Director: Jang Jae-hyun
Year: 2024
Country: South Korea
Alternate Titles: Pamyo
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Arriving at a remote estate, a renowned shaman and her assistant are tasked with uncovering the cause of a strange curse afflicting the family after a family member’s death, and in the process of cleansing the spirit find a far more dangerous entity at the center of everything forcing them to stop it.
Review:
Overall, this is a decent enough if somewhat problematic genre effort. One of the better features of this one is the strong central setup that brings about a rather strong storyline throughout here. The central premise of the family calling her out to figure out what’s wrong with their youngest son and the use of her skills as a shaman means that they have to move the grave of their ancestor to appease it only to free the demonic spirit trapped within makes for a highly intriguing storyline. The idea that this brings about how the family’s been affected for years as a result of strange incidents and other occurrences to happen to them which brings about their need for the services to begin with where they’re able to uncover not just the connection with the spirit haunting them but the other spirit that gets involved, giving the film a solid touch to get everything together in fine form.
From there, the inclusion of localized folklore and spiritualism woven into everything helps to make for an engrossing time as it builds up its central scares. The first display of this, with the ritualized ceremony that takes place before the removal of the coffin from the burial site and its eventual placement in the morgue while they wait for the new site to be prepared, offers up the kind of ritualistic mannerisms and dancing that puts a unique spin on the whole affair while letting the idea of what’s at stake come to fruition. This continues with the series of interactions that take place with the released spirits that get released as the type of hauntings ramp up in intensity and frequency once the spirit is released. From the flash visions of the creature being released and the effects it has on others around it following its presence, these all manage to provide a lot to like overall here.
There are some issues here that hold this one down. The main issue with the film is the most obvious feature here in that there’s very little reason why this goes on over two hours in length. The film would have easily been trimmed down completely with the use of a judicious removal of the second spirit that comes to pass as a result of the ceremony going off the way it does, which is simply a storyline that doesn’t seem to be needed in the film at all. The idea of the team battling the spirit trapped inside the ancestor was more than enough to carry this one along on its own without having to introduce this second spiritual being to act as a new challenge to overcome. It all feels like over-the-top means that propels the film along without much reason which is what causes this to come with such an unwieldy running time when it could’ve been, and alongside some ropy CGI for the final confrontation what brings this one down.
Overview: ***.5/5
An immensely fun if somewhat flawed Korean genre effort, there’s a lot to like with this one which continues the South Korean means of high-quality genre features. Those who appreciate this style overall, are curious about it, or enjoy this kind of modern genre effort will have the most to like here while most others out there not into these factors should heed caution.
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