Death Whisperer

FANCYING itself as Thailand’s answer to The Exorcist or Evil Dead, Death Whisperer is just your bog standard awkward Asian horror.

Directed by Taweewat Wantha, this tiresome film is formulaic, cliched and overstays its welcome like an unexpected visit from the mother-in-law.

Adapted from the novel Tee Yod… A Distant Voice Wails Madly by Krittanont, this absolute shambles is poorly acted, lacks suspense or atmosphere, and for the most part is totally lifeless.

In the film’s more thrilling scenes, which are few and far between, Sam Raimi is a clear influence, but it lacks structure, depth and a sense of humour.

Wantha’s film, now streaming on Netflix, wouldn’t be so painful, if it didn’t take itself so seriously. The cast is wooden, and the whole things seems nothing more than a vessel on which to build hunky leading man Nadech Kugimiya’s career around.

When a remote village is plagued by a deadly curse, Yak (Kugimiya) must fight to save his family from a bloodthirsty spirit.

Based on true events, the story is set around a rural farming family who finds itself under supernatural threat when second eldest daughter Yam (Rattanawadee Wontong) begins to act strange.

Things are really slow to get off the ground, and when they do, they escalate quickly, but by that point I was already struggling to stick with it. There’s a couple of gory scenes, even one or two chilling encounters worthy of Mr Raimi himself, but there’s more wailing and squawking than anything else.

I thought Death Whisperer would never end. It is excruciating and rather banal. But what do I know?

The film was a blockbuster smash in Thailand. So much so that a sequel is due for release by the end of the year. I will certainly be giving that a miss.

Despite some half decent effects, this one drags like overtime on a Monday night.

(2/5)

The Abandoned

TAIWANESE thriller The Abandoned is a beautifully crafted noir with a classic Nouvelle Vague sensibility.

This edgy serial killer mystery is exquisitely shot and owes more to the work of François Truffaut and his unbound, ritualistically inventive approach to French cinema than the masters of Southeast Asian crime films such as Park Chan-wook, Bong Joon-ho, and Hou Hsiao-Hsien.

Directed by Ying-Ting Tseng, The Abandoned, new to Netflix, proves a thrilling game of cat and mouse that is not afraid to tackle social issues that deal with the marginalised in Taiwanese society. It particularly deals with the plight of migrant workers, who make up an estimated three per cent of the population of the western Pacific Ocean island, 160km off the coast of southeastern China.

Slow-paced and masterful, each frame is a work of art, and those seeking quick thrills and blood will be sorely disappointed. The Abandoned is a dark thriller with huge emotional intensity, and is more arthouse than bog-standard Hollywood crime caper.

The story opens on New Year’s Eve, during a spectacular display of fireworks, as grieving detective Wu Jie (Janine Chun-Ning Chang) sits alone in her car with a pistol in hand and despairing thoughts on her mind. She is shook abruptly from her dark plans after witnessing a commotion outside that demands her urgent attention.

Wu Jie is struggling day to day following the death by suicide of her husband, but after being lead to a bloated female corpse, which has intruded on her longing for solace in the darkness, she must gather herself and solve the case.

The victim, a migrant worker from Thailand, is missing her ring finger and her heart, confirming that what initially looked like a tragic accident is actually evidence of a gruesome murder.

Distressed detective Wu Jie must put her personal feelings to one side, brace herself, and, together with her rookie cop partner (Chloe Xiang), go after the elusive killer who is specifically targeting young migrant women. As the number of missing women mounts, the pressure rises and the clock ticks down to a torturous yet refreshingly cathartic ending.

(4/5)

Influencer

INFLUENCER is a cannily crafted mystery about popular social media influencer Madison (Emily Tennant), who is having a rather tedious and lonesome trip in exotic Thailand.

Of course, this isn’t what she tells her devoted following on Instagram. No, Madison makes out she is having the time of her life. But behind the fake smiles and tall tales, she reflects on why her boyfriend cancelled his flight at the eleventh hour and left her alone on the other side of the world.

And just when she’s had about enough of Southeast Asia and is ready to jet back home, she meets the plucky and enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud), who offers to take her to some of the most extraordinary locations — sure to give her Insta followers plenty to get excited about.

Their lives couldn’t be any more different. CW is a free spirit who floats from one place to another, without making any major plans. Madison, on the other hand, seems unhappy, even trapped, in her soulless existence, clamouring for likes on social media.

The pair hit it off immediately and after a few days enjoying each other’s company, Madison finally feels alive and happy again. She has made a friend, and after visiting some amazing sights, CW still has one surprise location left to show her, which sets us up the for a gripping tale with twists and turns aplenty.

New to Shudder, Influencer was a film that caught me completely off guard. It is very polished and comes complete with a real hipster soundtrack.

There were also moments where I cringed and thought it was looking to woeful nineties psychological thrillers such as The Hand That Rocked The Cradle for influence, but director Kurtis David Harder’s film is a potent and compelling thriller with strong performances from its two leading ladies. It wasn’t at all what I expected!

While there’s an obvious message about social media, Influencer proves way too much fun, and keeps you guessing right up until the end, to consider getting caught up in any languorous metaphors.

I highly recommend this one.

(4/5)