually on screen. Filmed in the Thai language, this is a subtitled film that I’d definitely recommend viewing; I recognised elements of 70s slasher films such as ‘Halloween’ here, hints of Hideo Nakata’s ‘Ringu’ also, the 24-hour filming idea does however draw allusions to the hit reality TV series Big Brother and this idea can also be found utilised in such films as Marc Evans 2002 reality snuff tale ‘My Little Eye’. Although not exactly a new concept to model a movie on reality television; director Sarawut Wichiensarn does here do a very good job in putting to film this haunting ghostly tale that is ‘Ghost Game’.

Special Features:-

In the way of extras, what you’ll find here first and foremost is a ‘Cast and Crew Documentary’. We here learn that the director wanted the film to look not only real, but mysterious and creepy also. Sarawut Wichiensarn wanted to film from a location which had never been caught on film before, and he tells us here just how important he perceives location to be. The cast interviews are quite limited; all the cast tell us is who they play in the film and what their characters are like (which we already know from watching the film anyway). The interviews with the crew are quite interesting here, the cast interviews are however fairly unnecessary.

Also included here is an original theatrical trailer for the film, and further trailers for such other films in the Cine-Asia catalogue as ‘Apartment 1303’, ‘Dragon Tiger Gate’, ‘Flash Point’, ‘Welcome to Dongmakgol’, and ‘Chocolate’ also. This provides an interesting insight into what other films Cine-Asia has to offer (Cine-Asia is a registered trademark Showbox Media Group Ltd.).

Rating: