Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Terror Tuesday: Extreme’ On Netflix, A Thai Horror Anthology Based On A Popular Radio Show

In Thailand, there’s a popular radio show called Terror Tuesday , where people tell tales of horror that may or may not have happened to them in real life. The studio that produces that radio show has produced a scripted anthology series inspired by those stores.

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Opening Shot: On a dark, rain-slicked road, we see a flipped-over car. In the background, “Happy Birthday” plays.

The Gist: In the car is Aye (Cherprang Areekul) and her mother (Dhanyabhorn Sondhikandha). Aye calls out to her sister Elle (Miusic-Praewa Suthamphong), who is stumbling outside the accident scene. Elle turns around, but gets hit by a car and dies.

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Months later, Aye is talking to a therapist how she’s coping with her PTSD from the accident. She’s taking her medicine, but still has horrible nightmares. She seems to be more worried about her mother, who isn’t taking her medicine and seems to be in denial.

Then, a box with a doll in it arrives at their house. The doll looks just like Elle. In an effort to keep Elle’s spirit with them, Aye’s mother has employed a sorcerer to create the doll and imbue it with Elle’s spirit. The sorcerer has three rules: The doll should eat every meal with the family; don’t take it out of its box after midnight; and don’t take it past a red string barrier he has put up in the yard, else the spell is broken.

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Aye is creeped out by the doll, as one might expect, but when she FaceTimes with her friend, he tells her that everyone mourns in their own way. But the longer the doll is there, the more Aye’s mother treats her like she’s the real Elle, to the point where she starts turning against Aye for still wanting to have a relationship with her father after he cheated on her mother. But the doll starts messing with Aye’s already fragile mental state, especially after she takes the doll out a few minutes after midnight.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Terror Tuesday: Extreme is a horror anthology along the lines of Two Sentence Horror Stories and Creepshow .

Our Take: The stories in Terror Tuesday: Extreme are based on stories told by real people on the popular Thai radio show Terror Tuesday , with each episode directed by a different filmmaker. The first episode, “Our Little Sister,” had its share of jump scares and lots of creepy moments. It was definitely light on plot and logic, though, and the time in between the jump scares and creepy moments drag a little bit.

The best horror anthologies mix scary, creepy moments with actual plot and whatever character development that can be fit into a single-episode format. Most of the character depth in this story lies with Aye, especially as we find out what her PTSD has actually been like this whole time. The end of the episode has a twist, but it’s not one that’s particularly shocking.

As we said, there some skips of logic in the episode, as well. For instance, the three rules that the sorcerer sets up when he delivers the doll should be major plot turns, and yet at least one of them feels like an afterthought. Also, there’s a scene near the end that only makes sense once you see the twist.

And even though the episode drags a bit between scary parts, the runtime is short enough to keep you from going to your phone waiting for the next scare.

Sex and Skin: We see Aye in the shower, a massive scar running down the length of her spine.

Parting Shot: Lying in the grass outside her house, Aye starts sobbing in pain for the first time since the accident.

Sleeper Star: We’ll give this to the designer of the Elle doll; that thing is creepy AF.

Most Pilot-y Line: There’s a scene where Aye is tied up, then escapes, but how she manages to do that is unclear.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The plots of the episodes of Terror Tuesday: Extreme may tend toward the thin side, but the scares are earned, and the creepiness is pretty damn unsettling.

Joel Keller ( @joelkeller ) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com , VanityFair.com , Fast Company and elsewhere.

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