The Great Wall of Horror: Question what’s real with Pee Mak

The Great Wall of Horror was pre-empted by my sugar dip right after Halloween that left me a human/slug hybrid creature but now I’m back! During that time, I got to watch some amazing and obscure Asian horror, the first of which I will share with you on this trip to The Great Wall of Horror. Today we are trekking our way to Thailand for a movie called Pee Mak.

Pee Mak was released in 2013 and was written by Chantavit Dhanasevi, Nontra Kumwong, Banjong Pisanthanakun and directed by Pisanthanakun. It stars Mario Maurer as Mak, Davika Hoorne as Nak, Nattapong Chartpong as Ter, Pongsatorn Jongwilak as Puak, Wiwat Kongrasri as Shin, Kantapat Permpoonpatcharasuk as Aey, and Sean Jindachot as Ping.

The story follows Mak who is at the frontlines of war during the Rattanakosin Dynasty with his comrades Ter, Puak, Shin, and Aey. Determined to get home to his pregnant wife, he makes it through, saving the lives of his friends while sustaining a comical amount of wounds.

In making it home, his friends notice that something is wrong and suspect that Mak’s wife, Nak, and their new baby might, in fact, might be ghosts while Mak is so hopelessly in love that he barely notices anything but Nak. His friends have to figure out how to tell their friend that his family may not be of the land of the living anymore.

Like many Asian horror movies, this movie is a horror comedy that was based off of a DEFINITELY not funny movie called Mae Nak Phra Khanong, which is the same story without the laughs. Both deal with an old Thai legend. Pee Mak is still one of the highest grossing Thai movies ever and has some of the best looking leads I have ever seen.

Fun fact: Mario Maurer speaks fluent Thai but he isn’t Thai at all. His mother is Chinese and his father is German. Pee Mak is SUCH a good movie. While it does have the slapstick silliness that is common in horror comedies, there are many moments where it is very emotional.

I even found myself crying during this movie and it takes a lot for a movie to move my dead, icy heart. The scare factor in this film is definitely low but it had moments of legitimate creepiness.

Image courtesy of GTH

They also included a very traditional practice of teeth blackening in the movie, which gives all of the actors a haunting look to them. Pee Mak will send you on a real roller coaster of emotions throughout this movie and I found myself wondering if I really liked the ending, but that’s not to say the ending wasn’t quality.

There were a lot of classic Asian horror and supernatural tricks and tropes in Pee Mak and it was just the right mix. I highly recommend this one and you can watch it on Netflix!

If you missed past visits to The Great Wall of Horror, you can check out our trek to Indonesia for Pengabdi Setan and Mata Batin or our visit to India for Ghoul. All of those are either available on Netflix or Shudder, so be sure to check them out.

Have you seen Pee Mak and what did you think of it? Let us know in the comments!