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    Chatree, the lead character in Dorm, is not so fortunate. His father, in his infinite wisdom, decides that his son should go away to boarding school in an attempt for his son to improve his grades; away from the distractions of his friends and television. Chatree is none-to-impressed with this. Isolated and away from his friends Chatree spends most of his time alone, the other pupils don’t seem to want to have much to do with him. The kids that do, bully him and fill him with terror by telling him ghost stories related to the school, one of which involves a boy who drowned himself in the now closed swimming pool. One boy, Vichien, does however befriend Chatree, and the two of them hit it off straight away. They go to the movies together, sneak out of school and generally have a right royal good time. However, it does soon become apparent that all is not quite right with Vichien. One minute he is there, the next he is nowhere to be found. Could he be a ghost? Or does Chatree just have a very vivid imagination? 

    Dorm is not your typical Asian “ghost” story, there are no long haired girls crawling around on the ceiling, no jump out of your pants scares and absolutely no real scenes of violence. Yet it still manages to be an incredibly atmospheric and well crafted movie, that will linger in the mind long after it finishes. The sense of foreboding throughout is quite superb, too good in fact, as if there will be some revelatory scene of horror that in all honesty never really arrives. This never bothered me though as the acting, direction and script throughout was spot on. The score help maintain the emotional level, this being more of a story of friendship and selflessness than a supernatural story, although it is that as well. 

    Although I found Dorm to be a thoroughly enjoyable and engaging movie, there were a couple of areas that did let it down for me. The special effects, which are minimal, were a little on the poor side; swimming pool scene aside. Also, Chatree’s haircut seemed to change from scene to scene, which made it slightly confusing. It looks like Chatree, but by fuck the man’s hairs grown about 2 inches. Oh, no it’s back again now. Poor continuity at its worst I’m afraid. Those faults aside though I was most impressed with Dorm. It just goes to show that a good story is the most important part of any movie, and quite frankly this story was beautifully crafted. The young cast performed wonderfully in their roles, adding a surprising depth to proceedings. 

    Whenever it seems as though Asian horror may be going a little stale they always manage to surprise us with a breath of fresh air to reel us back in. Dorm has done just that to me, so I will definitely be on the lookout for more movies from director Songyos Sugmakanan as well as future release from Tartan, who in all honesty rarely let me down anyway. A wonderfully understated and atmospheric movie. 

Rating - ***1/2

-Jude Felton