The problems occur when the subtlety of the scares give way to histrionics, which are occasionally effective, but they’re so relentless and condensed to a short space of time that they ultimately lose their effect, becoming an annoyance rather than the intended moment of terror. Initially her character hits all the right notes in terms of the creeping the audience out her distant stares, the late night confrontation with a blind woman stood in an open doorway, or the unsettling manner in which she carries herself. It immediately commands a respect for the culture and beliefs of the people who’re the subject of the film, and thus hand holds you into believing that what you’re watching could very well be a straight-up documentary. The Medium does a great job of establishing mood, with locations that can’t help but feel enlightening, spiritual, and shrouded in that other-worldly mist which hangs in the mountain air. So when dead dogs start appearing in the middle of the road, and Nim’s niece Mink (Narilya Gulmongkolpech) begins going a little bit Linda Blair, it’s a case of “Who You Gonna Call?” for this close-knit Thai community. However, Nim wasn’t next in line to inherit the spirit, for that was a responsibility meant for her sister, who spurned the opportunity, and this has seemingly led to some rather strange occurrences in this quiet mountainside village. The set-up is intriguing, as we’re introduced to Nim (Sawanee Utoomma), a local shaman possessed by a spirit called Ba Yan, a peaceful Goddess who has inhabited the bodies of generations of women in her family. The format they’ve chosen to tell their story of Shamanistic shenanigans is that of the mock documentary, which isn’t exactly a novel approach in the horror genre – think Troll Hunter, Rec, The Blair Witch Project – but you hold out hope that Pisanthanakun can add a unique spin to this potentially tired narrative device. Together they’re hoping that their combined powers for making your geese bump will result in another another classic chiller. On production duties is Na Hong-jin, the writer-director behind 2016’s splendid slow-burn supernatural mystery The Wailing. It’s directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun, who made 2004’s Shutter, which has been remade countless times, and used as the negative blueprint for many genre copy and paste efforts since. This joint Korean/Thai production is summoned to cinema screens with some real heavyweight horror credentials. What could be possessing a family member might not be the Goddess they make it out to be. Starring Narilya Gulmongkolpech, Sawanee Utoomma, Sirani Yankittikan, Yasaka Chaisorn, Boonsong Nakphoo, Arunee Wattana, Thanutphon Boonsang, and Pakapol Srirongmuang.Ī horrifying story of a shaman’s inheritance in the Isan region of Thailand.
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