Hyped as the first locally produced fully three-dimensional film, Thai horror flick Dark Flight 3D, about a haunted airline, braves the turbulence of a weak plot and unrealized characters to deliver some decent scares and predictable popcorn fun.

Opened with an interesting premise that “memories” of passengers perished in flight accidents still linger when pieces from those crashed aircrafts get recycled to build new ones, the movie never quite builds on it. Instead, it focuses on a number of incompletely developed human stories—a romance between an aircraft engineer and a flight attendant, a family drama with an overbearing mother and a stubborn teenager—while intersperses them with vengeful ghosts and their unclear intentions and seemingly random attacks.

Once the ghosts initiate their assaults, the characters’ true colors are revealed. We see the blamers, the passive observers, the ignorants, and the self-appointed heroes. But what could have been a microcosm of modern society, these characters quickly regress to being one-dimensional, simplistic beings who spend more screen time screaming and running than contributing to the story.

Veteran actress Marsha Vadhanapanich (Alone, 4Bia 2) looks too comfortable in her comfort zone; her performance is decent though ordinary. Meanwhile, newcomer Peter Knight is understandably rigid. However, young performer Patcharee Tubthong shows potential for bringing to life a character whose suppressed dream eventually explodes in a scene that speaks directly at many of today’s teenagers in Asian societies.

What adds to the movie is the 3D. Though not yet a Hollywood quality, Dark Flight’s 3D effect is a good first effort that has already put Thai cinema ahead of other countries in the region, the way Thailand’s first computer generated animated film Khan Kluay did six years ago. The 3D compliments the story nicely, augmenting the thrills but never quite stealing the spotlight from the ghosts. The climax scene involving landing the plane, for example, is exciting and visually captivating.

Dark Flight 3D is far from perfect, both in terms of the story and performances. But that does not mean the audience cannot enjoy the movie. The thrills, the gores, the race against time, all amplified by 3D, provide just enough entertainment fans of horror film may be looking for.