There's someone here right now... “Astral” poses a mystery: how the film, which by the standards of the genre there is nothing radically new, was able to scare film critics?
Of course, the weaknesses of the film will not answer this question. For example, the ideological core of the film in the form of the theory of astral projections, rewritten from the words of the medium on paper, will seem rarely boring and confusing reading like a lecture on quantum mechanics. As if anticipating this, James Wan devotes a tiny portion of screen time to explanations. Yes, and the mechanics of the fight against astral monsters hardly worried the director: it is painfully conditional plot coupling look these scenes with strong-willed cries “I am not afraid of you!”
“Astral” does not shine with opportunities for demonstrating acting abilities and talents. James Wan, for his own purposes, prefers to cut off dialogues, break monologues, not lingering long on any of the characters. The camera seems to be constantly scanning the space, suddenly finding something interesting in a conversation, then in a child’s drawing, then in the corner of the room.
This dynamic tells the viewer: the most interesting thing is happening right here! Probably, to achieve this effect “do not step away from the screen” requires remarkable skill of the director and his intuition, suggesting that in five seconds the audience will begin to get bored.
And when, according to all canons of the genre, noise begins, panic and the alarm goes on, Wang interrupts it a little earlier than he should, filling the auditory space with dead silence. With this approach, the usual absence of sounds remains in the memory of the audience longer than something that was imagined on a dark night.
Very close to the place came the images of two ghost hunters, in one of which you can see the screenwriter of the picture Lee Wannell. He said the characters were not meant to be comedic. But in the constant tension created by Wang, two strange guys with the appearance of engineers, do not fit into the context of what is expected next, very soon defuse the situation. In this effect, you can see confirmation of the idea that horror and comedy, which essentially appeal to the intense emotions of the viewer, are different facets of the same object. And how else to explain the laughter of some horror lovers when watching scenes of torture porn.
A separate plus to the filmmakers is for creating an original universe, where more than strange creatures penetrate into ordinary houses without any dark past, and the astral world itself is a very crooked mirror of reality that evokes associations with a real hell filled with amazingly lifeless souls.
8 out of 10
Original