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"Pharmakon" has a lot of potential to be a gripping, dramatic thriller. Branko is a young Albanian graduate who has recently returned from his pharmacological studies in the United States to work for his wealthy, domineering doctor father. Branko becomes interested (obsessed?) with Sara, a beautiful young nurse whose mother is receiving expensive cancer treatments from Branko's father. There are lots of moral questions and mysteries here. Is Sara in a relationship with the father to pay for her mother's treatment? Are Branko's intentions more akin to love or lust? Is the father a villain or a hero?

There are interesting opportunities to talk about corruption and misogyny in Albania and Albanian culture....

Unfortunately, the film is overlong and spends a third of its running time having its four main characters walk up and down stairs, through hallways and down the street. The film could have benefited from some judicious editing to trim its 135-minute running time, and tightening up the script a bit.

I generally enjoy films from Albania, but this one could have been so much better.

Early on in the film, the narrator informs us that the apartment building at the heart of "Die Ameisenstrasse" (aka "Ant Street" or "The Ant's Path") has 18 tenants, a Yugoslavian concierge, two shops, 3 children and one dog (not to mention a pair of new landlords and a crew of Polish workers who arrive later). I immediately wondered how the writers were going to introduce so many characters. The answer: with great difficulty.

There's a lot of fun ideas here....The building's tenants are an interesting slot...We've got an old lady who's a kleptomaniac, a man man obsessed with getting all the clocks in his shop to synchronize, and a bitter old woman who talks about how things were better under Hitler. When the kindly landlord dies, his nephew starts a series of never-ending "renovations" in the building bringing an infestation of seemingly unnecessary repairs, gross insects, Polish laborers and apartment hunters into the building. It's all interesting, but ultimately the director and screenwriters have too much going on for them to handle.

A cast with fewer characters might have worked better, or perhaps a TV miniseries fleshing out the building's quirky cast of residents. But with its 86-minute running time, it seems like we never really get to know anyone very well, and too many promising subplots appear and disappear without much resolution.

Having said all that,"Ameisenstrasse" is never dull and there's enough going on to keep the viewer's interest. This film was the Austrian nominee to the Oscars in 1995 (it was actually better than at least two of the films nominated that year) and was released on DVD with English subtitles in Austria around 2009. 7/10

"Phobia 2" is an anthology of Thai horror films made by some of Thailand's top film directors. As previous reviewers have mentioned, it's difficult to rate anthology films because they may vary wildly in quality.

"NOVICE" (by the director of "Body") is the weakest of the bunch. A delinquent teenager is dropped off at a jungle monastery by his mother who promises to pick him up "when things calm down". "Novice" has some very good ideas but ends up depending too much on loud noises and jump scares while also being somewhat dull. Great ending, weak film. 6/10 "WARD" (the directorial debut of a Thai producer) finds a teenager placed in a hospital bed next to an old man on life support after a routine bicycle accident. Strange things begin happening and the film achieves a claustrophobic "Rear Window" feel since the strong-willed teen can't movie his legs. Good but predictable. 7/10 "BACKPACKERS" (by the director of "Dorm") was my favorite. When it starts off with two silly Japanese teenagers hitchhiking in Thailand, you wonder why it's a horror movie. That's answered soon enough. Thrilling, spooky, gory and exciting. Sadly, this director has turned more to teen comedies lately. 10/10 "SALVAGE" (by the co-director of "Shutter" and "Alone") features another story about karmic justice as a woman who sells used cars gets a comeuppance that would never happen in an American movie. Also takes a while to get going, but ends up worth the time. 7/10 "IN THE END" (by the OTHER co-director of "Shutter" and "Alone", as well as "Pee Mak") is delightfully silly and a great way to end the series. You'll have to know a little bit about Thai horror (think "Scream"), acting and Thai sense of humor, so this might be the most difficult for Western audiences. Still enjoyable with a creepy ending....9/10