An unnamed Professor of archeology is working as artifact hunter - mostly by traipsing round the Thai jungle and stumbling over empty villages full of mutilated people and little cursed statuettes, it seems.
Fortunately, a jungle passersby gives the Professor a magical piece of cloth to keep the evil spirit of his newest cursed object jailed.
Rather less fortunate are the good Professor's security measures when he's back home again. They're more or less non-existant (and the Prof rather dense anyway - he never even misses the cursed thing), so it's no problem for a visiting friend of the old man's daughter Yoyo to steal it. Of course the young man is going to remove the cloth and of course all will culminate in a (minor) bloodbath at Yoyo's birthday party.
Gonggoi's the right film for everyone who has always criticized modern Asian horror as just too classy, stylish and thoughtful. It proudly stands in the grand and hopeless tradition of films shot probably on a single digital camera, featuring 60s sexploitation film acting ("Just act naturally", the director probably said) and some of those ultra erotic fully clothed necking sex and lacking any kind of sense whatsoever.
This Thai beauty of a film even adds a few classy touches of its own in the form of people "dancing" (and one can't use the word loosely enough here) to bad cover versions of the greatest hits of the 80s (I was especially enamored by, that is laughing like a loon about, the "Theme from Footlose") and the nature of its monster.
Ah, the monster/spirit/whatever...It acts like a killer in a slasher movie, full of dislike for young people and sex, but looks like your classic guy in a ratty gorilla costume (with glowing red eyes!), while jumping around like a rabbitt and gutting its victims in small fountains of very rubbery gore. Oh, and it also has the ability to take the form of its victims (plus glowing red eyes, obviously), not that this leads to much plotwise, yet I still appreciate the creative flourish.
For friends of the inept and gorilla costumes this is a minor recommendation. Just don't expect something as transcendent as Shaitani Dracula or the always beloved Eegah!.
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