We Need More Shamans

When you wake up in the morning and park up in front of the mirror and you ask yourself, "who the fuck am I? I really can't be bothered going in to work today. Should I take the day off? Is one day really going to cure 20 plus years of trauma? What's the point?", remember that nobody cares, instead, say to yourself, "we need more shamans". When you grab your coat and make the bus in seconds flat, then the bus driver says it's no longer the £2 single and prices are going up, don't argue with the man. Tell him, "we need more shamans". When you get in to work and the boss is fuming because you're 14 minutes late, don't proceed to explain that it was all due to a crashed car on the route. Tell him, "we need more shamans"

When you're sitting in work bored out of your mind, wondering if going to the toilet for the fourth time that day to shave seconds off the hours will go unnoticed and your work mum begins making some joke about how you're clock watching again, don't laugh back. Tell her, "we need more shamans". When you finally finish work and you meet up with a few fellow victims of the rate race looking to break up the working week with the tremendous invention of the sauce, then the bar tender asks you what pint is to be today, sir, tell him, "we need more shamans". Announce it to the rest of the boozer so they can hear it from the beer garden, "we need more shamans! We need more shamans! We need more shamans!". When you're sitting staring in to the empty pint glass, unsure whether to make it the last and hit the hay or go on a bender well in to the next day, thinking maybe I need religion to fill the hole in my heart, now that is when you definitely say to yourself, "we need more shamans"

Practice this ritual for about a week and then you will be ready to read this review. Recently, I managed to catch a viewing The Medium over on Shudder. Not a perfect movie as it's let down by occasional moments wanting to appease American audiences who have come to expect those lousy crash bang wallop scenes as household objects slam in to the walls. As well as scenes of the possessed doing weird things at strange times during the night. All that may have been acceptable and novel back in 2007 but come on Paranormal Activity came out like 15 years ago, we don't need to be doing that shit any more. It's done. It's finished. Over. You may even question the full reasoning behind The Medium being a found footage movie. Despite, appreciating it's lo-fi aesthetic to counter The Boogeyman's unnecessary high production values and the unusual atmosphere it achieves with its pervy relationship between the camera man and subject. Wanting more of the scenes on the back of what you could call their buses. You will definitely laugh hysterically at the amount of times the main characters name is said. You may even find a new drinking game. How the film still comes out good after that silliness, I'm not sure.

Once you get past these flaws, you will find a solution to this dead genre does exist. The Pope's Exorcist may have found a temporary fix through unrelenting star power but The Medium presents the more permanent remedy. Those who haven't got the memo yet, it's that we need more shamans. Show me the shamans. I'm all about the shamans. Bye bye Benjamins.

I was less bothered by the traditional imagery of 'Mink' being possessed than I was the dreams she describes and the ceremonies she attends. No need to appease US audiences with what comes from their typical output, make this completely your own. That moment where you see the sacred statues decapitated head and the shaman weeping was powerful. This includes that scene where there's a Blair Witch like apology but it’s a crisis of faith. Give me this. Give me all of this. It's so refreshing and is way more horrifying than any tedious I'm possessed screaming, prattling about, dishing out your evil smile and pissing on the floor nonsense. Had a blast here getting lost in the Thai folklore and the use of location.

Come to think of it, I guess what we're talking about here with this shaman business is a desire for localised realism. Back in the '70s we got The Exorcist, a film which has been copied over and over but almost none of them have understood why that film has sustained its place in history for so long. They copy the act of the exorcisms and put huge emphasis on that as a spectacle but the images have become too familiar and I'm not sure where the Penderecki went. What you never see in the clones is the same detail to character and their beliefs to match the spectacle. There's no substance to the actions. Some of my favourite moments in The Exorcist arrive very early with Father Damian Karras going to pubs and seeing his mother, struggling to hold on to his faith. He's so fleshed out in a way that rarely happens now. With The Exorcist, we saw the perfect representation of the American priests and exorcists to the point it may never be beaten. They're so firmly established. Therefore, what we need to be doing is opening up the door to other cultures and seeing how they tackle the unknown.

Horror needs to tap in to these foreign cultures more to survive. Seeing the American view of life after death is becoming increasingly boring. The Medium is directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun, known to some for his Shutter film back in 2004. Sometimes lumped in with the Jhorrors accidentally due its similar atmosphere and set up but definitely on closer inspection the work of a Thai dude.

The Medium addresses Thai folklore but you could almost confuse it for being a South Korean horror. It is produced by Na Hong Jin, a South Korean master of exhilarating set pieces, quickly emerging as one of my favourite directors around. In 2008, he made Chasers, a film I recommend for those who adored Kim Jee-woon's I Saw the Devil. It's another fast paced thrill ride where guys are hot on each other's heels, sprinting after one another for the entire movie. Na Hong Jin's follow up, The Yellow Sea is even better, playing off like Hitchcock directing Jason Bourne. Foreign Correspondent with a violent modern edge.

Following his two stellar warm ups, Na Hong Jin cast his masterpiece out in to the world in 2016, The Wailing. My vote for the greatest horror film of the 2010s. Imagine it as horror done as an action heavy western epic where you are just completely blown away in the same way as watching a Christopher Nolan movie at the IMAX. Left me speechless, I came out unable to form a sentence or maintain standing upright. The legitimacy of Stendhal Syndrome has often been scrutinised but in the case of The Wailing, I was fucking Stenhal'd! 100% fugue state induced by the presence of art. Maybe Dario Argento was on to something there. I felt what he must have felt when ascending the steps of the Parthenon in Athens and entering a trance lasting several hours.

I mention The Wailing, a vastly superior film to The Medium, not only because of Na Hong Jin's producer credit, but because it showcases shamans too. There's a brutally exhausting sequence in The Wailing that goes on for what feels like an eternity. You have to see this on the biggest possible screen at the loudest possible volume. A laptop will not suffice. Under the correct conditions, you will have a near psychedelic and hallucinatory experience. Such chanting and metal clanging reminds you of an experimental rock concert. As though Jimi Hendrix re-emerged from the dead for Monterey Pop round 2 or Pink Floyd have been wheeled back in to Pompeii. Above all, it is an event to be seen. This is the direction the possession movie needs to take. Set the controls for the heart of the sun. We need to dance our way to death.

Has anyone ever seen Uncle Boonmee who can Recall his Past Lives? Came out back in 2010 from another Thai director by the name of Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Could even be one of the best films of all time. I need to make my peace with it because I don't really like the whole indie rock and rushed modernity thrown in to the picture during the final act. However, for the majority of the film, it is this 2001 meets La Jatee piece taking you through the death of film, the digital realms and lastly to Parinirvana. Although not an out and out horror, there are some haunting scenes of ghosts appearing at the dinner table, caves and ghost monkeys with eyes that will torment your dreams night after night. Our director believes in re-incarnation so takes you through the process cinematically. He believes both people and cinema can have multiple lives hence the meta film vs digital discussion and all Boonme's past lives intertwining.

We need to look back to Kobayashi's Kwaidan, then use more recent films such as The Medium, The Wailing and Uncle Boonmee who can Recall his Past Lives as a template to go forwards. Over in Japan, Koji Shiraishi is notorious for his found footage films covering the fantastical with Noroi: The Curse having had enough time to become something of a classic. I beg you, if you haven't seen it, you need to see his other film Occult. No other way of describing it but a Schraderesque found footage horror. Travis Bickle being led astray by unknown forces through symbols guiding him to commit acts of terrorism. There may even be a suicide vest in there.

There's a high energy and cultural specificity here when these shamans come to town and do their little rituals that the US can't match. Western audiences haven't seen anything like these of ceremonies either and I know I'm begging for more. It is the future of possession movies if they are to continue. Reminds me a little of action movies as the foreign market, in particular Asia, has thrived on Hollywood's inability to train martial arts stars, keeping them one step ahead of the competition. Even the odd Keanu Reeves, Scott Adkins or Chuck Norris can't stop them. No matter what level of training, they will always be the best at the raw fighting because it's in their blood.

Shamanic rituals is where they can be leagues ahead in the horror genre if that becomes their main priority. National identity at the forefront. Wasn't this always the defence of genre cinema? In that it allows you to really see the differences of how each country handles specific situations? You learn the situations and then witness them dealt with differently due to cultural contrasts. I've got no time for bland wishy washy drama, show me your definition of honour and your beliefs through action and suspense or get out. This is what it's all about. This is unexplored territory. Cinema is about connecting with other cultures, showing what hasn't been shown and all for a cheaper price than a plane ticket. If all this be true, I am here to learn what beliefs these mad bastards have. Invitation to blow my head off. Due to the sheer number of religions out there, this could take ages before it gets old. There's so many Asian countries that haven't really made horror films that we could be hearing from. Kelly has summoned you. Show me your rituals. Unleash your shamans!

Director: Banjong Pisanthanakun

Screenplay: Na Hong-Jin, Banjong Pisanthankun

Starring: Narilya Gulmongkolp, Sawanee Utooma, Yasaka Chaisorn

Cinematography: Naruphol Chokanapitak

Music: Chatchai Ponhprapaphan

Production company: GDH 559, Showbox

Distribution: GDH 559, Showbox

Country: Thailand, South Korea

Run Time: 130 Mins

Budget: Unknown

Plot Synopsis: A local girl called Mink from the Isan region of Thailand has become possessed. Call the shaman.

Bonus Points:

-Mink just being a fucking liability and going rogue every 5 minutes

-The sleazy camera man who never stops filming even when he should probably put the camera down at help Mink

-The atmosphere generated through location, found footage and its unusually long length

-Adding the growing canon of shaman cinema

Overall Score: 4/5