good back-story, and good acting

A lot of fun.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Three American fitties, Alex, Julia and Rachel (Ciara Hanna, Emily O'Brien and Jackie Moore), travel to Thailand in order to teach English to children (and to pick up sleazy British guys in bars for casual sex), but find themselves menaced by a Kumari, the vengeful spirit of a young girl who was sacrificed in a bloody ritual.Borrowing heavily from post-millennial horror hits The Grudge and Hostel, James Cullen Bressack's Pernicious is a wholly unoriginal torture porn/creepy girl ghost story that tests the patience from the word go. Its three central girls might look great in a pair of tiny shorts, but they're unsympathetic characters, behaving in an irresponsible manner that is bound to end badly; the torture element is suitably nasty with fine gore effects by Jerami Cruise, but it's nothing we haven't seen many, many times before; and the supernatural scenes are totally predictable and scare free, supposedly nail-biting moments including the old 'it's under the duvet' trick and the tried-and-tested 'bathroom mirror reveal' (yawn!).Just about bearable thanks to the lovely ladies (alas, no nudity!) and the gore (best bit being the shot of a pulsating brain in an old woman's crushed skull), but don't expect Pernicious to deliver anything remotely original.

Supernatural horror that tries to incorporate too many elements. While not 'perfect', I wouldn't say its 'dreadful'...true, it could have been better. But if your sitting around looking to watch a horror movie, there are much much worse ways to spend your time. At least it wasn't 'formulaic'...well, not TOO much.OK. The 'good'- 1) Pretty girls 2) creepy supernatural legend 3) exotic location 4) insane gore, ala 'Hostel' 5) nice twist AT THE BEGINNING, 6) The protagonists are smart, not like the typical 'tripping in the forest' or 'looking in the basement when they should be running the hell away'. Btw, did I mention it has some really pretty girls ? (no nudity guys).The 'bad'- 1) Uneven acting (mostly from supporting cast), 2) Stilted dialogue and story after the first third of the movie.As I said, it definitely could have been better. But you gotta love these people who continually pan certain horror movies as 'awful' and 'avoid at all costs'...its entertainment people !! You don't like it, turn it off and watch something else...or better yet, make your OWN movie. To say you want the 'two hours' of your life back...gimme a break...your life isn't all that exciting if you're sitting on the couch surfing for movies to watch.Bottom Line: Like a 5 course meal with some of the courses a bit 'off', leaving you savoring the good bits and wanting more.

The title made me think that Pernicious was going to be one of those "mockbusters" from the studio The Asylum, but it ended up being a legitimate North American-Thai co- production whose premise evokes the wave of Asian horror which was fashionable in the previous decade. And I have to say that it fulfilled its mission on the most basic thematic level, because it resurrects the female ghost concept adding pretty much blood and some moderately original twists. Unfortunately, the poor performances and weak direction demerit the experience, and avoided me from being very satisfied by it. Needless to say, I will refrain myself from mentioning the surprises in the screenplay of Pernicious, so I will only say I liked its mythology, the wild natural settings and the ghost's innovative mechanic to attack its victims. And, like it occasionally happens with films which are set in distant countries (at least from my point of view), the story is spiced by captivating cultural details which end up being more interesting than the story itself. But, sure, without losing the common denominator of the horror which is understood in any language and region. On the negative side, the most important problem comes from the atrocious performances from the leading trio of actresses. Ciara Hanna, Emily O'Brien and Jackie Moore are certainly attractive, but they feel absolutely forced, antipathetic and occasionally laughable in their characters. And then, we have James Cullen Bressack's uncertain direction, which shows difficulty in orchestrating fluid and coherent scenes, besides of the fact it doesn't generate too much suspense or atmosphere. Nevertheless, I have to admit that Pernicious didn't bore me, and I appreciated its disturbing displays of gore. So, I can give a slight recommendation to it, specially as a reminder of a rich culture in which magic is a normal part of daily life. But what I would be really scared of are the jungle mosquitoes. Who needs bloody rituals when there are "bloodsuckers" with the size of a hummingbird?

The American Alex (Ciara Hanna), Julia (Emily O'Brien) and Rachel (Jackie Moore) travel to Thailand to a voluntary work and they lodge in an isolated house where they find a golden statue of a girl. They meet three British guys and bring them to the house for one-night stand and they have a dreadful nightmare with them. In the morning, they find that they have been stolen and the guys have gone missing with their jewels and the golden statue. Soon they meet a witch that tells a story about abused children called Kumari that return as a revengeful ghost. Further, they find that they are in danger. "Pernicious" is an awful movie with terrible story, characters and performances. I was lured by the fake reviews in IMDb and wasted my time watching this film. The characters are detestable with their arrogance and stupidity with the exception of Julia and in the end I was expecting for their soonest death to end the film. My vote is two.Title (Brazil): Not available