Yet another in a string of impressive and highly-enjoyable genre efforts from Taiwan, “Incantation” carries on the impressive tradition of the emerging talent in the country in a way that speaks incredibly well to several factors. Not only is it a sign that the country's genre output is starting to get noticed by the community at large but their showings have earned a place of pride amongst the mainstream providers of content for the masses as demonstrated by the premiere of Kevin Ko's latest film now streaming on Netflix.
Deciding to upload a new video, filmmaker Li Ronan (Tsai Hsuan-yen) looks to use the opportunity to reconnect with her daughter Dodo (Huang Sing-ting) after being under the care of a psychiatrist for years. Eventually she realizes that her bizarre and off-beat behavior is the result of a trip she, her boyfriend Dom (Sean Lin) and their friend Yuan (Wen Ching-yu) underwent years ago that inadvertently ignored and offended a religious deity which spurns a deadly curse to be enacted upon her and her family. Understanding how the curse works and how to stop it, she races to ensure the safety of herself and her daughter before they come to pass.
One of the more enjoyable aspects here comes from the intriguing and entertaining setup by writers Ko and Chang Che-wei that seeks to utilize a slightly obscure series of intentions to generate its scares. While operating within clearly-defined fields, with the traditional series of scares and hauntings that it's building off of, the central crux of the storyline being presented through the implementation of a curse carries some weight here. There's a healthy backstory in place for the occult practices in place, ranging from the elaborate altar area and strict adherence to customs while in the village provides a fine grounding for the spiritual beliefs in place. Knowing full well that the locals forbid them from performing certain actions yet doing so anyway, allows for a more fitting backdrop as to why it gets unleashed and follows them around which definitely adds a darker dimension to the second half. This is where the curse takes hold and the frantic nature of the villagers' actions toward Ronan, Dom and Yuan becomes increasingly more chilling. It's all generally enjoyable enough to keep the film engaging for a fun time alongside its running time.
That serves well here in getting to “Incantation's” best feature in the numerous supernatural antics. While some of the tricks and gags on display are nothing new to the J-Horror scene, including voices crying out in the distance, an unresponsive attitude from Dodo who contorts her body unnaturally, her insistence on a playmate no one else can see, and even doors slamming shut in front of witnesses, others are quite fun. The scenes involving the serious illness and strange body marks that start appearing on Dodo's classmates start hinting that something creepy is happening to those around her. Footage of demonic activity occurring in the house or candid sequences of the public engaging in destructive acts of suicide around others showcase the strength and power of the narrative. As well, these also offer up some impressive visuals along the way which increases the brutality of the curse in fine form. That all provides the grounding for the frantic and frenzied finale that manages to tie together both of these aspects, with the sequences in the village showing the group encountering the truth behind the curse bringing the religious aspects together with some fine moments of brutality. That this is all in service of a spectacular twist that comes off incredibly well, gives everything a much darker bent and has quite a lot to enjoy.
There isn't much wrong with “Incantation” but there are some slight factors. The biggest one stems from the aforementioned usage of cliched motifs and ideas that are overutilized in most other genre fare in this style. The use of numerous repeated tactics that range from the sudden shock-jumps of something appearing behind someone or a loud crashing bang accompanying an object acting unnaturally without warning, carries through quite a lot of the first half. Even the theme and central topic of the curse originating through the recklessness Ronan and her crew display while investigating the ceremonial ritual is all highly uninspired and doesn't do much to separate itself from a slew of similar films. Another factor is the obviously unnecessary found-footage format presented, offering very little in terms of obvious need as for why it was utilized. On top of that, so many of the usual debilitating factors come about from featuring the format. These include headache-inducing shaking camera movements, obscured vision by ducking behind objects at the wrong moment, or being carried along at moments that should hinder a person's natural ability to preserve their life. So much of the final half really should not be filmed with their lives in that much danger yet the constant need to retreat back to grab the camera comes with the territory.
A highly enjoyable if somewhat flawed found-footage feature, “Incantation” offers quite a lot of likable factors but manages to feature a few drawbacks that keep it from the highest reaches of the genre. Fans of Asian horror cinema or curious about it due to its reputation will enjoy it.
