FANCYING itself as Thailand’s answer to The Exorcist or Evil Dead, Death Whisperer is just your bog standard awkward Asian horror.
Directed by Taweewat Wantha, this tiresome film is formulaic, clichéd, and overstays its welcome like an unexpected visit from the mother-in-law.
Adapted from the novel Tee Yod… A Distant Voice Wails Madly by Krittanont, this absolute shambles is poorly acted, lacks suspense or atmosphere, and for the most part is totally lifeless.
In the film’s more thrilling scenes, which are few and far between, Sam Raimi is a clear influence, but it lacks structure, depth, and a sense of humour.
Wantha’s film, now streaming on Netflix, wouldn’t be so painful if it didn’t take itself so seriously. The cast is wooden and the whole things seems nothing more than a vessel on which to build hunky leading man Nadech Kugimiya’s career around.
When a remote village is plagued by a deadly curse, Yak (Kugimiya) must fight to save his family from a bloodthirsty spirit.
Based on true events, the story is set around a rural farming family who find themselves under supernatural threat when second eldest daughter Yam (Rattanawadee Wontong) begins to act strange.
Things are really slow to get off the ground, and, when they do, they escalate quickly, but by that point I was already struggling to stick with it. There’s a couple of gory scenes, even one or two chilling encounters worthy of Mr Raimi himself, but there’s more wailing and squawking than anything else.
I thought Death Whisperer would never end. It is excruciating and rather banal. But what do I know?
The film was a blockbuster smash in Thailand. So much so that a sequel is due for release by the end of the year. I will certainly be giving that a miss.
Despite some half decent effects, this one drags like overtime on a Monday night.
(2/5)
