Director: Jang Jae-hyun
Year: 2015
Country: South Korea
Alternate Titles: Geomeun sajadeul
Genre: Exorcism
Plot:
After a series of strange incidents, a priest finds that a potential religious order confirming the use of exorcisms would be ideal to stop the rising number of cases in the country, forcing him to turn to others in the church to help him perform a crucial exorcism to stem the tide in the conflict.
Review:
Overall, this was a pretty solid if somewhat flawed genre effort. Among the better aspects to be had with this one is the strong setup that allows for this one to serve the genre rather nicely. The idea of the whole thing slowly setting up what the purpose of their appearance and need for exorcism training as the series of battles that are to take place due to the series of interactions that take place, threatening to reveal the truth about demonic influence attempting to take over the world, starts this incredibly well. By taking an in-depth look at the nature of what they’re going through and how the proper procedure must be followed so that they can go through with the rite of exorcism, there’s quite a heavy backload of information that points to how there’s a need for the group to come together to handle the series of cases springing up around the country that require their services. It gives us just enough of their backstory and mission to stop the creatures, as the whole setup to this one comes together nicely enough.
The other big factor to be had with this one is the main exorcism that tends to take place as pretty much the entirety of the third act. As we’ve spent the entire time building up to the idea of the procedure being necessary and the proper preparations for what they’re going to attempt, the setup starts paying off once they arrive at the house to start the final exorcism that hits all the notes necessary for one of these kinds of movies. Going for the cracked-sin, ashen-toned, blank-eyed demonic figures leaping around the room, spouting profanity-laden epithets directed at the priests who stand around chanting at the possessed being in Latin about the Holy word of God, it creates a series of formulaic but no less interesting or enjoyable setpieces that bring about the fight for the innocents’ soul that’s at the center of the film. These multiple scenes are quite typical of what’s to be expected in these kinds of films, and with a full-on glossy look of everything, they combine together to give this a lot to like.
There are some issues holding this one down. The main drawback with this one is the sluggish pacing that tends to take far too long for something to happen. The entire first hour or so of the film is spent on the priests running around endlessly turning around the city looking for answers to how the different factors are coming together to signal the need for their services, looking into the past signs that show possession is occurring, and gathering up the necessary materials for the next exorcism, basically keeping this from doing anything with the more intense material present in the storyline. Far too much of the film is spent on this aspect of the story, which ends up being so overlong that it feels quite bland by the time it starts getting more urgent and intense. That these scenes are based more on the cliche notion of how to properly perform a ritualistic exorcism makes these scenes rather familiar and redundant with how it plays out, which is enough to hold this down.
Overview: ***/5
An enjoyable if somewhat by-the-numbers genre effort, there’s enough to like here that it manages to make for a likable enough entry in the genre with enough flaws to keep it down. Those with an interest in the genre or who don’t mind the drawbacks featured here will have the most to like, while most others out there turned off by the style or approach will want to heed caution.
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