Art of the Devil (2004)

Boom, pregnant from an affair, is told by her lover to leave him and his family alone. Enraged, she goes to a witch doctor and has him use black magic against her ex-lover and his family. ... See full summary »

Director:

Tanit Jitnukul

Writer:

Ghost Gypsy

Stars:

Arisa Wills, Supakson Chaimongkol, Krongthong Rachatawan

Cast

Credited cast:
Arisa Wills	...	Nan
Supakson Chaimongkol	...	Boom
Krongthong Rachatawan	...	Kamala
Tin Settachoke	...	Prathan
Somchai Satuthum	...	Danai
Isara Ochakul	...	Ruj
Nirut Sutchart	...	Neng
Krittayod Thimnate	...	Bon
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bob Buchholz	...	Pratan Siwahiran (voice) (as Robert Buchholz)
Sherry Chiasson	...	Nan Siwahiran (voice)
Sandy Fox	...	Bon Siwahiran (voice)
Elvia Gaitan	...	Ad (voice)
Grant George	...	Ruj Siwahiran (voice)
Yuri Lowenthal	...	Neng Siwahiran (voice)
Dave Mallow	...	Master, TV Anchor (voice)

Storyline

Boom, pregnant from an affair, is told by her lover to leave him and his family alone. Enraged, she goes to a witch doctor and has him use black magic against her ex-lover and his family. They all die in suspicious manners. Just when Boom thinks everything is over, a woman claiming to be her lover's secret mistress claims his inheritance and moves in to his house with her 4 children. Not long after that, unexplainable things happen to the family and, one by one, they begin to die.

---

Plot Keywords:

woman in jeopardy | witch | witch doctor | mistress | black magic | 

---

Genres:

Horror | Mystery

---

Details

Official Sites:

Official site (Spain)

Country:

Thailand

Language:

Thai

Release Date:

17 June 2004 (Thailand)

Also Known As:

Art of the Devil

Filming Locations:

Thailand

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$454,500

Company Credits

Production Co:

Five Star Production Co. Ltd., Tiger Team

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

The sound technician, camera man and more crew can be seen reflected on the TV at 1º 17' 43''.

---

Connections

Followed by Art of the Devil 3 (2008)

User Reviews

Overlong Thai black magic horror

This is the Thai answer to all those black magic horror films made in Hong Kong during the 1970s and '80s. The plot is virtually the same, involving a jilted lover and her efforts to punish the man who abandoned her by resorting to black magic (the same plot was used in 1981's BEWITCHED). However, while those films have gone down as gruesome classics of horror cinema, ART OF THE DEVIL is a somewhat lacklustre retelling of the same story.

The problems lie in the technical details. This is a poorly edited film and the director doesn't seem to want to make the events that play out very clear. It's also overlong, with the second half of the movie introducing an unbelievable plot twist as the villainess goes after more innocent folk – this time her lover's ex-wife! It's little more than an excuse for more gruesome deaths but the novelty quickly wears off.

The cast isn't particularly good for a film of this calibre. There's plenty of overacting – especially from the villainess - and little subtlety, aside from the actor playing the investigative reporter. There ARE some good gruesome bits, one involving the old joke with a victim having an evil presence under his skin, and his efforts to cut it out. Of course there are also moments of bad taste, as is the norm for this genre of production. A guy vomits up eels in one unpleasant scene while the nastiest bit involves the rotting corpse of a baby being used in a ritual. Such moments come few and far between however, and this is a case of style over substance. In the end it's a disappointment, feeling like a half-hearted attempt to emulate the classics of old.