Phee Pob is another of Thailand's most enduring ghost stories. Alongside the ghost mother Mae Nak and the Krasue disembodied head, Phee Pob (บ้านผีปอบ) is part of the big three of Thai female ghosts.
Phee Pob has been depicted on film dozens of times, including the 2001 teen horror Body Jumper, which is around on subtitled DVD and probably deserves a look.
Mostly, Phee Pob has been featured in a series of horror comedies. These primarily involve frightened villagers running around, screaming and hiding in khlong jars, trying to stay away from the ghost.
The latest iteration is Baan Phee Pob 2008, the first installment of the long-running original horror-comedy series in 13 years.
Nattanee Sitthisaman reprises her role as Pob Yib, a village woman who is inhabited by the ghost. She looks very imposing in the poster -- reminds me a bit of Christopher Walken -- but when she came through the office last week to talk up the film, she could have been mistaken for someone's dear auntie.
The ghost's modus operandi is to inhabit the body of another woman. Always hungry, her favorite food is bloody guts. She uses her bare hands to retrieve said guts, stabbing a person's abdomen with her fingers, which are formed into a beak-like shape.
Baan Phee Pob 2008 opens in Thai cinemas today (September 18). MovieSeer has a synopsis. The trailer, found at YouTube, is embedded below.
(Posters via SiamZone, Deknang/Popcornmag)
Now this one certainly looks strange.... The ghost does some sorta crazy crane style kung fu thingee complete with the requisite "swooshing" sounds! I love it!
ReplyDeleteAnother one for me to look out for. Thanks for the heads-up, this is why you are my favorite Thai movie site.
Yes, Nekoneko, since you liked The Ghost and Master Boh, you'll probably like this one.
ReplyDeleteThe previous 12 or 13 films in the Baan Phee Pob series are on VCD. They look tantalizingly bad.
Phee Pob was also in the recent animated Nak film. She used her fast hands to dispatch evil foreign ghosts.