They're all like, "999-9999" this and "999-9999" that. And sometimes they shorten it, so it's "999" et cetera and "999" blah blah blah. By the end of the movie, if you don't have the Thai number nine, เก้า (transliteration: "gow"), hammered into your brain, that means you slept throughout the entire film, and you missed the fact that the movie is bookended by two deaths-by-impaling. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here.
Many years ago, before streaming video was even a thing, I had to drive toThai Town in Los Angelesto get my fix of Thai cinema. There'sa little shop there named Dokya, hidden behind an awesome Thai supermarket (Mama Instant Noodles, hooray!), that sells Thai movies on VCDs. Remember VCDs?! VCDs are Video Compact Discs, and, back in the day, it was the preferred home video format of Southeast Asian countries over VHS and Beta. It never really caught on in the United States, though computers with CD drives, as well as many DVD and Blu-ray devices, can play them. I believe the format lives on today, though I haven't picked one up in years, and I'm too lazy to do the research on it right now. (I mean, this entire paragraph about VCDs is boring me as much as it's boring you. Let's move on.)
One of my first VCD purchases was of999-9999. The premise is simple: if you dial that number after midnight, a demonic voice gets on the line and you tell it what it is you wish for. Soon enough, your wish is magically granted. But there's a catch. YOU DIE A HORRIBLE FREAKING DEATH.
The characters at the center of all this terror are mischievous high school students inthe picturesque, beach-filled province of Phuket, Thailand. They're merry pranksters who come across THE NUMBER OF DOOM, when a new student shows up one day with insider knowledge of a gruesome death at her former school inChiang Mai.
Once all of the movie's main (and mainly one-note) characters get clued in to THE NUMBER OF DOOM, they then proceed to do exactly what they're not supposed to do (i.e., call that number) and they start getting picked off one by one. The suspense, I suppose, is in trying to figure out exactly how each of them will die, given there's always some kind of misdirection. You think someone's car will explode from a fiery gas explosion? Nope! That person will instead die inside a car wash when the sharp machinery slices him up like a side of beef on a butcher's block. And so on and so forth.
It's kind of likeThe RingmeetsFinal Destinationwith Thai teenagers.
While999-9999can feel like a cheap and campy knockoff of better movies (is there anyone who thinks the demonic growl on the phone is scary or the low-low-low-low-low-budget effects are impressive?), the film does manage to show some imagination when it comes to shot composition and editing. It also moves along pretty quickly and serves up a few laughs, both intentional and unintentional. When a character's intestines are ripped right out his stomach and stretched to their breaking point, for example, you want to laugh—but you don't know if you're supposed to.
Thai Movie Central Rating
How to Watch the Full Movie (with Thai Audio and English Subtitles)
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Buy the VCD.(Here's moreinformation on VCD compatibilitywith computers and DVD/Blu-ray players.)
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Buy DVD (Region 3).(Here'sinformation on DVD region compatibility.)
Additional Notes
—999-9999stars Chulachak Chakrabongse, a musician also known as Hugo Chakrabongse Levy or Hugo Chakrabongse or, simply,
Hugo, which is his recording name.—Hugo, who was born in England and raised in Thailand, is probably best known for his cool, rocking version of Jay-Z's "99 Problems":
—Before999-9999begins, a title card claims that it's inspired by a true story. After some Internet research turned up nothing, I have to assume it's just a marketing gimmick, one they also trumpet in the trailer, though there is
some stuff online about a 999-9999 hoax. Maybe that's what the producers are referring to?—The Thai title of this movie is ต่อ - ติด - ตาย (transliteration: dit daw dai), which roughly means "connect and die."
—Movie images and video © Baa-Ram-Ewe . Music video © Epic Records.
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