Summary
Terror Tuesday: Extreme is a mixed bag, like most anthologies, but a broad approach and a couple of stand-out episodes mean it’ll satisfy most horror fans at least once or twice.
I’m getting sick of saying this, but anthologies are always uneven. For horror anthologies like Terror Tuesday: Extreme, this might be even more true. Horror is such a diverse genre that a sampling of eight stories all falling into the same broad definition means very little. This Thai Netflix collection, based on the popular EFM radio program Terror Tuesday, really exemplifies that idea.
The marketing spin is that all of these stories are true, which is obviously untrue. But it’s a decent hook. They’re all macabre tales shared by radio listeners that have been spun into 40-ish-minute shorts, with every trope that you can think of dotted throughout. If these things really did happen, you’d have to wonder why evil dolls, demons, and other such nasties all have the same uncreative sense of fun.
But it’s just an excuse, really. Like all anthologies Terror Tuesday: Extreme wants to play what is essentially a greatest hits collection. The “Extreme” in the title is a bit needlessly provocative. I can’t think of much in here that would fit the label, but it does have its moments of uncompromising brutality and, to be fair, there’s a mean streak a mile wide in some of the episodes. But temper your expectations if you’re one of those legitimate extreme horror types. You’ve seen it all before.
Starting with Prueksa Amaruji‘s “Our Little Sister”, the familiarity is a bit dismaying. What is intended to be a thoughtful exploration of grief and coping mechanisms is, functionally, a story about an evil doll. Late attempts to subvert the doll trope lead headlong into a replacement one. It’s watchable, and like a lot of these episodes rips along at pace, but it doesn’t get things off to an extreme or original start.
Surapong Ploensang‘s “Wedding Dress” is better, but not by a great deal. It’s cursed-object horror of an obvious variety but laced with a thematic undercurrent of body image. This is a nasty one visually, but highlights the same problem as the premiere. The short runtime means there’s no room to really explore anything beyond that nastiness. It feels superficial.
Chayan Laoyodtrakool’s “Ode to My Family” takes the horror to a predictably haunted home, one with a mysteriously locked room that, once opened, unleashes the most chaotically violent finale yet. There’s plenty to enjoy here but it’s also the episode that has left viewers most puzzled, and not intentionally. The focus on action leaves the climax too ambiguous, and the point is lost in the mess.
Terror Tuesday: Extreme | Image via Netflix
The middle episode of Terror Tuesday: Extreme is, I think, the best, and that’s interesting because it’s the least scary and the least subservient to traditional horror tropes. Abhichoke Chandrasen’s “The Vow” is a really cool unpacking of relationships in the context of a vengeful goddess who curses her worshippers to be unflinchingly honest with themselves and their loved ones. This episode eschews a nutcase ending for a slightly romantic and hopeful one, which feels earned and logical after the mostly inferred psychological suffering that precedes it.
Chookiat Sukweerakul’s “Spectral Class” is most deserving of the “extreme” label. A revenge story in which a meek teacher takes on a drugged-up religious cult has some stand-out moments of gore that’ll raise an eyebrow or two, but there’s little to the story beyond that. Prin Keeratiruttanaluk’s “Girl Next Door” is less focused but more interesting, offering the parallel tale of two doomed neighbors condemned by their own addictions and predilections. It fronts as a traditional haunted building story but has a bit more to it. A rushed and messy climax does once again undermine the point, though.
Things end with Eakkasit Thairat’s reminder that old people are scary in “Dear Granny”, and the collection’s only unifying theme finally factors into the plot in a meaningful way in the finale, Alisa Pien’s “Viral Curse”. For what it’s worth, I’m glad that the stories remain standalone and functional on their own terms, even the ones that aren’t very good, since there’s nothing more irritating than an anthology that attempts to needlessly string all of its episodes together.
If nothing else I think it’s fair to say that Terror Tuesday: Extreme has more decent stories than outright bad ones, but there are only a couple I’d describe as legitimately good. Mileage may, of course, vary, but that’s always the case in anthologies and is in many ways the true advantage of the format. There’s something for everyone here, and while the quality wavers, the sampling is broad enough that, whatever you’re into, you’ll probably find it here somewhere.
