This much-anticipated "horror movie of the year".
is finally here.
Uncle Yu doesn’t care either.
Directly invite today's "hard dish" -
"Psychic Medium"
The Medium
How popular is this movie?
was just launched on streaming media yesterday, and became the first hot search .
is still on the hot search list until now. The topic reading volume of
exceeds .3 billion .
It is rare for a horror film + Thai-Korean co-production.
Why does it have such high attention?
First of all, of course, it looks scary enough.
Supernatural, violent, bloody and nudity are all available. It is rated as "18-ban" in Taiwan.
even forced the cinema to open a " coward special ".
Turn on the lights throughout the show.
can be said to be unprecedented.
Secondly, the lineup is strong.
is directed by Banzhuang Bisindana Gang. In 2004, he became a blockbuster with his debut film "Ghost " .
This film is still regarded as Thailand's most classic horror film.
was also remade by Hollywood in 2008.
Especially the last scene of "Ghost Rider" left a shadow of adulthood for Uncle Yu.
Stills of "Ghost"
Producer Luo Hongzhen , who directed another phenomenal horror film "The Cry" five years ago.
The two kings of Asian horror films join forces for the first time.
is full of expectations.
"The Medium" also lived up to expectations, not only winning the grand prize at the 25th Bucheon International Fantasy Film Festival.
even became the box office champion in South Korea.
beat "Black Widow" to become the highest-grossing movie in South Korea on its opening day this year.
For a horror movie, it is simply a miracle.
stayed up late to finish reading, and Uncle Yu was also frightened.
Now that I have just recovered, let me talk about this movie as soon as possible.
(The following contains minor spoilers)
The story takes place in a village in northern Thailand.
Nim, the village shaman, also known as spiritual medium.
She was possessed by the god Bayan and made regular annual pilgrimages to the mountain.
usually exorcises evil spirits and cures diseases for villagers.
According to legend, the Bayan God will only choose the women in the family to possess, and it will be passed down from generation to generation.
Nim’s grandmother and aunt are both psychics. When
reached her generation, her sister refused, so it was Nim's turn.
A documentary crew came to the village because of the reputation.
decided to follow Nim and record the daily life of the psychic.
Despite its mysticism and religious rituals, life in Nim is relatively peaceful.
occasionally steps on the sewing machine in the room and does some needlework.
does not look scary at all, but more like folk customs.
A large number of dialogues and interviews make the narrative of "The Medium" relatively slow.
Until, Nim’s brother-in-law passed away. The plot of
thus turns on the high-energy mode.
At the funeral of my brother-in-law, everything was normal.
Konim accidentally saw the strange behavior of his niece Min.
She was alertly aware that the god Bayan might be possessing Min's body .
The camera crew was very excited about this because it was possible to capture the moment of possession by the spirit.
So they switched the camera and changed the subject from Nim to Min.
The audience also changed their perspective.
But Nimu’s sister was extremely uneasy about this.
She doesn't want her daughter to become a psychic.
So, she asked Nim to perform the "seduction" ritual to save Min from it.
But this mysterious force is too powerful, and Nim cannot resist it.
As time goes by, the symptoms of sensitivity also gradually worsen .
She began to drink crazily, became delirious, had violent tendencies, and bleeds from her lower body...
She was completely different from the quiet girl before.
Until Min was completely possessed, lost self-awareness, and resembled a walking zombie.
Nim had no choice but to turn to another psychic in the village.
carefully planned for several days and organized a grand and complicated exorcism ceremony.
It was through this exorcism ceremony that the family's past grievances slowly surfaced.
Back then, the god Bayan was supposed to possess Nim's sister.
But she pushed it to Nim by hook or by crook.
And Nim’s brother-in-law also committed a series of violent crimes during his lifetime.
Now, their child Min has become the victim of the family's karmic curse.
Therefore, Min may not be possessed by the god Bayan.
but were surrounded by other wraiths and ghosts, and there was more than one .
Therefore, this exorcism ceremony left a series of suspense:
Can the exorcist withstand the evil force in Min's body?
Who is the ghost possessing Min?
At the same time, bizarre and terrifying things happened one after another:
Nim suffered a serious crisis of faith and died tragically on the bedside;
And her sister suddenly changed her temperament and seemed to be possessed by ghosts and gods...
These plots are all It is concentrated in the last third of , which is the real high-energy part of the whole film.
It can be said that there are strange powers and chaos, and the demons are dancing wildly.
I won’t spoil the specific details of Uncle Yu.
It is worth mentioning that as more and more people have seen it.
The ratings of "Psychic Medium" have also been declining.
originally scored .2, but now it is about to fall below and .
Does this mean that "Psychic Medium" has been over-hyped and cannot live up to its reputation?
Uncle Yu doesn’t think so.
This movie won both awards and box office, and it also sparked widespread discussion.
definitely has its advantages.
However, the shortcomings are also obvious.
Let’s talk about the advantages of first.
"Psychic" chose the image style of " pseudo-documentary style ".
and arranged a documentary crew at the beginning to take over the entire story.
This is a very common horror film shooting technique.
The horror film that really made the mockumentary style popular all over the world was the 1999 "Blair Witch".
Many Asian horror films in recent years have borrowed this style.
includes "Kunchi Rock", "Zhongxie", " Nanwu ", "Curse", etc.
"The Evil Within" stills
The mockumentary style is characterized by shaky hand-held shots and rough and primitive images.
"Psychic" also includes night vision lenses and surveillance video from cameras.
The purpose is obvious, to give the audience a sense of presence and to enhance the realism of the story.
In order to further highlight this sense of realism, director Banzhuang did not provide the actors with a script.
was only given an outline, and then they improvised .
Especially the behavior after being possessed by ghosts and gods seems to be chaotic, which is exactly the effect the director wants.
's natural performance is also a highlight of this film.
The most eye-catching one is narela Coulmon Kolpet who plays Min.
She is only 20 years old and a new model in the industry.
has a good appearance and a stylish figure.
With grotesque movements, it is a typical charming female ghost in horror movies.
In addition, he is not an actor, so he will not be shackled by routines.
's casual performance is more in line with the pseudo-documentary style of the entire film.
In order to highlight the feeling of being thin after being possessed, she also lost 10 kilograms of weight.
In some shots, the bulging vertebrae on her back can be clearly seen.
Of course, as a horror film, the most important thing is to be " scary ".
Is "Psychic Medium" scary?
The answer is yes, but it may be different from what most viewers expect.
Thanks to the pseudo-documentary style, the camera can always follow the protagonist closely.
Especially the peeping perspective through the door crack will give the audience a sense of peeping from a third party.
This is also the best time for "Jump Scare" to appear.
Although this is a scary killer in horror movies.
However, the use of this "Jump Scare" is always restrained throughout the film.
Because "The Medium" is not intended to be a horror film that scares people into screaming.
Its horror does not rely on the sudden appearance of ghosts and scary dubbing.
More origins from the mystery of religion and the unpredictability of human nature .
This is very similar to screenwriter Luo Hongzhen’s previous work "The Cry".
The more people think about it, the more scared they become.
combined with Thailand’s exotic scenery and humid tropical environment.
naturally gives the film a strange atmosphere.
uses rain, blood, and soil as images.
features paranormal phenomena and occultism.
After talking about the advantages, the disadvantages cannot be avoided.
The pseudo-documentary style is both an advantage and a disadvantage of "The Medium".
The biggest problem is that it is difficult to maintain a consistent style . There are many multi-camera switching shots in
that pursue quality.
breaks the pseudo-documentary feeling that has been painstakingly created before, making people laugh again and again.
and, the last third of the movie.
The exorcism ritual and bloody massacre are both curious and enjoyable.
But it’s also a bit over the top.
The story has reached this point, and there is no logic at all..
completely serves the visual senses, whatever stimulates it.
and the movie does not provide any explanation for all phenomena.
I don’t even have to make it up, and leave it all to ghosts and gods.
gives people a feeling of "breaking the pot":
Anyway, I can't explain it clearly, and it will never come back, so I might as well seize the opportunity and finally have a good time.
This also leads to a serious fragmentation of the previous and later narratives.
Anyway.
"Psychic Medium", which has outstanding advantages and disadvantages, is destined not to satisfy everyone.
If you lower your expectations, the look and feel may be better.
Finally, Uncle Yu would like to talk about the ending of "Psychic Medium" alone.
A good ending can often save a movie.
"The Medium" is like this.
As mentioned above, the last third of the movie is a bit off.
But fortunately, its ending is clever enough and ends very lightly -
The screen returns to the interview with Nim.
The reporter asked Nimu: "What might happen on the day of the exorcism ceremony?"
Nimu replied: "I don't know either."
Then she looked a little flustered, with tears in her eyes.
After a while, he stumbled and said:
"Because I have never been sure whether Bayan God is really possessing me."
This sentence alone leaves unlimited space for the audience's imagination. How do you understand
?
Combined with a previous conversation between Nim and her sister -
My sister asked: "Have you ever seen the Bayan God with your own eyes over the years?"
Nim replied: "No, but I can feel her."
Then, during the final exorcism, the sister also seemed to be possessed.
She said the same thing as Nim:
"I feel Bayan God, Bayan God is around."
So.
Is there such a possibility:
In fact, Bayan God has not been transferred from beginning to end.
She has always been possessed by her sister, but she has never been awakened.
And Nim’s identity as a psychic is just her wishful thinking.
Or is it possible that the spirit possessing Nim is some other evil spirit besides the god Bayan?
This is exactly the same as Luo Hongzhen’s previous play "The Cry":
questioning religion and mocking fate . The short sentence at the end of
gives another possibility to the various previous behaviors .
For anyone who is religious.
What is the scariest thing?
She began to have doubts about her religion.
When Nim discovered that the head of the Bayan statue had been chopped off, she collapsed completely.
In other words, isn’t this also mankind’s greatest fear?
We are all afraid of the disintegration of our faith, the failure of our hopes, and the mispayment of sincerity.
If this big reversal holds.
The end of "The Medium" returns to the ultimate proposition of horror movies:
"Do you believe there are ghosts and gods in this world?"
"If you believe there are ghosts and gods, if you don't believe there are none."
Just as the exorcist is performing an exorcism Before the magic ceremony, I asked the film crew:
"Have you seen that red car?"
The car was obviously black, but there was a slogan posted:
This car is red.
As long as you believe this sentence.
This car is red in your eyes.
Ghosts and gods are the same.
