It's not the worst horror movie I've seen by a long shot, but it just doesn't work. 4/10
This is what happens when you try to make a movie about demon possession based around religious beliefs that don't account for the existence of demons. It just doesn't make sense. You can't have a demon possession without a demon, can you? Well they try to in this movie.
First off, we have a Buddhist monk proclaim, "There is no evil, only ignorance." Wow. I could write a thesis on the stupidity of this statement, but it's unnecessary for this. The movie centers around the spirit of an evil person lingering on and committing more evil. But I guess he's not evil, just ignorant? Nah. The monk's ignorant.
Second, because it's a bait and switch, you have logical disconnects between what's happened in the past and what's happening in the present. If it's a demon, the two can be related; if it's not, and it's just an evil man lingering on, the two being related makes zero sense. Oh, and again, he's not evil, just ignorant! That must be why he can kill and torture people from beyond the grave.
Finally, if you're going to use a non-Judeo-Christian faith to be the basis of your movie, and your plan is to sell it to a Western audience, you need to explain a bit of the belief system the movie is built around. Declaring, "There is no evil, only ignorance" does not sum up Buddhism, and even if it did, it doesn't make any sense in the context of what happens in this movie.
All that is to say nothing of the utter grossness of desiccated stillborn children being used as a focus for evil - oh, sorry, ignorant power.
Honestly some real wasted potential here, because it did some things really well and had some cool concepts. But the story doesn't make sense in the context of the "Buddhist philosophy" it's built around, and it ultimately falls flat (while proving the monk's line utterly false).
This is what happens when you try to make a movie about demon possession based around religious beliefs that don't account for the existence of demons. It just doesn't make sense. You can't have a demon possession without a demon, can you? Well they try to in this movie.
First off, we have a Buddhist monk proclaim, "There is no evil, only ignorance." Wow. I could write a thesis on the stupidity of this statement, but it's unnecessary for this. The movie centers around the spirit of an evil person lingering on and committing more evil. But I guess he's not evil, just ignorant? Nah. The monk's ignorant.
Second, because it's a bait and switch, you have logical disconnects between what's happened in the past and what's happening in the present. If it's a demon, the two can be related; if it's not, and it's just an evil man lingering on, the two being related makes zero sense. Oh, and again, he's not evil, just ignorant! That must be why he can kill and torture people from beyond the grave.
Finally, if you're going to use a non-Judeo-Christian faith to be the basis of your movie, and your plan is to sell it to a Western audience, you need to explain a bit of the belief system the movie is built around. Declaring, "There is no evil, only ignorance" does not sum up Buddhism, and even if it did, it doesn't make any sense in the context of what happens in this movie.
All that is to say nothing of the utter grossness of desiccated stillborn children being used as a focus for evil - oh, sorry, ignorant power.
Honestly some real wasted potential here, because it did some things really well and had some cool concepts. But the story doesn't make sense in the context of the "Buddhist philosophy" it's built around, and it ultimately falls flat (while proving the monk's line utterly false).