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Reviews
Rang song (2021)
A terrifying slowburn horror which left me extremely spooked
I watched this movie recently and I noticed that it's gotten a lot of mixed reviews. I think people fail to understand that the ending was not supposed to be a zombie apocalypse and the fine details of the plot.
The movie started off quite slow, with nothing much happening but that is not true. I think the first act of the movie was building up for the events in the second act and the conclusion in the third act.
The movie was not boring because there was a lot of foreshadowing and subtle plot points which took place initially. If a viewer missed those, understanding the rest of the movie becomes harder to understand.
Mink's outburst at her father's funeral and her strange antics which could be shrugged off were extremely important as the plot progressed. The main characters seemed to be dumb but in honesty, they were swayed by their emotions and prejudices., which is a very human thing which everyone experiences.
From Mink's mother's experience, rejecting Ba Yan did not have any consequences so when Mink started showing signs of possession, neither Moi nor Mink liked what was happening since Mink did not want to live as a Shaman. It wasn't their stupidity which caused the story to progress how it did. In fact, it wasn't even stupidity since no one knew about the curse on Mink's father's family and the fact that Mink was also being possessed by evil spirits along with Bayan.
The other thing some people don't like about the movie is the fact that the cameraman did not help pick up the baby when Mink's aunt was fighting to open the door since she could hear her baby cry inside. There are two reasons for it. First, Mink had made sure that she scared everyone since she stole the baby a couple nights before but did not harm him. Mink just wanted to scare Pang that she had the potential to steal her child and harm him. Second, there is a folklore or a belief relating to ghosts in Thailand that the spirits can make it so that the mother cannot see the child even if it right infront to fool them and make them more emotional. Even if Cameraman had picked up the baby, there is a high chance Pang would not have seen him still because Pang had already looked in the crib and she could not see her child.
Third, the ending was not a zombie apocalypse. The spirits possessed the people involved in the ritual to make them fight each other. Mink's family owned a dog meat shop so the reason why a lot of the possessed people were acting like dogs was because the spirits of the dogs that Mink's family slaughtered possessed them. It is in a rabid dog's nature to tear apart anyone he sees which was what those people were doing. Not just that, they were attacking each other. It was the spirit's plan.
The Medium might have used some cliche horror tropes but overall the movie was quite unique and original. The movie was two hours long since they were building up the tension and showing the struggle between Bayan and the evil spirits trying to possess Mink's body. It was only after Bayan was defeated that the events accelerated.
Overall, the movie left quite an impression on my mind because Mink's antics were actually extremely terrifying. The point of the ending was to show that everyone was fighting for a lost cause and even though the ending can be a little bland for some people, i think it managed to showcase a lot of things in a subtle manner. Everything will not be obvious to the viewer on the surface and the viewers will have to use their own brain and pay attention to the detail to enjoy the movie fully. If you want a no-brainer movie, then it is not for you.
Evil Dead Rise (2023)
Nostalgic movie and a better hollywood horror flick although it fell short in some aspects
Evil Dead franchise is well known for it's body horror and grotesque imagery as well as gore, so it was no surprise that Evil Dead Rise had a ton of Gore and bloody murders throughout the movie.
The recent horror movies have been falling short so i had a lot of expectations from Evil Dead Rise. I'm not disappointed from a horror perspective but there are a few things that for me, could have been done in a better way.
The reason why everyone felt sad when characters in Evil Dead died was because the audience somewhat formed a connection or liking to the character. In Evil Dead Rise, I felt nothing when characters died because honestly as a viewer, I had no opinion on those character whatsoever. The deaths were inconsequential and somewhat insignificant to me and failed to leave any impact. The characters were just too bland and had no real depth to them except for Beth and I kind of got attached to Cassie as well.
The other thing which I didn't like was that the movie failed to "terrify" the audience which is mainly done with some kind of psychological play. Sure, even I as a viewer was getting anxious for the characters on screen but the terrifying element was somewhat missing because it looked like a zombie movie where the characters were running from a dangerous and violent zombie. I think the previous Evil Dead managed to portray the psychological torment aspect much better.
Thirdly, there was an attempt to be humorous but i personally believe that the humor was a little misplaced and came off pretty bland as well. The eyeball scene was probably supposed to be funny and if that's your humor, that's valid! But I think that particular scene was painfully forced as an attempt to make the audience chuckle and as far as I could see, it did not work.
But that's not to say that this movie was not good. The director Lee Cronin did a fantastic job at creating a horrifying environment. The use of objects like glass and cheese grater was done in such an amazing way it made me cringe with revulsion and pain. The cinematography was great and the camera work added to the daunting situation that the family was facing.
Beth's character had a good development throughout the movie and she became somewhat relatable to the viewers. The gore was extravagant and made the audience wince in horror. The blood accumulating and then raining down and body parts being flung left right and center certainly had a strong impact. This movie is a good watch for anyone who is an Evil Dead fan or anyone who appreciates body horror and is not easily disgusted by gore.