In 2004, Banjong Pisanthanakun and then-collaborator Parkpoom Wongpoom kickstarted their directorial careers with “Shutter,” a supernatural thriller so effective it’s been remade (albeit to lesser effect) abroad three times to date. Less likely to translate that widely is Pisanthanakun’s latest solo effort, “The Medium.” Marking his return to straight horror after a couple romances and one more comedically slanted genre film (“Pee Mak”), this demonic possession saga is too thoroughly Thai in milieu and details to risk being just another derivative of “The Exorcist.”
Still, cultural specificity only brings so much freshness to an overlong tale that ultimately trades in too many familiar tropes, from the victim’s evil-grinning, black-gunk-spewing
hijinks to the deployment of a found-footage construct a la “Blair Witch.” There are perhaps too many ideas here, few of them novel, and none scary enough to keep these two-hours-plus taut. A watchable mixed bag that’s already been successful on home turf,...
Still, cultural specificity only brings so much freshness to an overlong tale that ultimately trades in too many familiar tropes, from the victim’s evil-grinning, black-gunk-spewing
hijinks to the deployment of a found-footage construct a la “Blair Witch.” There are perhaps too many ideas here, few of them novel, and none scary enough to keep these two-hours-plus taut. A watchable mixed bag that’s already been successful on home turf,...
- 10/14/2021
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
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