• Sep 08
• Thai horror MEAT GRINDER: Review
• Posted by Deljhp - 08/09/09 at 07:37 PM

Director: Thiwa Meyathaisong. Review: Adam P.

Thailand has been bursting with quality horror movies as of late, bringing us everything from the supernatural, to slashers, to even zombies. Most of these movies have been of a very high quality, both on the creepiness, and the level of gore. But does Meat Grinder, one of Thailand’s newest offerings, stack up to the rest? Aptly titled Grinder is the twisted tale of a woman on the edge. The film plays like a cross between Art of the Devil and Sweeney Todd. The title character, Buss (Mai Charoenpura), is a woman who has been completely broken by those around her. As an adolescent, she had been beaten, tortured, and repeatedly raped by her father and his friends. As a result, Buss has become a psychopathic killer, who disposes of her victims by cooking them in the noodle dishes she serves at her restaurant.

Meat Grinder does bring more to the table than the standard no-plot torture porn we’ve seen a hundred times over. A large portion of the film is comprised of showing us the back story of Buss, and the brutal upbringing she was forced to endure. Although this is not an excuse for her future actions, it does account for them. The level of gore in Meat Grinder is over the top, but one could expect that considering the title. Buss enjoys brutally torturing her victims before grinding them into a paste. That being said, the gore in this film is no worse than the Art of the Devil films, and is done in a more realistic manor.

As far as the camera work goes, it felt like the film makers were trying to cram every camera technique they could into this movie. At times they were clearly trying to give it an artistic feel, and that just didn’t work. They use unnecessary slow motion shots every few minutes, which makes the movie look very clumsy at times. They transition between color and black and white, and even include a scene where the only color is that of a bucket of blood being poured on the hapless young Buss. Many of the shots do work however, showing us the gritty beauty of the 1970’s Bangkok landscape. In summary, Meat Grinder does little to improve the shock horror genre. This movie shoots for the moon, and unfortunately lands just a little short. Definitely worth a watch, just don’t expect to be blown away.

Meat Grinder trailer 1

Meat Grinder trailer 2

Both are NSFW.