Delayed Reaction: Phobia 2

Premise: A Thai horror anthology movie.

Part of the reason I watched this is because, when I first noticed it on Netflix, I spent way too long trying to figure out if there was a Phobia 1, because I always want to see things in order. It turns out, the first movie in the series is actually called 4bia. It's an anthology with 4 short segments. So, naturally, the sequel with 5 short segments is call 5bia Phobia 2. Given that these are anthologies, I didn't see much harm with watching Phobia 2 first, and there wasn't.

Phobia 2 is a pretty typical horror anthology. Maybe a little above average. The first part, Novice, was my least favorite. Something about the style of it I kept tuning out. The second segment was my clear favorite with a nice twist. Parts 3 and 4 were pretty strong too. They had some familiar but well-executed ideas. I think I've made my irritation with comedy thrown into a horror anthology well known, so you'd think the 5th short would've been my least favorite. To be honest, I'm not sure how I really feel about it. Apparent, it features characters from a short in 4bia, which makes sense. They felt more lived-in than the characters in the other shorts, like I should already be familiar with them. Apparently, the film being shot is also a fake sequel to a real movie from that director. So, this fifth segment sort of felt like if someone threw an Abbott & Costello short into an anthology film. It works pretty well, and since they save it for the end, it didn't impact my mood for any of the other shorts. So, I suppose the lesson is, if you absolutely must be funny in a horror anthology, save it for the end.

If you are in the mood to deal with subtitles and don't mind a slow start, Phobia 2 is one of the good horror anthologies out there.

Verdict: Weakly Recommend