Demonic Beauty

Lore & Background

The film is set after the Thai defeat of the Khmer Empire in the mid-18th century. The Thai ruler takes the lovely Princess Tarawatee prisoner, marries her, but later sees her with another man and sentences both to death—one by beheading, the other by burning. While awaiting execution, the Princess learns from a fellow inmate that a young woman named Daow, her exact physical double, lives in a nearby village. As flames engulf her, the Princess sends her spirit to inhabit Daow's body, but Daow is killed by a magical spell at that moment. The spirit thus enters a deceased body, which springs to life, now partly Daow and partly a vengeful ghost. During the day Daow lives normally, but at night a voracious greed overcomes her, and her head slips away from her body to feed on blood and entrails, causing consternation among the villagers.

Reader's Guide

Demonic Beauty is significant as a Thai cinematic treatment of the krasue, a ghost figure common in Southeast Asian folklore. The film blends historical conflict between the Thai and Khmer empires with supernatural horror, using the krasue legend to explore themes of vengeance, identity, and insatiable hunger. Its plot, involving a spirit transfer and a dual existence, reflects traditional beliefs about the krasue as a disembodied head that preys on the living. The film contributes to the genre of ghost films in Thai cinema and serves as a cultural artifact that adapts regional folklore for modern audiences. Its legacy lies in its representation of a specific supernatural entity within a historical framework, offering insight into how local legends are reinterpreted in popular media.

Did You Know?

• The film is also known as Tamnan Krasue.
• It was written and directed by Bin Banluerit.
• The plot involves a princess whose spirit inhabits the body of her exact physical double, Daow.
• The krasue ghost legend is common in Southeast Asian countries.