What a banal piece of cliched film it was. They tried to make it look like a lavish atmosphere but very characteristic. Acting was poor, screenplay was very poor and direction was horrible. So so bad !!

After arriving at a family's house, a young woman joining their staff as the new maid is exposed to the stories about what happened to the former maid which is said to be haunting the house, but as time goes on the dark secret of the house is made clear and how the reveal threatens everyone.

Frankly, there's quite a lot to like with the film. Among the better features found here is the strong storyline that evokes an effective slow-burn approach to its shocks and scares. Featuring the early work of her coming to the house and meeting up with the family, seeing the interplay between the mother and father against the daughter, and the setup that emerges with the house being haunted, this part of the film is quite involved. Learning how she continually claims that the house is haunted by the former maid and her being shunned into believing the story starts this off like a Gothic melodrama. Also given the other interactions here, with the cold-ness of the family and secrecy of the staff hiding something, there's an ominous piece of dread in the best ways. Added together with the interaction by the new maid who's so quiet and reserved about her position and status in the house who's trying to do her job and care for the daughter while still trying to obey her instructions, that everything seems at odds with how she comes to believe the stories about the dead maid haunting the house. These soft, subtle sequences indicating that something is there affecting the family dynamic create a familiar series of tropes that are utilized effectively. Given this effective setup, the film switches gears in the second half to a gruesome, over-the-top bloodbath of action. Finally getting the resolution to the ghostly hauntings featuring the truth about the family relationships and affairs that come to light, this sets the stage for the resulting bloodbath that takes place at the party being held at the house. Focusing on highly gruesome and bloody deaths not just to the staff members and guests attending but the others who are unfortunate enough to be caught in the crossfire, there's a lot to like here. The build-up with the slow-burn piece of dread contrasts incredibly well with this energetic display with the killer going through the house slashing whoever they want for a high-energy display. The contrast is quite apparent with the change over into a wild, raucous slasher-style feature from a moody ghost film that had been featured before creates an enjoyable atmosphere and adds a fantastic quality to the film. Coupled with the fantastic effects-work on the kills highlighting this sequence rather nicely, there's a lot to like here. There isn't much to dislike with this one but there are some drawbacks. The main flaw here is the seemingly random and unresolved storyline that comes from the maid coming to the house for revenge for something that doesn't even make sense. As there's a lot of build-up made out to whether the ghost of the former maid is real or within the daughter's imagination, the sudden reveal of the motivation for the rampage comes out of nowhere and is never tied into the rest of the storyline. On top of that, none of the other supernatural events are explained at all that are nowhere close to being associated with this reveal, making for a troubling time trying to piece together what's going on. The other issue to be found is the films' slow-burn approach in the first half which can be troubling for some. Not only is it rather tedious going through the trials and tribulations of the family like a Gothic-infused soap opera the way it plays out, but it's all at the cost of the film's energy with the focus on the drama instead of coming off like this is two separate films stuck together such is the difference between the two parts. This section is also so reliant on the same tired jump-scares involving people suddenly coming across figures in the darkness, so there's a cliche series of sequences and themes throughout here which can make for a difficult immersion. These factors are what bring this one down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Language.

Right, well I must say that when I stumbled upon the 2020 Thai horror movie "The Maid", of course there was no doubt about me having to sit down to watch it. I do enjoy horror movie and Asian cinema quite a lot.

And while "The Maid" definitely was watchable, it was just a movie that was all over the place and left too many unanswered questions. So I have to say that what writers Lee Thongkham and Piyaluk Tuntisrisakul were thinking here when they concocted the script for "The Maid", well that is just somewhat beyond me.

The movie starts out well enough, promising to be a regular and good old fashioned horror movie. Sure, you have your obligatory jump scares and semi-typical Asian ghost wandering around. But then the movie takes two turns along the way, and not necessarily for the better.

Now, the whole thing with the monkey just makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. That is something that just went above and beyond my comprehension. Especially since it served no particular purpose to the movie, aside from adding a bit of confusion and bizarre feel to the story.

And the movie does take a strange turn from being a supernatural horror movie to becoming a downright blood-soaked slasher movie, for better or worse. Sure, I enjoyed this particular change of events, but in the contents of the story and the narrative, then it was a very strange and very sudden change.

I will say that I do like the story. There are some very nice elements to the storyline, despite of it being flawed and feeling like it was all over the place.

The acting in the movie was good, and they had some good acting talents to star in the movie to portray the characters in the storyline. Ploy Sornarin (playing Joy),Savika Chaiyade (playing Uma) and Kannaporn Puangtong (playing Ploy) definitely carried the movie rather well.

Visually then "The Maid" had some good things going on. It was rather nicely filmed and had a very aesthetic feel to it. The props and costumes were good, and it felt like you were right there alongside the cast most of the time. And the special effects - mostly the blood and gore - were definitely pleasing to an old gorehound such as myself.

"The Maid" feels like director Lee Thongkham's attempt to throw a couple of different genres together and mashing it up for the ultimate horror movie. But it just didn't really work out all that great in favor of the movie.

I am rating "The Maid" a less than mediocre four out of ten stars. Had the movie been kept to one path and one genre, instead of being all over the place and at times making very little or no sense, then the movie would have been rated higher. "The Maid" is definitely watchable, but it was by no means a grand moment in Thai horror cinema.