"Spell" is a Taiwanese horror movie released in 2022, director Ke Mengrong, actors for Cai Qianyan, Gao Yingxuan, Lin Jinglun, for Taiwan's first cult pseudo-documentary film, adapted from the real events of the bizarre murder case in Kaohsiung, the plot story in the narrative of Ruo Man and friends in 6 years ago mistakenly broke into the forbidden place of the cult ceremony, these years friends have died unexpectedly, if the man found that his daughter was also affected, there are constantly strange phenomena, in order to investigate the final truth of the whole thing, he decided to return to the place where he worshipped the Mother of the Great Black Buddha!
The film is based on the bizarre murder of a family of six surnamed Wu in Kaohsiung in 2005. The husband and wife surnamed Wu live in the Gushan District of Kaohsiung, have four children, the whole family is very superstitious, but the younger daughter suddenly rose in February, and declared that she was possessed by the three princes, and in March the whole family began to rise with them, and declared that they were possessed by the Jade Emperor, Guanyin, the Seven Fairies and other gods, and the family of six would beat each other up and destroy each other, during this period they did not eat or drink, in order to drive away evil spirits, as long as they were hungry or thirsty, they only ate their own feces and urine. It was not until the violent death of the eldest daughter on April 9 that it was revealed, and after a forensic autopsy, it was found that the cause of death of the eldest daughter was starvation.
I love horror movies, especially love the theme of real events adaptation, think that the horror plot in the movie can happen next to you and me at any time, can greatly increase the horror and horror atmosphere, if you can match the first-person perspective, in a "pseudo-record" way to present, but also can completely poke my heart, let the audience with an immersive experience, to enjoy the experience of watching the movie, there are many excellent examples in the history of film, such as "Kunchi Rock", "Psychic Medium", "Smart" series, "Bad Omen", etc. The same is true of Taiwan's latest release of "Spell", which has all the above advantages and boasts that Haikou can win the most terrifying movie in Taiwan's film history before the release!
"Spell" in the creation of a horror atmosphere can be called the first in the history of Taiwanese film, and the recent release of "Psychic Medium" is somewhat similar, the film is not abusing shoddy sudden fright (jump scare), but through everything in daily life, layer by layer some supernatural supernatural events, increase the emotions of terror and uneasiness, let people believe that these unusual things are actually very common, and then through the first-person perspective similar to live broadcasting, it is to blur the dividing line between the movie and the real world. Making people gradually believe in everything that happens in the film during the viewing process, coupled with the non-linear story line, it is difficult to make people prepare for the expectation of being frightened, resulting in the whole film must maintain a highly tense state throughout the whole film!
Unlike other horror movies, which have a worldview that cannot withstand scrutiny and fragmentation, the choreographer of "Mantra" has done enough fieldwork to construct a very charming and huge worldview for the film, not only setting up the existence of a "cursed god" big black Buddha mother, an evil god believed in by a cult organization, and the verses they chant are "Bafang Sutra", from Southeast Asia through Yunnan, and finally to Taiwan, believers need to share the curse and dedicate their names, so that the curse can affect the wider world. (Today's headlines: Film critic Mtalk)
"Mantra" aside from the element of horror, in fact, this is a story of a deformed maternal love eruption, if the man in order to save his daughter, through the filming of his own encounter to the world, but also to every audience watching the movie to follow the mantra "Fire Buddha cultivation one heart savo", at first thought that this is just a blessing of the scripture, but when the final ending mystery is revealed, in fact, this is a concept of shared curse, when more people recite this sentence, The group of believers who worship the Great Black Buddha Mother will be less cursed, and if the male master takes great pains to lay out these things, it is so that finally his daughter can get rid of the Great Black Buddha Mother and not be disturbed by it!
"Spell" is definitely one of the most terrifying movies of 2022, the immersive movie-going experience is really frightening, as if we are all in the world of the big black Buddha mother in the movie, the curse of "Fire Buddha Cultivation One Heart Sa moo" is more pervasive among you and me, obviously knowing that these are fake, but still being frightened by the immersive viewing experience, real event adaptation, and first-person perspective of photography, so that the film has a little more authenticity, coupled with a solid story laying, as well as meticulous worldview construction, Let this film not only be an ordinary movie that will be forgotten after being scared, but a superior work that has set a new benchmark for horror films in the history of Taiwanese cinema! Text/Toto