Attack 13 (2025) Review

‘Attack 13’ serves up an entertaining fast-paced, high school horror about a vicious volleyball star and supernatural revenge.

‘Attack 13’ centers on two talented high school volleyball players: the captain / star player Bussaba (played by Nichapalak Thongkham) who wears number 13 and talented transferee Jin (played by Korranid Laosubinprasoet) who wears number 18.

It pits the popular / feared bully Bussaba against a formidable new girl who has past experience of standing up to bullies.

The film opens in the woods where a black magic ritual is being performed in a scene which looks like it’s lifted from Thai horror hit ‘Death Whisperer.’ This is unsurprising as both are helmed by Taweewat Wantha, who brings a number of the behind the camera talent (plus an actor) from the first two films in that franchise with him.

After the brief opening scene we wind back a week to a fancy high school in Bangkok where we meet our principal characters, and in a neatly contained 30 minute or so segment the two main girls battle for control of the narrative, the volleyball team, the attention of their classmates and a basketball boy.

Before things get supernatural we are treated to some great camerawork both during the bullying scenes and a volleyball match. The technical work during the sport scenes including editing and sound is excellent and beyond expectations. The late, great Tony Scott - the man responsible for cinema’s most famous volleyball montage in ‘Top Gun’ - would love it!

That said volleyball fans may feel under served as despite the prominence in the trailer, poster and even the name of the film, there isn’t a huge amount of the sport after the first act.

The film feels like it takes influence from Carrie, the Final Destination films, Heathers, Jawbreaker, Jennifer’s Body, I Know What You Did Last Summer, the Nightmare on Elm Street sequels and more.

Despite this there is a lot of Thainess in ‘Attack 13’ and it feels like a Thai soap opera at times. A few minor things may fly over the head of an international audience but nothing that will make it difficult to understand as it tackles universal themes such as the cyclical nature of bullying. There’s some interesting social critique which is both local and universal.

The marketing made it clear that one of the main characters dies and then comes back to take revenge and this is indeed what happens after the first act. In a fast- paced (sometimes too quick) middle and final act we get scenes of supernatural revenge plus flashbacks (both literally and through exposition) that examine who is to blame for the bullying and the death(s) and why the torture wasn’t stopped.

Teachers and students alike have done morally reprehensible or at least questionable things and most characters are not black or white, which puts it above many teen horrors.

Some characters are a bit undercooked though and certain plot points and the lore leave plenty to nitpick over, but there is always something going on.

Attack 13 is not as funny as it might be, despite the camp and is lacking the family drama of Death Whisperer. For my money it’s also less scary than Death Whisperer and much less family friendly with frequent bad language and scenes talking about sex. To say nothing of several suicide scenes (including the flashbacks) some of which are quite graphic.

There are some nice twists in the final act but some of you will probably figure it out. I certainly didn’t guess it all. The ending sets up a potential sequel to ‘Attack 13’ from 13 Studio.

The concluding scenes lacked a little something that I was hoping for but perhaps we will get that in part 2?

My rating: 7/10

Attack 13 is available on Netflix. I’d recommend watching in Thai with English subs but a dubbed version is available.