‘Metamorphosis’ Trailer: A Fresh Take on Demonic Possession

June 30, 2020

The latest Shudder original looks like a fresh twist on the somewhat played-out demonic possession story. Ever since The Exorcist became a blockbuster in 1973, movies about demonic possession have been a dime a dozen, and more often than not, they’re all borrowing heavily from William Friedkin’s horror masterpiece. So whenever something in the same sub-genre that looks different comes along, it’s worth taking note. And that brings us to Metamorphosis.

Metamorphosis Trailer

In Metamorphosis, “Joong-Su, an exorcist, must face a demon he tragically failed to defeat in the past when it targets his brother’s family next. The demon assumes the form of different family members to sow confusion and distrust, destroying the unit from within. With his loved ones in peril, Joong-Su must face the demon again, at the risk of his own life.”

I like what I’m seeing here. For one thing, there’s a surprising amount of action (although that may be due to deceptive trailer editing). For another, Metamorphosis doesn’t seem entirely dependent on falling back on the same old tropes. Perhaps that’s because this is a South Korean film trying to do its own thing rather than adhere to tired Western tropes. I know that I’ll be thrilled if there are no scenes here where the possessed person starts shouting curse words. That’s a hoary cliche that’s pulled out again and again but it never works. The only reason it made an impact in The Exorcist was because the possessed person was a child, and thus not someone you’d expect to be saying such nasty stuff. The minute you try the same thing with an older character it fails.

Metamorphosis stars Bae Sung-Woo, Sung Dong-Il, and Jang Young-Nam, and was directed by Hong-Seon Kim. You can find it on Shudder July 2, which gives me yet another excuse to tell you how great Shudder is. If you’re a horror fan, this is a must-have service. Not only do they provide subscribers with classic horror titles, they also unleash plenty of newer films and original content as well. You really can’t go wrong. Unless you just flat-out hate the horror genre. In which case, uh…I guess we have nothing more to talk about.

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