Thrillers are the new film fad

Foreign thriller movies have raked in the money for film importers in recent years and this prosperity has encouraged local film producers, mainly private firms, to produce their own thriller movies.

The poster of Ms. Muoi

Despite controversies about the good and bad aspects of thriller films, three locally made thrillers were screened in November and December 2007, including Ms. Muoi, The Secret House and Spring of Injustice Soul.

Compared to Hollywood thrillers like Vacancy, The Chamber of Secrets, The Invasion and The Dark Is Rising, which were introduced in Vietnam in November, the three Vietnamese thrillers are less exciting. Spring of Injustice Soul and The Secret House are criticized by the local media for not creating a “frightening atmosphere.” However, movie content managers are starting to worry about the social impact of thrillers while producers are seeking to confront or adapt their creations to better meet local content standards. 

Chanh Tin Film Studio submitted The Secret House and Spring of Injustice Soul to the Vietnam Cinema Administration for pre-screening, in order to avoid some scenes in the films being cut. Ms. Muoi, a Vietnam-Korea joint production, was screened three months after the appearance of illegal DVDs due to the censorship process. However, Phuoc Sang Film Studio believed that better sound and picture would get audiences to the theatre. 

It is said that thrillers will become a new film fad in Vietnam, as Chanh Tin Film Studio plans to make a series of thrillers entitled Midnight Story, which will include several episodes, such as “Cat faces,” “Crossroads of Death”, “Cruel Mountain”, “The Wheelchair” and “Eternity Spring”. Famous director Le Hoang recently announced he will produce two thriller films, entitled “Half of the Next World” and “The return of Hua family’s ghost”.

Thriller films are simple entertainment products so they can’t bring “the true, the good and the beautiful” to the audience. Along with the introduction of local thriller films, movie managers will closely manage the new productions to ensure producers strictly obey regulations, i.e. banning children under 16, heart patients or pregnant women. 

Each year around ten thrillers are imported form Japan, South Korea and the US.

(Source: Can Tho Newspaper/VNN)