School Tales is a Thai horror series consisting of 8 ghost stories that take place in a high school after dark. During the day, the building belongs to the students, but at night it’s a different story, as a group of talented Thai horror directors bring their horror to the hallways.
Story
School Tales consists of 8 separate horror stories set in a high school. Each story is in a different part of the school with different characters. While one is about a haunted classroom, another one is set in a library, and yet another one is in the school cafeteria.
The ghosts are sometimes teachers, sometimes the school cook or the nurse, sometimes the students and at other times, school objects and artefacts like books and boxes.
Although the stories are unique, they all have certain common themes like bullying, jealousy and the role of the internet in the lives of students.
The final story ties in with an overall theme of ghost stories popular in schools and the trope of horror stories being passed on through generations of students. Most of the episodes have a fair amount of gore and violence depicted.
Performances
Each episode had an entirely different cast so there wasn’t much time for the performances to be perceived but one that stood out was by Jennis Oprasert who plays Pleng in the second episode of the series titled Vengeful Spirit.
This was the goriest episode where the character was in immense pain and had to saw off her own leg. This wasn’t an easy thing to portray and Oprasert gives a memorable performance.
Positives
All the plots of the ghost stories are fairly unique and set in different parts of the school. The legends and myths are ensnaring and there is never a dull moment in this series.
The episodes are also well-shot and the cinematography is to be commended for shots of the rain and other natural events that subtly create a horror effect.
Finally, the make-up artists and prosthetics team behind the gory scenes have done a good job in making the audience gag and look away in disgust at opportune moments during School Tales.
Negatives
The biggest point of criticism in School Tales is the fact that since there is a different cast for each episode, the series doesn’t have any character that the audience could identify with or root for. Not all episodes are spooky, and some scare and thrill the viewers more than others.
It also relies on jump scares, especially in the initial episodes. Moreover, every story is finished off in a hurried manner possibly because of the paucity of time. There seem to be quite a few loose ends at the end of the episodes.
Verdict
The series presents a wide array of horror stories all with a common, unifying theme. While each story had an interesting concept, the ideas could have been implemented with more precision and flair such that the audience is not struggling to join the dots before moving on to a completely different story.
Overall, School Tales is a good horror series for people who don’t shy away from gore and spook.
School Tales The Series
Director: Phontharis Chotkijsadarsopon
Date Created: 2022-08-10 12:30
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