Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning
review by Bobby Blakey
Some of the best animated features come out of Asia with Ne Zha II being the highest grossing animated film. The latest animated feature coming out of South Korea is Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning is an adult horror action film based on the novel Toemarok. The film features the voices of Choi Han, Nam Doh-hyeong, Jung Yoo-jung, and Kim Yeon-woo from director Kim Dong-chul. Could this film bring something fresh to the exorcism horror genre, or will it fail to send the demons back to hell?
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Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning follows a monk and an excommunicated priest who join forces to protect a powerful young boy and the next generation of magic when a demonic uprising threatens to end the world as they know it. As dark forces close in, the unlikely trio must confront their inner demons.
I was intrigued with the idea here of not only getting this animated horror film, but being from Korea knew it had the potential of going all in should they go for it. For the most part they packed some interesting directions and horror elements, but instead of the full-on horror that I hoped for it does fall more in the vein of an anime on some level without trying to be. This isn’t a bad thing but was rooting for something a lot more rooted in the horror and violence of the genre.
The story is simple enough with a quick set up and although doesn’t initially give us much to work with on the characters, it sprinkles enough throughout to give them some depth. I would have liked it to spend a bit more time on the front end to get us more invested in them as opposed to dragging out some of the later elements that didn’t really need it. As I mentioned it does drag at times in between the cool stuff with things that didn’t feel overly important or really drive the narrative, but nothing that I think hurt the finished film.
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I love the blending of cultures for the priests in the battle against the evil here with each getting their own way of doing things that created an Avengers of sorts for the team without getting hokey. The character designs were all cool with the lead being a buff and gruff priest and the rest straight out of a wuxia film and kicking some major butt with their various abilities. Accepting the film is more this than the horror you might be expecting helps it to succeed more than it might otherwise.
The animation might not work for everyone, but I found myself getting pulled in after a bit. It reminded me of a cross between the more recent Marvel What If? style mixed with a sprinkle of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and a painted color palate that set it apart while being familiar. This style also lent itself perfectly to the demons that they bring forth that are spectacular in design and execution in the action parts. This animated style for this sort of story does allow them to go bigger and crazier than in live action but wish they had delved more into the gore and terror as opposed to the superpowers.
Despite its flaws I still enjoyed it quite a bit and hope this is literally just the beginning as I think there are makings of a fun series here should they choose to move forward. It won’t work for everyone, but if you are into anime, horror, martial arts or just animation then give it a shot.
Check out Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning in theaters now from Viva Pictures.