The Victim (2006 film)

The Victim
The Thai theatrical release poster.
Directed by	Monthon Arayangkoon
Produced by	Jantima Lieawsirikum
Written by	Monthon Arayangkoon
Starring	Pitchanart Sakakorn
Music by	Patai Poungchneen
Cinematography	Paiboon Pupradub
Distributed by	RS Film United International Pictures Tartan Films Golden Network Asia
Release date	October 12, 2006 (Thailand)
Running time	108 min
Country	Thailand
Language	Thai

The Victim (Thai: ผีคนเป็น or Phii khon pen) is a 2006 Thai horror-thriller film written and directed by Monthon Arayangkoon. The film stars Pitchannart Sakakorn as a struggling young actress who takes a job working for the police department, re-enacting crime scenes, but starts to have frightening experiences when she takes on the role of a murdered beauty queen.

Ting is a struggling young actress who one day is noticed by Royal Thai Police Lieutenant Te, who heads up the crimes re-enactment unit and is always on the look-out for fresh talent. Ting is put to work playing the victim in photo shoots with the hand-cuffed accused killers and rapists at crime scenes. The photos are published in Thai newspapers as a means of the police publicizing that they have closed the case and done their jobs.

Ting takes a liking to her job, and is so convincing that even the criminals are moved to remorseful tears. Her popularity soaring, Ting is signed to play the lead in a film based on one of her true-crime re-enactments - the murder of Meen, a former Miss Thailand whose husband, Dr. Charun, is accused of the crime. Ting then starts experiencing some scary visions that lead her believe that Meen's longtime friend, Fai, is responsible.

Then it is revealed that the events were actually entirely a film about Meen's murder, and Ting is merely a character being played by another actress named May. But while on the set filming the movie, in real life May was really possessed by a spirit that is very obsessed by her.

The concept of the film is based on an actual technique that is used in crime investigations by the Royal Thai Police, in which the crimes are re-enacted by handcuffed convicted criminals for the Thai media. Such photos are regularly seen in the mass-circulation daily newspapers of Thailand.

"It all began when I watched the police investigating key criminal cases by using stand-ins to re-enact crime scenes," director Monthon Arayangkoon said in the film's production notes. "I wondered how those actors or actresses could handle such a horrifying task. Didn't they feel scared at all? For some scenes, like a rape scene, I can't help but wonder why they have to use a real woman to impersonate the victim. Didn't those who acted as the dead feel anything at all?"