Choompae (ชุมแพ, 1976)

Did you know that every single movie Sombat Metanee did was released in 1976? No, just kidding - but that year seemed to have been a very productive year not only for Sombat but for a lot of filmmakers in Thailand. I have no idea why, but it was in the middle of the seventies, freedom probably got bigger and bigger and I'm sure most directors tried to boost themselves into making more and more spectacular movies. Choompae was one of the biggest hits that year and is still considered a classic, but the story is quite much like the other movies from the same time...

Pherg (pronounced Peeh) Chompae (which also seem to be the name of the town) comes back his old village to take revenge on the gangster, played by Kecha Plianvithee, who killed his father. Pherg is also a gangster and he's come back not only for revenge but to take over the crime business in the little town. No one wants him back, not the other bandits and not captain Chaiyo (Nard Poowanai). It won't take long until everyone is out to get Pherg and soon they're also going after his family, his old girlfriend and everyone close to him! It's time for Pherg to really clean up the trash!

What makes Sombat unique is his willingness to take on quite complex roles and his string of anti-heros from the seventies often outdoes both the Italian and American counterparts. Pherg is most of the movie quite un-sympathetic, but we're still willing to root for him. It's not only that he's very brutal, his behaviour towards women are more than nasty and in this movie he threatens with rape not only once but twice. But it's also a play with stereotypes, because he never goes that far - he just like to use the words to gain power. And compared to the real bad-bad guys he's nice in comparison.

Sombat has always been a good-looking fellow, but it wasn't until the middle of the seventies I think he really started to evolve when it came to the art of acting. I think most of it is because of the anti-hero parts he got offered. Not just playing nice and handsome, but doing more complex, multi-layered characters. His hair got wilder together with his performances. The rest of the cast is the usual suspect, all great: Kecha Plianvithee (who always reminds me of Joseph Wiseman), Dam Datsakorn (really nasty in this movie), always the good-guy Nard Poowanai and Pipop Pupinyo always doing his famous henchman with his classic biker-moustache! There's a bunch of other actors also, of course, but I haven't learned their names yet!

Choompae is a good start for you who wants to start watching old Thai action movie. It has everything and is also very well made. The direction, especially in the action and chase-scenes, is flawless and we're also treated to some insane stunts. The highlight being a nice fight on top of a bus that actually looks quite dangerous!

Another reason to start with this one is that the Thai DVD actually have English subs! Wow. It's also uncut, almost 2,5 hours and is correct ratio. It's still possible to buy, for example at eThaiCD. Buy it before it's gone, because these are one of those movies that will disappear sooner or later.

Come Alone (ข้ามาคนเดียว, 1978)

A fast glance as the poster make Come Alone looks like some samurai movie, or something related to native Americans - but this is actually quite traditional action movie with guns, jeans jackets and the usual suspects starring, but with a surprisingly slapstick-filled beginning. What we see on the poster is Sombat Metanee dressed like a crazy hippie, always up for a good song or maybe a fight or two with those who might wanna stop him. I haven't found any English synopsis so I'm not sure what this movie is about, but what I could understand Sombat goes undercover as a hippie, infiltrates an area with gangsters - maybe he wants to take revenge, maybe he's an agent of some kind - and the plan is obviously to take everyone down in brutal fashion, often with knifes or any other sharp objects.

But everything begins with Sombat taking a piss, getting caught by the baddies, then he has to take a dump and makes his guards dance while he's singing at the same time, which also gives him the opportunity to overpower them and be a free man again. It actually takes a while until he takes of his hippie costume and reveals himself, and the gets back on a more serious track again.

The lack of subtitles makes Come Alone a bit hard to follow, especially in the middle when the action takes a break and intrigues and drama takes over. There's a lot of talking, but the story moves along quite OK anyway and finally there's more action and bloodshed to entertain us non Thai-language geeks. Come Alone is also one of the more violent and bloody Thai movies from the seventies I've seen with squibs and bloody knife-attacks, plus a generous amount of good fighting. Most of it is the usual fist fights, but one guy (sorry, just can't remember his name!) goes full-blown Bruce Lee, including a cue from the soundtrack of Enter the Dragon, in one sequence. Not bad at all.

A lot of characters are introduces during the show, but I can honestly say that the one who seem to have the most fun is Sombat. When dressed as a hippie he's just like a totally different actor. Maybe it was something with the ridiculous premise of his characters disguise that set him off? A weird detail is that after half the movie he suddenly wears a wig, which is quite visible. I guess he probably shot another movie at the same time, a movie that demanded that he needed to be either totally shaved or with a crew cut or something similar.

Come Alone is yet another fine, but in the middle a bit too slow, example of traditional Thai action cinema. The whole cast is filled with every actor you expect and the action is violent and quite creative. Just don't expect a samurai and sword epic! :) 

Released by Triple X, which means the quality is slightly better than usual. Only slightly, because it still has scratches and something that looks like water damage during the final reels, but it's also in anamorphic widescreen and the glory of watching Thai action from this period in the correct ratio is always a pleasure out of the ordinary.

The Damned Cruel Sea (ไอ้คลั่งทะเลโหด, 1979)

What I know The Damned Cruel Sea has no official English title, but after trying out a couple of different translation pages this seemed to be a quite accurate title. It could also be "I Love The Damn Mad Cruel Sea", but I have to stop somewhere. Not released officially on either DVD or VCD, this is a bootleg I found in Bangkok - probably sourced from a VHS (and not TV, thank heavens) release. The Thai's produced movies in every genre possible, but it was a very pleasant surprise to find out that this was a classic swashbuckling adventure-tale with a slightly bigger budget than I've seen in other Thai movies from the same time.

The storm is coming! And it is... and it hits with brutal force a small coastal village, ripping it apart with winds and water. A family manages to escapes, but the wife is pregnant and gives birth to a son on the boat. Just when they think everything is great a bunch of pirates shows up, brutally slaughters the family and crew - but decides to adopt the boy. He grows up to be Sorapong Chatree, the best pirate of them all! But others want to be the next pirate leader, among them famous baddies Dam Datsakorn and Rith Luecha! Sorapong realizes that he's actually kidnapped since he was a baby and changes side to take revenge on the man he thought was his father!

The Damned Cruel Sea is a damned fine movie also. The DVD looks kinda crappy, but watchable - but suffers from cropping and low quality and lack of details. But it's still easy to see what a magnificent adventure movie this is, with lots of extras, sea battles, fights, storms and volcano eruptions. Everything well made and with good production values. The disaster scenes looks very good, and I think they actually is made for this movie and not just "borrowed" stock footage from some random Japanese production.

Action is the key word for The Damned Cruel Sea, and it's some good stuff being shown. This was before traditional martial arts became popular in Thai movies and instead we get a lot of very classy fist- and sword-fights, often quite bloody and violent. But I'm a sucker for sea battles, boats ramming each other and pirates falling of the boats in dozens. That's what made Ben Hur such a great movie once, the sea battle - they could have cut the rest!

The story itself isn't bad and gives us a few surprises and twists along the way, very different from what an American production would have done with the same premise. What I find hard to understand is in which era this story is set. Is it modern pirates, just working far from civilisation or is it an historic movie? Some of the ships looks quite modern, but the rifles looks old and clumsy. But it really doesn't matter in the end, because it's a helluva good action movie with a splendid cast. As usual in many of these very "manly" movies the women are in the background, so even here - but at least we have the fantastic and talented Viyada Umarin in the cast!

It's a pity we don't have a restored version in correct ratio out on DVD or VCD, but maybe this is one of those movies that's lost and gone forever? That would be a shame, because The Damned Cruel Sea is one of my favorite Thai action movies from now on. Try to find it. I'm sure you won't regret it. 

Out of the Darkness (มันมากับความมืด, 1971)

When Chatrichalerm Yukol directed Out of the Darkness in 1971 he wasn’t even thirty and had some experience from television. He wanted to make something that never been made in Thailand and decided for a sci-fi movie. This was way before Star Wars and all that bullshit, so of course sci-fi basically meant a good old monster movie. “It was terrible” Yukol said about his cinematic debut, but I think that’s not fair. Out of the Darkness is more or less a classic American monster movie from the fifties – just set in Thailand with a little bit more blood and Sorapong Chatree dressed in way too tight swimming trunks.

A meteorite falls from the sky and hits a small group of islands outside Thailand. Professor Thongchai and his assistant Sek (Sorapong Chatree) observes this and travels to the coast to investigate it. Soon people (including the typical young loving couple out on the beach for a night of sinful lust!) starts to disappear, killed and eaten by a tentacle blob! When Thongchai and Sek arrives to the island everyone in the village is dead, just the rotting skeletons is left! But the alien also takes control over people and transforms them to killing machines that shoots green lasers from their eyes! Will our hunky hero Sek be able to stop the alien invasion? Will he find the girl of his dreams? Just watch the movie and you’ll see…

Out of the Darkness might be silly, but it’s not sillier than any random American classic from the fifties. Instead the setting, actors and colors make it an interesting version of something that, at the time, was really outdated. Sorry to say, it was a big flop – but looking back at the movie it’s easy to see how competent and well-made it is, with wonderful cinematography and some good monster-moments. The creature itself is in the Roger Corman-school of monsters, not that movable and very cheap. But for once it’s actually kept in the darkness and that makes it a lot more effective in this case, with it’s big glowing eye and all the tentacles flying out to squeeze people to death.

The humans taken over by the alien is also quite cool, even if they mostly just walk around like robots. What makes it work is the visual effects, the glowing green eyes and the lasers. In a, for the time, original scene one of the humans is set on fire but continues to walk around shooting his eye-lasers! Yes, it reminded me of Terminator. But I doubt James Cameron ever saw this movie!

It runs two hours and twenty minutes and has song numbers and romance, but it flows fine and never get boring. The direction is flawless and intelligent, with nothing unnecessary shown – everything seem to have a purpose and the actors, especially a very young Sorapong, holds up the story both in the drama and action. In a supporting part future baddie  Dam Datsakorn impresses and if I’m not mistaken, veteran actor Sukon Koewliam has a small part but disappears after a while.

Nowadays Out of the Darkness is considered a minor Thai classic and I think the reputation will grow in the future.  I’m sure everyone who enjoys the old American sci-fi’s would love this movie and so every monster fan out there. If you can find the long OOP DVD, buy it directly. The quality is good and in correct ratio and has – surprise – English subs!

Hurricane (เจ้าพายุ, 1980)

Released on VHS is Sweden has "Thunder Kid", but the title literary means Hurricane (at least according to Google Translate). This is a seldom seen movie from the master of action, Kom Akadej. He also directed The Killer Elephants (I've released it on DVD and it's possible to buy here). The Killer Elephants is a bit corny, especially with the ridiculous English dubbing, but Hurricane is a violent power-package of cinematic action. Like almost every Thai movie from this era (which also characterizes the Bollywood production from that time) Hurricane is a mix of action, some comedy, a lot of melodrama and love story. But Akadej always knew what the audience wanted: action and action and action!

Sorapong Chatree grows up as the bastard step-son of hard-hitting cop Sombat Metanee. Sombat is treating him very badly. So our hero grows up to be a hot-heated young man who ends up in prison. There he learns to fight and be a man, and the sole reason is that he wants his childhood love back, the daughter of a local mafia boss. But the mafia don't want him alive, and they're also out to kill Sombat! What complicates everything even more is that the son of the mafia boss is his half brother! And... yeah, I got lost in the plot twist after thirty minutes! Sorry!

Yes, the story is quite convoluted and it's hard to follow all the storylines and characters, which is a weakness. But the movie is almost two hours long and keeps up the pace in a very good way, mixing action and good drama and some very silly comedy scenes with Sorapong trying to woo a girl with helping her on the farm, getting stuck with doing the dishes, cleaning the car, doing the laundry etc. On the other hand, those scenes are also quite funny and Sorapong has a good sense for slapstick comedy.

Sombat Metanee almost has an extended cameo and he's visible mostly in the beginning and in the end, but he's also excellent in a very complex part as a slightly bent cop. When we first meet him he's violent and nasty, very dark - and next time, many years later, he's an alcoholic - and in the end he's a raging revenge-filled man! It's a nice part and I guess this was one of the movies that built Metanee's career from being the typical hero to an impressive character actor. In other parts we see Nard Poowanai and my favorite baddie, Dam Datsakorn! Mr Baldy himself, Pipop Pupinyo shows up, looks angry and gets shot do death. Like in so many other movies.

I haven't seen much by Kom Akadej, but this movie proves that he was the Walter Hill/Sam Peckingpah/John Frankenheimer of Thai movies. The action is extremely well-edited and violent, and it just goes on and on without getting boring or repetitive. The best sequence is the final, a shootout in the cheapest place possible - an industrial sandpit - where Sorapong, Sombat and another fellow shoots a lot of bullets at each other. With hack behind the camera this could have been the most boring scene ever, but Akadej gives us a sensational action scene with intelligent use of slow-motion, cool angles and rapid editing. Fantastic! Before this we also see a very squib- and slow-motion filled shootout at a farm and a great fistfight up on two logs hanging from a crane!

Hurricane, or Thunder Kid, is a great and hard-to-get action film from Thailand. If you get a chance, see it and love it!