Directed by Antonio Negret and written by Daniel Negret (Merger), Shaman is a demonic possession movie with a bit of a difference. I personally love the demonic possession subgenre of horror films, and despite a bit of a limp start, this one really came into its own from the second act onwards.
Candice (Sara Canning - War for the Planet of the Apes) and her husband Joel (Daniel Gillies - Coming Home in the Dark) are missionaries helping to spread the word of God to an Indigenous community in rural Ecuador. One day their teenage son, Elliot (Jett Klyne - Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, The Boy) enters a local cave that the locals are for some reason keen to avoid, due to having accidentally lost something in there. From that point on, Elliot begins to exhibit disturbing behaviour, with it looking increasingly likely that he has become possessed by some demonic force. Candice, refusing the aid of the local shaman (Lisandro Morales), is convinced that only her God has the power to cure the boy of his affliction, but it might turn out that isn't the case.
To begin with I wasn't that impressed. I thought this had a slow start to it, with meandering scenes that did little to draw me into the story. I thought the location used was neat, being the first Ecuador based horror film I have yet to see (as far as I can recall). The protagonists are all a flawed bunch, with Candice and Joel in particular really being brought down a peg from the dreamy opening in which Candice is leading her new flock of Christians in perfect harmony. Gillies had a more slight role here than Canning did, but he delighted much as he did in other films I have seen him in. Elliot was a plain and uninteresting character but it turns out he became a lot more fun when possessed. Klyne gave a good turn as the demonic force inhabiting the body of the teenager even if sometimes what happens with him is a bit unoriginal. The boy speaks with an artificially altered growling voice, and often has black veins running down his pale face. He does all the usual demonic possession tropes such as being able to see people's darkest secrets, able to alter the perception of objects, and is able to kill people with the power of his mind.
It was a nice change that the typical Catholic exorcist idea doesn't work in this picture. When the local priest attempts to exorcise Elliot at around the movie's halfway mark it was clear that it wouldn't go according to plan. The clue is hidden in plain sight in the title that it will take the work of a shaman to maybe resolve the plotline. Along the way there is a small body count and some cool scenes. The typical exorcism scene you get in movies made for a great sequence, including some great lines (such as Elliot roaring "I am older than Christ!"), and there are some good special effects mixed in with the occasional bit of CG. One part where the boy is vomiting teeth and black goo looked cool for instance.
The slow opening act leads into much more exciting further acts, where the slow burn continues, but is mixed up with many scenes of horror.
I didn't expect to like Shaman too much but it did seem to improve steadily over the course of its near hundred minute run time. The setting was memorable, and while it doesn't throw too many surprises with its story, it was well executed with good editing and cinematography. A stark and often bleak movie, but one that I thought was a decent bit of genre horror. Shaman had its world premiere at the 2024 Austin Film Festival on October 25th. It is due to have a second screening on October 29th at 15:30 at Galaxy Theater 9.
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