Alone aka Faet (2007)
"Sisterhood always has a profound emotional appeal to the genre fans; Robert Aldrich's 60's classic
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, Brian DePalma's 70s
Sisters and even the 2003 Korean art-horror
A Tale Of Two Sisters are already stellar cinematic examples of this theme. In the same ground while the storyline doesn't sound really that original, Alone unfolds with the surviving Siamese twin having to encounter the supernatural return of her deceased other, then what mattered was how the subject again was being introduced and crafted, how tension and suspense were built, and how easy it is to spook audiences when all the ingredients turn out right.
The talented pair of Thai writers and directors, Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom once again succeeded in that area by taking some of the basic tropes of the Asian ghost story, and then undermining them into something slightly different, something new and fresh that's built upon universally recognizable emotional ground such as sibling rivalry, family guilt and romantic jealousy.
If anyone think Banjong and Parkpoom were one hit wonders with their widely acclaimed 2004 debut -
Shutter then this will prove them wrong. With
Alone they established themselves as the modern masters at manipulating tension, even if you know what's coming but still make you jump when they deliver. They beautifully packed the film with shock after shock and plenty of creepy atmospherics. But above all, the psychological bonding of conjoined twins is the heart of the story. Through well-paced flashbacks and visualized memories, we watch how the twins grow up and are exposed to the strongest and weakest moments of their relationship together and with others around them. These moments give Alone an added depth, and often times is more of a tragic character study than its spooky horror parts.
Whoever hasn't seen this insanely creepy Asian shocker yet, can expect a 90 spine-tingling minutes of solid A-grade terror, the kind that tends to linger within our jaded psyche long after the film has run its course." -
Roshiq
Aragami (2003)
Arang (2006)
Art of the Devil II aka Long Khong (2005)
Audition aka Ôdishon (1999)
