Text: Seapark
In today’s horror series, "Calling the Soul" is undoubtedly a golden sign. This series developed by the great director of horror films, Wen Ziren, is based on gimmicks adapted from real cases. It has been previously launched under the name "Soul-Calling Universe". He wrote six works, including two original biography of "Calling the Soul" directed by Wen Ziren himself, three "Annabel" trilogy directed by others, and a rather bad evaluation of "Ghost Sister". In June of this year, the series of orthodox sequel "Call of Souls 3" finally returned. This time, although the actor and actress Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga continued to star, the director's chair was no longer the well-known Wen Ziren. , Switched to the post-95 rookie director Michael Chavez, which seems to have become a signal that the department is going downhill.
The story of the movie takes place in 1981, four years after the second episode. The Warrens performed an exorcism for the eight-year-old boy David, but in the end the demon was possessed by David's brother Ani. The possessed Ani killed his landlord and went to jail. The Warrens persuaded the lawyers to plead not guilty with Arnie being possessed by the devil. At the same time, began investigating the origin of the possessed demon. They discovered that this was not a simple supernatural event, but an evil ritual performed by premeditated Satanic cultists...
"Soul Recruitment 3" is still adapted from a true story. This time it is the Arnie Johnson trial that made the real Warrens famous. The English subtitle of the film is "Devil Made Me Do It". It is also the most well-known defense in this trial. In 1982, the second year after the trial, it was changed by NBC into the TV movie "The Demon Murder Case" (The Demon Murder Case) starring Kevin Bacon. In 2006, the episode "Where Demons Dwell" in the second season of the Discovery Channel series of documentary "A Haunting" (Where Demons Dwell) also interviewed the parties involved in the incident, including Arnie and Lorraine, but only for curiosity. Mainly, it mainly tells the story of possession, not even involving the murder case. This film is the third time this incident has been adapted by video.
Audiences familiar with the "Call of Souls" series should understand that Lorin Warren, the prototype character of the heroine played by Vera Farmiga, has always been the film consultant of the "Call of Souls" series. It is also because of her participation that this series has A lot of real historical texture. In 2019, Lorraine Warren passed away at the age of 92, making "Call of Souls 3" the only "Call of Souls" film without her formal participation.
The Warrens are controversial figures in history. When they were alive, they were considered by many to be ghosts. Their ghost theory is not supported by substantive evidence. They are more enthusiastic than doing research. The novels and movies that Yu walks through holes and develops his own stories are more like entertaining scientists who rely on supernatural beings to get out of the circle. Regarding Arnie Johnson’s trial, there have been many first-hand records in history. The case was a news sensation at the time. Later, Lorraine assisted Gerald Breiteer in writing this incident into reportage. "The Devil in Connecticut" (The Devil in Connecticut), this book has been a sensation back then, but it has also led to many lawsuits involving the parties who said they were inconsistent with the facts.
It may be the addition of Lorraine. Although the first two episodes of the movie are still outrageous in comparison with reality, at least most of the details are in line with Lorraine’s own description. The plot in the film is also well-documented in Lorraine’s book. . This combination of virtuality and reality has made the "Call for Souls" series. Subtitles are used extensively in the movie to explain the historical background, and the half-truth plot combined with real characters and locations makes the entire "spiritual" universe closer to us in an instant.
But at the same time, the "calling souls" universe is a sense of distance from modern audiences. It sets the time in the pre-information explosion period of the 1970s and 1980s. Without mobile phones and Internet, people are still full of fear of the unknown. In addition, Wen Ziren is careful The faint yellow tone of debugging and nostalgic setting will take the audience into another not-so-distant fantasy time and space in one second. It can be said that the "calling souls" universe is Jin Yong's novels in horror films. You know that the stories it tells are surreal, but placed in a real and slightly distant historical environment, it will still immerse the audience in it and be willing to take the initiative to believe in the creator's artistic processing.
But it is also the boundary between real and fiction that is the most difficult to control. For the first time, "Soul Recruitment 3" has no Lorraine's supervision and Wen Ziren's helm. It is replaced by a new director. From one aspect, fresh blood is added and the creative freedom is higher, but from another aspect , It is also possible to free yourself completely, making the story more and more divorced from reality. Judging from the final filming of "Call of Souls 3", it can only be said that the new director Chavez did not grasp the scale.
When watching the trailer, many viewers will think that this episode is a story about a court trial, but in fact, the real history only lasts until the opening of the court, and then the Warrens investigate the behind-the-scenes, and the part of Satanism worship is completely It is the self-exertion of the director, which has no basis in history. This also makes the whole film a combination of a small part of reality and a large part of fiction, almost completely out of the usual practice of the series.
Although there are still traditional plots such as the devil possessing, the biggest change that Chavez made to the series is actually changing the theme of the haunted house, which Wen Ziren is good at, into a new cult theme. If the villain in the first two episodes is still a monster , Then the protagonist in this episode is facing a human being of flesh and blood.
Wen Ziren's choice of haunted houses is not accidental. He is good at using lenses to show the complex deconstruction of the house. He is also good at using space to create a horrible atmosphere, and then using lights to construct dark corners to hide the horror in it. In the first episode, the constantly extinguished matches in the basement are the most intuitive embodiment of its exquisite design. The house should be a warm haven, but at the same time it is also a building with an unknown history. We cannot understand the past of an old house, nor can we easily abandon the "home" built by ourselves. This contradiction makes the haunted house natural Full of conflict. In fact, the monster in Wen Ziren's haunted house movie is actually the house itself.
But in "Calling the Souls 3", the protagonist moved into the room and slowly laid the groundwork for abnormalities. The story routine that eventually broke out was abandoned, and the climax of exorcism was entered from the beginning. Until Arnie kills, the first act constituted actually advances the third act of the first two episodes. After Lorraine found the cursed props under the house, the story entered the second act, turning from the haunted house to the suspenseful drama. Arnie is imprisoned, the story almost no longer takes place in the mansion, into the forest, the city and the morgue, the protagonists no longer fight the devil, but try to find a man who controls everything.
However, the "Call of Souls" series is not "Sherlock Holmes", and the reasoning suspense is not the strong point of Chavez, who was born in visual effects. In the end, it only relied on simple railways and the sound of water to determine the location of the Satan altar and ended in a hurry. From beginning to end, there is almost no introduction to the villain’s motives and character history. She just wants to create chaos, and there is no other reason for committing the crime. For the audience, this explanation is far from enough.
In the first two episodes, what is really impressive is not only the horror scenes, but also the rich layering brought by Wen Ziren's elaborate side plots and bizarre monster shapes. In the first episode, interspersed with the Warren’s basement and the Annabelle doll's secondary line; in the second episode, Lorraine explores the past of the ghost nun story, and finally combines with the main line, with an impressive structure. But in this episode, the villain’s motive is unknown, and the monster is almost completely absent. We only know that the villain has summoned the devil, but the audience knows almost nothing about the background and appearance of the devil. This is not only a laziness in the screenwriting and visual design. , Also greatly weakened the impact on the audience.
The deep-seated reason for this weakening of the plot and creativity is also attributed to the production level. In the third episode of the series, streaming media distribution has become dominant, which undoubtedly caused the production company New Line and Warner to reduce the investment in the film, and let this series once again return to low-cost B-level production. Instead of adding a lot of special effects like the previous two episodes, this episode is better to choose a cheaper director, and the script is also closer to simpler suspense. The only guarantee is the return of the two leading actors, so that the audience can continue to believe that this is an orthodox sequel movie.
This is also a common problem faced by many horror film sequels today. "Ghost Invasion 2," "The Shining 2," "Silent Place 2" and "Saw Cry 9" cannot continue the high reputation of the series, even in The cost must also be discounted. After all, no matter how good an idea is, it cannot withstand repeated repetition. It is actually very difficult to maintain the novelty of the audience in the series. After Wen Ziren led a wave of A-level production of horror films, he realized the scarcity of good ideas and the inability to replicate successful models, so he lowered the requirements and just wanted to squeeze a little more surplus value.
However, this episode directed by Chavez is not useless. At least he managed to sublimate the Warren couple's love. The whole movie was also designed to be a huge test of the love between the two. Let the audience find the "sugar" they want in familiar roles. The scene in the flashback where the two met in the movie theater when they were young is almost completely loyal to the original story of the characters. The details of the lines also reflect their deep love. There is a little stalk that is not easy to find, but it makes people smile. Lorraine joked that she had seen both a living Elvis and a dead Elvis. The "Elvis" here may not refer to the real singer "Elvis", but Ed., who plays the guitar and sings the Elvis song "Can't help falling in love with you" in "The Conjuration 2". Warren. Once you think of this, it can be said to be a burst of sweetness.
In the new crown era, people have seen the real hell on earth. Horror movies are actually far less shocking than the small videos circulating on the Internet. People are more and more suspicious of their internal logic, and they are more and more tired of repeated jump scares. . The horror films that have been successful in recent years, such as "Witch", "Inheritance of Doom", "We" and "Lighthouse" have actually entered the category of art films, and traditional horror films are destined to belong to only a small group of people in the future. The evil taste. In the foreseeable future, this genre will definitely become less costly and more Internet-based, and become the title party and gimmick movie that Netflix and HBO MAX continue to mass produce. Breaking away from the mainstream and returning to the b-level is the true destination of this type of traditional film.
(Originally contained in Iris)
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