Inhuman Kiss
A 2019 Thai horror film about a woman who becomes a krasue.
Inhuman Kiss (Thai: แสงกระสือ), also released as *Krasue: Inhuman Kiss*, is a 2019 Thai supernatural horror film directed by Sitisiri Mongkolsiri. It was chosen as Thailand’s submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 92nd Academy Awards, though it did not receive a nomination. The story takes place in 1940s Thailand and follows a krasue—a female spirit who lives as an ordinary woman during the day but whose head separates from her body at night to hunt for flesh and blood.
The plot begins with four children—Jerd, Sai, Noi, and Ting—playing hide-and-seek in the forest after dark. Noi and Sai hide in a house believed to be haunted by a krasue that guards the woods, and Sai encounters the spirit inside a wooden box. Years later, during World War II, Sai and Jerd remain in the countryside while Noi studies medicine in Bangkok. With professional nurses away caring for the wounded, teenagers like Sai assist at the local hospital. Jerd has a crush on Sai, though she is aware of it. When Sai meets Noi in the forest, they rekindle their romance. Noi has returned with a tribe from his hometown to hunt a krasue. The tribe leader explains that a female krasue can turn another woman into one, while a male krasue (krahang) suffers intense pain in the early stages, during which a krasue may devour his guts.
Sai begins noticing bloodstains on her bed that grow larger and darker each day. One night, she screams in pain as her head detaches and flies through the air—she has become a krasue. She goes outside to catch and eat prey, then returns to human form. Noi witnesses this and begins supplying her with meat, drawing them closer and causing Sai to ignore Jerd. It emerges that Jerd knew Sai was a krasue all along and joined the hunting tribe only to mislead them. When the tribe leader, himself a krahang, learns of Jerd’s betrayal, he transforms Jerd into a grotesque krahang. Sai visits Jerd, who begs her not to leave with Noi for Bangkok as planned.
Sai’s father takes her to a mass movie theater at the village border to prove that rumors of her nightly transformation are false. The monk who has guided Noi reveals an ancient story: a krasue, wife of a krahang, fell in love with a human and became pregnant. The furious krahang killed both the krasue and the human. According to the monk, it is fated that every krahang will fall in love with a krasue
- title
- Inhuman Kiss
- director
- Sitisiri Mongkolsiri
- release_year
- 2019
- country
- Thailand
- language
- Thai
- genre
- Supernatural horror
- academy_award_submission
- Thai entry for Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards
Lore & Background
The plot follows four children—Jerd, Sai, Noi, and Ting—who play hide and seek in a forest at night. Noi and Sai hide inside a house rumored to contain the spirit of a krasue that protects the forest, and Sai encounters a krasue inside a wooden box. Years later, during World War II, Sai works at a local hospital while Noi returns from Bangkok for medical training. A romance rekindles between Sai and Noi, but Sai begins to see blood stains on her bed and eventually her head detaches from her body at night, revealing she has turned into a krasue. Noi helps her obtain meat, and they grow closer, causing Sai to ignore Jerd, who has a crush on her.
Reader's Guide
Inhuman Kiss is significant as Thailand's submission for the 92nd Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category, though it was not nominated. The film explores the folklore of the krasue, a supernatural entity from Thai mythology, and its sequel, Inhuman Kiss: The Last Breath, was completed in 2022 and released in Thailand on 30 March 2023. Reception from Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting noted that the film 'runs a bit overlong and has a measured pace, but it builds into an insane climax.' The film's legacy lies in its representation of Thai horror and its attempt to bring local folklore to an international audience.
Did You Know?
- The film was selected as the Thai entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards but was not nominated.
- The plot involves a krasue, a spirit whose head detaches from her body at night to seek flesh and blood.
- A sequel titled Inhuman Kiss: The Last Breath was completed in 2022 and released in Thailand on 30 March 2023.
- The film's cast includes Phantira Pipityakorn as Sai, Oabnithi Wiwattanawarang as Noi, and Sapol Assawamunkong as Jerd.
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