Helmed by director Gun Hongrattanaporn, who claims to have come into a contact with a real psychic, this karma-related ghost flick from Five Star Production stars a magnetic cast of Yaya Ying (Only God Forgives), Pong Nawat, net idol Mild Wiraporn and rocker Pu Blackhead. Like so many ghost films, Jit Sum Pud aims to offer more than a series of cobbled together scary scenes and deal out lessons on how karma will get to wrongdoers (and, as the trailer suggests, flashes of romance with Yaya Ying stripping off to shower). Unfortunately, while the film sports 3D features, the inconsistent script and screenplay mean ends up flat two-dimensional.

Lawyer Jate (Pong Nawat) lives with his girlfriend Jum (Yaya Ying) and has a supernatural power that allows him to see karma spirits and a short way into the future. Though it helps him in his profession, and to save other people’s lives, the power is as much a curse as a blessing. One night while he’s driving home, Jate sees a car crash about to happen and manages to escape unharmed. However, the accident kills several people and the suspected culprit is young rich girl Kaew. By a strange turn of events, Jate becomes Kaew’s defense lawyer. While Kaew is eventually acquitted, she is soon threatened by the karma spirits. Jate’s efforts to help her only cause more problems in his relationship with Jum, who, it turns out, is also haunted by a ghost. As investigations continue, Jate realizes it’s no coincidence that he, Jum, and Kaew are all connected.

So, it seems, Jate’s knack is not so rare after all—everyone in the film meets spirits on a regular basis. What could have been a suspenseful plot is let down by poor execution, notably painfully forced lines and superfluous long shots of a sad Yaya Ying singing at the piano. The film feels more like a 3D showcase where the solid premise and decent cast are simply wasted, especially Yaya Ying. Any attempt at sustaining a mysterious mood is also interrupted by the inane comic relief provided by Pu Blackhead’s cop character.

There are also glaring inconsistencies in how the karma system functions: the spirits kill some people with apparent ease while preferring to play around with others. (One scene where a spirit jams on the piano with Yaya Ying is particularly mystifying.) And while none of us can really be sure what the vengeful karma spirits of snakes and pla duk (fish) actually look like, the ones on-screen look like nothing but poor CG.

The opening note states, “the film is subjective to each individual’s psychic ability.” Tapping into ours, we can’t help but think the karma spirits will be out in force to get director Gun for his crime of using pictures of Yaya Ying’s body to sell a badly-executed, illogical story.