Fridae

The best thing on screens this week is 4BIA, which is pronounced "phobia" and not Four-Bee-I-Aye. It's an anthology of four short horror films by some of the leading filmmakers of Thailand. Together they have made a collection of works that rank among the best Asian horror films in recent years.

Youngyooth Thongkonthun (who directed the campy comedies The Iron Ladies and Metrosexual) turns his hand to horror with the very scary Happiness. It stars the lovely Maneerat Kham-uan as a woman who suffers an accident and has to stay at home. Feeling lonesome, she starts an SMS relationship with someone she'd never met. The horror begins...

Meanwhile, Paween Purikitpanya, who directed Body #19, helms the second work called Tit For Tat. This technically proficient but superficial piece tells of a boy who takes revenge on school bullies using black magic. This may be the weakest film of the four, but it moves swiftly enough to make it tolerable.

The next film, called In the Middle, is the most entertaining of the lot. Banjong Pisanthanakun , who co-directed the superb Shutter and Alone, blends comedy and horror to produce a scary but hilarious tale of four boys on a camping trip. When one of them dies in a rafting accident, he comes backs to haunt them. Banjong knows what we expect from a horror film, but he inverts those expectations again and again. Trust us, you'll love this.

The final piece is by Parkpoom Wongpoom, the other co-director of Shutter and Alone. His piece, called The Final Fright, is a terrific tale of an air stewardess who has to accompany a dead body back to her home. Well, let's just say this has "girl power" written all over it.

Overall, 4BIA makes for a very satisfying and enjoyable popcorn movie. You may have disliked some of the horror films coming out of Thailand in recent years, but this one is certainly worth your money. Don't miss it!