100 years ago, the sisters Yod and Yard were the wives of Phra Wanathep. Yard was a loyal servant to madam Kamlai, his main wife. But Khun Thep asked Yod to help him get her sister and he would reward her. So Yod knocked her out and Wanathep raped her. Later, Yod tricks Yard into giving poison to Kamlai, to get rid of her and get Yard in trouble, so she can read morehave Khun Thep all to herself. So Yard unintentionally kills Kamlai and her 2 daughters. All the servants find out that Yard killed Kamlai so they hung her. Yods mother finds out that she caused Yards death so she stabbed Yod and put a curse on her, if she was to cause her mother to cry a tear again, she will never be able to get reborn. Khun Thep was reborn as Witsanu, an award-winning biography director. Witsanu received work from a TV show called Lao Ruang Teuk Gao (Telling the story of old buildings). Pal is a young architect that hosts the show, and for this particular episode the story of Phra Wanathep’s home is being told. The home is located in the Nang Barb (Sin Woman) amphoe/district. During filming, the staff sees something strange. They dont know that the place is haunted by the ghosts of Yod and Yard. Kamlai was reborn as an actress and Yod wants to apologize for her sins. So Yod and Yard end up possessing Ruengrin and Wisa, causing absolute chaos for the team.展開
Constantly on the hunt and suffering from hallucinations that drive his violent nature, an unnamed man is capturing women and savagely beating them to death. Meanwhile, a woman is luring men into a violent end, by way of her knife. Driven by the same force to make the opposite sex suffer, the killers’ fates intertwine. The two must face off in a battle to the death, in which they are forced to reveal the horrible truth behind their addiction to murder. Brutal takes an interesting approach to its visuals, drawing heavy influence from Western Grindhouse films, using a filter to make the footage appear grainy, damaged, and with light and color fluctuations. Unfortunately, the visual styling ends up feeling misguided, as other than applying the filter it does not imitate any other aspects of the Grindhouse genre. Despite trying to dirty up the film, it is apparent it was shot on digital. The cinematography is also a step above most Grindhouse productions, with Takashi Hirose proving he has talent behind the camera. Exterior shots to those taking place in small spaces are all competently framed, lit, and transition well. The decision to add an effect on top of the work hurts the film’s imagery and even gives a sense of desperation to try to capture a certain type of nostalgia with the audience, instead of relying on its own strengths. It is unfortunate when one creative choice can hurt a production so much. The story of Brutal is simple but effective, it does attempt some sort of social commentary about the violent nature of men and women, but it does not offer enough depth into the subject to justify the amount of violence on display. The film does end on a strong note with an interesting twist, with a reveal that is bound to gross some out, while giving others a chuckle. In spite of its simple nature, those who enjoy films that make them somewhat uncomfortable and enjoy the challenge of getting through some ultra-violence, Brutal poses a fun and entertaining challenge in that regard.
