Ghost of Mae Nak (2005)

49% of users liked it
(1,117 ratings)

Ghost of Mae Nak is an updating of one of the most popular ghost stories in Thailand, which has been the basis for over 20 movies from the silent era to the present. The original story concerns a 19th century rural villager, Mak, who returns home from war not knowing that his wife, Nak, is a now a… More Ghost of Mae Nak is an updating of one of the most popular ghost stories in Thailand, which has been the basis for over 20 movies from the silent era to the present. The original story concerns a 19th century rural villager, Mak, who returns home from war not knowing that his wife, Nak, is a now a ghost. She died during childbirth while he was away. When the villagers try to warn Mak that the woman he came home to is a ghost, Nak kills and harasses anybody who threatens to separate the two until Buddhist monks finally exorcise her unnatural spirit. Though Mak and Nak are victims of dire circumstances, the village must exert control in order to keep their tenuous society intact.The tale is related in this film through the grandmother, suitably wrinkled and foreboding, of a modern-day girl named Nak (Pataratida Pacharawirapong), who is not dead. She is engaged to her own Mak (Siwat Chotchaicharin). After this cute idealistic couple gets married and moves into a decrepit house, the original ghost Nak (Porntip Papanai), now named Mae Nak for clarity, starts haunting Mak to try and get him to save her still-tortured soul. Apparently the Buddhist monks who originally exorcised her cut out a portion of her skull, which Mak unknowingly bought in a shop, and which needs to be placed back in the corpse's head before she can really rest in peace. While they try to figure what it is that Mae Nak wants, the ghost helps Mak and Nak by threatening sleazy city types (a shady real estate dealer, a couple of thieves, a geeky crush who won't take no for answer) taking advantage of their precocious naïveté. After Mak is hit by a car and goes into a coma, it's up to Nak to return the bone and save her marriage. ~ Michael Buening, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 45 min.
Directed By: Mark Duffield
Written By: Mark Duffield
Genres: Drama, Horror, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense

In Theaters: Sep 15, 2005 Wide
On DVD: Oct 10, 2006
Studio: Tartan USA

No Critic Reviews Found…

Featured Audience Ratings

Lewis C

Tired of Asian supernatural horror movies yet? No? Good, then Ghost of Mae Nak is one you should add to your "to see" list. It's a nice little ghost story from Thailand about a recently married young couple that's haunted by the ghost of a woman that died 100… More
Tired of Asian supernatural horror movies yet? No? Good, then Ghost of Mae Nak is one you should add to your "to see" list. It's a nice little ghost story from Thailand about a recently married young couple that's haunted by the ghost of a woman that died 100 years ago. After the husband is left in a coma that inexplicably won't end, the wife must investigate the origin of the supernatural presence in order to help him. There's a well-told back-story that explains why this particular couple earns the supernatural attention, so there (thankfully) aren't a lot of dangling story-lines. Ghost of Mae Nak includes a lot of Final Destination-type deaths that are pretty entertaining. I was actually surprised by how elaborate some of them were. There's a fair amount of jump scares and startling things in mirrors too, but Ghost of Mae Nak is more creepy than frightening. Still, I was very pleased with how good this movie turned out to be, and I definitely recommend it. IF, like I mentioned at the beginning of the review, you're not burned out on Asian horror after it's ubiquity in the west post-The Ring. The main actress, Pataratida Pacharawirapong, is incredibly pretty too, if that kind of thing interests you.
Lee ?

Another mediocre ghostly offering from Thailand, interestingly though it's been directed by an Englishman! Despite a creepy looking ghost, the film fails to deliver any scares whatsoever! Surprisingly there were a couple of decent gory moments that I wasn't expecting. But… More
Another mediocre ghostly offering from Thailand, interestingly though it's been directed by an Englishman! Despite a creepy looking ghost, the film fails to deliver any scares whatsoever! Surprisingly there were a couple of decent gory moments that I wasn't expecting. But ghost movies should be all about eerieness and atmosphere and there was just none of that present here. The whole film had a lethargic feel to it and it wasn't terribly exciting or intriguing enough. Lags a long way behind "Shutter".
Lady D

A very average ghost story with the second half a little more sinister than the first. Quite a typical, predictable Horror in most senses, with the odd good moment thrown in. Not all bad, but certainly nothing special. A couple of slightly eerie moments towards the end, but not a… More
A very average ghost story with the second half a little more sinister than the first. Quite a typical, predictable Horror in most senses, with the odd good moment thrown in. Not all bad, but certainly nothing special. A couple of slightly eerie moments towards the end, but not a particularly scary film.
Kylie B

The premise was fine for a good ghost story, but the reality is not quite as promising. The B-movie style effects are on occasion quite good, but both the death scenes and the ghost's appearance fluctuate from effective to hilarious due to the very obvious and unrealistic CGI… More
The premise was fine for a good ghost story, but the reality is not quite as promising. The B-movie style effects are on occasion quite good, but both the death scenes and the ghost's appearance fluctuate from effective to hilarious due to the very obvious and unrealistic CGI (to be honest, I think they could've had better success with prosthetics and models). Personally I found most of the film quite boring - the first half seems mainly to be a chronicle of how this nice couple are being ripped off at every turn, and even the ghost killing the con artists off via elaborate set piece didn't revive my interest. My interest picked up again slightly towards the end, but all in all I don't feel that it was worth the effort despite the promise that is buried within it. According to reviews, Nang Nak, a film of the original legend, is miles better. I imagine that anyone who loved that film would be disappointed with this.
Christopher B

I really liked this one, though not as much as the classic Thai film, Nang Nak (not listed on Flixster). This one has a couple suprisingly gory kills and a interesting story involving the excellent Nang Nak ghost story. Recommended to those not sick of asian ghost stories.