In The Coffin, an English-language Thai production, Hong Kong star Karen Mok not-so-boldly goes where dozens of actors have gone before, and sees dead people. It's certainly a lovely-looking picture, and the acting is solid, especially for this type of film. But, honestly, do audiences need yet another ghost movie?

The Coffin's "twist" (if you can call it that) is that some of the story elements are based on a real Thai ritual, where people will get into coffins to try and ward off diseases. Mok plays Sue, a dietitian obsessed with her health who heads to Thailand after finding out she has cancer. The ritual seems to work, but then her fiancee Jack (Andrew Lin, another Hong Kong import) dies mysteriously. Sue begins seeing the ghost of Jack, and begins investigating the real source of the power of the coffin ritual.

Part of The Coffin's problem is that it tries to be a bit too complex. As Sue's story is playing out, we are constantly cut between that and one of a man named Chris (Ananda Everingham), who also begins seeing ghostly visions after taking part in the ritual. You would figure that the characters would intersect -- and they eventually do. But the reason for their meeting is extremely hammy and far-fetched, and comes off as a lame device to try and introduce a twist into the plot, when there really didn't need to be one in the first place.

There's nothing necessarily bad about The Coffin, but it doesn't tread any sort of new ground. Fans of PG-13 "horror" will probably be entertained with this entry in the crowded field of ghost movies. However, most others will probably find a modicum of somewhat enjoyable enteratinment -- a decent way to kill some time on a rainy day -- but not really much else.

RATING: 5