Incantation

Incantation

Inspired by a true story of a family who believed they were possessed by spirits, this film follows a woman who must protect her child from a curse. WARNING: This is a cursed video, it might contain certain risks to watch. For those who dares to follow, please solve the puzzle of my daughter's curse with me.

  • Released:
  • Runtime: 120 minutes
  • Genre: Horror
  • Stars: Hsuan-yen Tsai, Kao Ying-Hsuan, Sin-Ting Huang, Sean Lin, Wen Ching-Yu, Queenie Chen, Yi Peng
  • Director: Kevin Ko
 Comments
  • lmathc - 22 February 2024
    Interesting Concept, Poor Execution
    Incantation had the potential to be great, and the earmarks of a great horror movie were present in the first five minutes: a creepy score, unsettling imagery, and the unique application of optical illusions, as well as legitimate audience participation. Sadly, the film wasn't quite able to capitalize.

    Incantation's major downfalls can be found in its overuse of what can only be referred to as horror cliches. These include but are not limited to telegraphed jump scares, nonsensical character decisions for the sake of advancing the plot, and excessive "found footage" that heavily strains believability. When done well, a found footage film can be one of the most immersive horror experiences, but when characters consistently film themselves in ways that make no sense and actually become detrimental, the film tends to break the suspension of disbelief. Incantation is a particularly bad offender in this category, and frequently has protagonists waste valuable time reaching for the camera or aiming it to get a good shot rather than do literally anything more logical.

    Upsides? The concept is fascinating, and the aforementioned mechanic of audience participation is implemented in a clever way. There are some genuinely haunting visuals that are absolutely not for the faint of heart, and the sound design and score of the film do a fine job of creating a creepy atmosphere when they aren't screaming at the audience to prepare for a jumpscare.

    Overall, Incantation is a technically competent found footage film that fails to rise above mediocre in most aspects, but it's good enough for a single watch.
  • lethradir - 3 September 2023
    Total waste of time
    Supposed to be THE most horrifying, as I was told by a friend of mine,who claimed "it took the bejesus out of" him..promoted as such by Netflix (which ,to be honest,has lost any credibility long time now)! Nah...nothing even remotely scary or even in the slightest mood for it.."Ringu" , "Ju on" , etc gave us such moments ages ago.

    BUT NOT HERE..without "telling" anything about plot twists (do they even exist in this film?) , I could sum up to a single phrase: this could be a perfect cinematic advertisement - paid by,uhh the Government maybe?- about birth control, 20something nerds NOT breaking generations of horrendous superstitions,or crashing "family-only labeled" seances.

    Well,the one positive is the movie running to its end..and that' s that 😉😊
  • tnrthai - 12 March 2023
    As being expected
    Incantation is a great horror ritual movie for this generation. The story starts with the main character, Li Ruonan, breaking a taboo six years previously. She and those close to her were cursed and harmed by the spirit till they tragically died. Li Ruonan and her companions Yuan and Dom visit their family, who worship a certain culture, and are supposed to chant "Hou hou xiu yi, si sei wu ma," which means to "I give my name and identity to your majesty and please die for it." This is where the curse all begins. The horrific stories of how the spirit took control of her family and friends show them beginning to injure themselves horribly and repeating the phrase till they passed away. This movie, in my opinion, engages in a lot of psychological play because it addresses phobia and includes an explicit representation. For instance, the strangely large number of teeth that appear in a mouth, the blood, and some disgustingly numerous worms. Also, the movie's shaking camera in certain scenes effectively conveys fright and mystery, and the suburban setting supports the mystical theme of the film. The heartwarming scene is nice, and the terrifying part looks really good as well. In the end, Li Ruonan's mother makes a self sacrifice for her daughter in order to protect her from the demon in the future.

    I want to suggest this movie to someone who wants to see a movie with friends and is looking for a wonderful product that has a good setting, a decent story, and the idea of a horror ritual.
  • thatgiythosethat - 13 October 2022
    i can definitely see why some people genuinely got scared
    Some of my friends know me for being that guy who does not get scared at horror movies. So because of that some of them came up to me saying how this was "the scariest movie that they've ever seen" and "oh this one is definitely gonna scare you". And tbh i see why. The movie make many attempts to build tension, i mean like many. And for the most part i can see how it would get people to feel unsettled or uncomfortable with what's going on in the movie.

    I liked the movie a lot if you couldn't tell from the high ratings. I did catch my self a couple times getting like really into it but honestly it was nothing i haven't seen before. The movie was still fun with big climaxes and tones of scares that even got me to jump. Really enjoyed it. One thing i will say is so not watch it in dubbed. It sounds terrible, just suck it up and read some subtitles. Trust me it makes the movie 100% times better.
  • jack_o_hasanov_imdb - 4 September 2022
    Trypophobia
    It wasn't a bad movie. I understand that there are many people who liked it, but I watched a lot of movies like this. I was't alienated. It was very interesting that it was a Taiwanese movie. But its subject, shooting style, sound design, scaring with sound, jump scare and etc. Things like this exist in all Turkish djinn horror movies. I used to watch a lot of horror movies when I was in college. At the same time, I watched a lot of Turkish djinn horror movies. It was a little different from the "Dabbe" movies. It's a ok movie, but not for everyone. I was told that the last scene was very scary, frankly, it wasn't very scary for me. It is very difficult for those with a fear of trypophobia.
  • harmasannakaisa - 13 August 2022
    Loved it!
    I was suprised how much i liked it. I enjoyed every moment of this movie and it had some really awesome details in it. Best horror movie i have seen in a long time.