Editor's Note: If you "don't want to sleep" or "can't sleep," read on.
There may be a literary film here, and there may be a thriller here. I don't know if you'll fall asleep or if you'll be scared even more out of bed.
Like marvel universe, James Wan, a Malaysian-born and Australian-American director, has gradually revealed his fascination with creating a "world of horror", starting from the "Latent" series in 2010, to the "Conjuring" series in 2013 and 2016, and the spin-off film "Annabelle", until the North American "The Nun", which was just released in September, with multiple clues and various character connections. Coupled with the sequel in the production of the above movie, it is simply "grass snake gray line, thousands of miles".
But there are two key differences, the Marvel Universe has been more than half a century of big IP, and it is the joint efforts of several generations, the role is rich, the plot is full; Wen Ziren's creation is less than ten years, and the most regrettable thing is that he does not have the energy and enough creativity to complete his works 100%, so he has to switch weakly between the three different roles of director, screenwriter and producer. Although these films have so far ensured the connection between the plots, and the style is mainly psychological horror and darkness, the quality and artistry are uneven.
The latest "Ghost Nun" is a typical "not applauded". The director is a novice, and Wen Ziren is only one of the screenwriters. The plot is in Romania in 1952, when the nun who is supposed to exorcise is possessed by a demon, hovering in a gloomy and huge castle, and the ghost is not scattered, and a man-demon war is launched with the priests and nuns sent by the Vatican Holy See to suppress it. Once the horror film has reached the field of tribute and commemoration, it is gradually drifting away from the originality, thriller effects and surprises at the beginning of the creation. The theme of "exorcism" in Ghost Nun pays homage to the classic Exorcist (1973), and the abbey investigation is inspired by the French thriller The Name of the Rose (1986), but it is completely devoid of the former's anxiety of gender displacement and infatuation, as well as the horrific horror effects of the era, nor the criticism and mysticism of fundamentalism in The Name of the Rose.
Stills from "The Ghost Nun"
In contrast, "Ghost Nun" is only to mechanically connect to the end of "Annabelle 2", the ghost face looming in the background of the nun's photo. One of the things that people can remember after watching the movie is the creation of a terrifying atmosphere, such as the echo of the empty space in the huge monastery, a large cemetery covered with crosses in front of the courtyard, and the crows that are constantly circling with inexplicable fog, which are depressed and frightened. The second is that the holy place also has a contrasting design of evil spirits. As for the use of the rifle to kill a few evil spirits, artificial respiration to deliver the blood of the Holy Spirit to save lives, in the middle of the night but have to track down unknown sounds, the audience only gets laughter or frowns - either by imposing effects and exaggerated plot arrangements, or by the clichéd jump scary, jumping out of the scary. It lacks imagination, nor does it have the exquisite design and psychological horror in Wen Ziren's own works.
The famous website CinemaScore only gave a C rating, and the comments on Rotten Tomatoes were even more lamented, generally considering it to be the worst in the "Conjuring" series, "without a soul, excessive mining of IP will only reduce the impact" (Los Angeles Times). Strangely enough, "Ghost Nun" is crazy "shouting", as of September 30, the global box office has 330 million US dollars, which is compared to its cost of 22 million US dollars, it is simply a small bo. Newspapers in North America commented that this was due to the "resurgence of terror fever." But it's more of an accident, at best hype. First of all, its schedule took the lead, three weeks ago only "Picking Gold" and "Jaws" eye-catching, there is no decent horror film, naturally "Ghost Nun" can stand out; followed by the large-scale publicity of the production company Warner, especially the rollout on social media, but also constantly emphasize the impact of IP and horror series. The final data shows that many Hispanic viewers constitute the main body of viewing, and they are generally not highly educated, with more middle and lower incomes.
Hopefully, next time, Wen Ziren will bring the audience real fear, not too much madness.