It's a spooky season!
As much as I proclaim myself a horror-averse, I still love watching horror films from time to time. In fact,it is one of my main genres to watch at the theatre.
But let me tell you something: Nothing beats the ambiance of the unexpected sound of a baby wailing for no reason while you're watching horror. It really adds a twist, especially while you’re waiting for the jump scare scenes or a ghost to pop up on screen!
It was all thanks to my niece who happened to visit me as I was watching this Haunted Universities 3, an anthology movie by four talented Thai directors: Sorawit Meungkeaw, Aroonakorn Pick, Nontawat Numbenchapol, and Aussada Likiboonma. My niece was crying for no reason in the middle of me watching this horror movie. My mom tried to soothe her but it was to no avail. So, I ended up watching the film with her cries echoing the room and it adds terrifying twist to the background sound in the movie.
Haunted Universities 3 is an anthology film released in 2024 which is set in various locations inside a university and has 3 standalone stories revolving around Thai folklore and urban stories.
The first series involves the enchanting and spine-chilling folklore story of a figure known as The Princess and the mystery surrounding the tale. Being the first of the anthology, this part serves as the introduction that sets the haunting vibe for the rest of the film for the audience. With a slasher theme woven into its narrative, it was meant to keep the audience on the edge of their seats and not turn their focus elsewhere.
The second anthology still revolves around campus but it talks about the issue of toxic hazing culture on campuses. We will be introduced to a student named Earth, who has a strong aversion to this form of hazing. This segment was a lot less scary than the first one and gave us a moment to breathe after the gory, chilling, and terrifying tale of the first anthology.
The final anthology was a mixture of folklore fused with modernity. It serves as an epic reminder that these stories are somehow intertwined. It involves this folklore that basically mentions we shouldn’t misplace things and should never take things that aren’t ours.
The last anthology is called “Invisible Shrine” featuring a skeptical character who somehow doesn’t believe in spirits but is well-versed in the spirit realm. It starts with a couple whose girl wanted a garland and the guy had to steal it from the “invisible shrine”. Legends said that once you hear stories of these invisible shrines, you will never be able to see them again. During the Halloween celebration, the story was announced by the speaker and everyone including the couple heard it. There’s only one person, who didn’t hear the story and was still able to see the shrine. It turns out that the spirit wanted their help to rearrange their house as there is an object that shouldn’t be there in the first place.
The last anthology will have you laughing, sighing in relief, and forgetting the terror that the first anthology offers. It was an epic roller coaster ride where by the end of the ride, you’d feel thrilled, less scared yet nostalgic for the suspenseful journey. The film wraps up nicely and this is what makes Thai horror never fail.
Just as typical anthology works, Haunted Universities delivers epic story exploration and wraps them up with shared style, theme, and settings. In my opinion, using the university as the setting adds a unique haunting atmosphere — Think of old-style dilapidated buildings, dense mini forests nearby, and lining narrow hallways. This choice of setting amplifies the sense of dread as it captures the lingering fear within these seemingly ordinary spaces.
Since there are too many actors that are featured in this anthology, I have to say that I can’t review them person by person. However, in general, all of them were successful enough in creating the haunting and chilling atmosphere that this thriller horror film tries to convey.
This story truly takes me back into nostalgia. During freshman year, I was also told about various horror urban legends as well as folktales in the university. Where I am from, we heard stories of a female student who died of suicide and frequented the campus during certain hours. Before the renovation, our campus building was pretty old and we often stayed until late at night. Since we’ve heard the stories over and over, my friends and I are actually terrified. Thankfully, we have never encountered this spirit 😆
For those of you who heard of such stories during your university years, this movie is nostalgic. It transforms you back to those times, relieving moments of chilling and horror tales from all across campuses. But for those who have never heard of such stories, Haunted Universities 3 offers an invitation for you to an eerie world of campus urban legends, folklore, and spine-chilling stories for the first time.
Enjoy the trailer here
some screenshot are obtained from trailer above
 | 𝘔𝘢𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘢 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳 . 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨, 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘈 𝘳𝘦-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰. |
Me encanta cómo lograste convertir un momento que podría haber sido incómodo en algo memorable y hasta divertido. Las películas de terror tienen esa magia de evocar emociones intensas, y si le sumas un llanto inesperado, seguro que se vuelve una montaña rusa de sensaciones.
I don't like horror movies, when I was a kid I saw some, but nowadays it's not one of my favorite genres, I enjoy other types of productions. Even so there are many who love horror movies or series, it's a matter of taste and enjoy the story we are watching, no matter if it's scary.
Greetings!
With theater over here, I don't have many options, they love horror films and that's what I often get to see. So, despite having quite aversion to them, I am somehow exposed to it. Some of them are not that bad, like this one. Are you watching anything for the Halloween?
This is an interesting review ... never thought about horror in places of education except as such things have occurred in history (although C.S. Lewis's That Hideous Strength is close to this, in retrospect) ... but your review points out that connections in folklore are part of our actual learning, and that there is a price to pay for neglecting that part of our human education.
I thought such thing is common? There was this list of Top 5 Most Haunted Universities and their fair shared of urban legends too.
https://www.topuniversities.com/blog/5-worlds-most-haunted-universities
Also, you're right about "folklore", I once had a class on it and gave me another perspective to see that folklore and scary tales can be invented as the means of cultural preservation, think of not touching certain objects because they are frail and old. Human seems to have interesting relationship to fear and punishment, so maybe that's why.
Your review about this horror movie is really very wonderful. This type of movies creates such a dark atmosphere that I like it the most. Reading this review it feels like every horror event is happening in front of my eyes. I also wanted to watch a horror/spooky movie and make a review. But I can't manage time for it. Thanks for sharing 😊💕
Looks like a good horror movie. Hopefully it comes to Netflix 😀
It's on Netflix.
Thank you. It's recently added, I'll save it in my watchlist :)
I don't think I have Gonjiam in my netflix 🤔 I wanted to watch it, have you watched it?
I haven't watched any yet but will watch Haunted Universities.
@macchiata, you're rewarding 5 replies from this discussion thread.