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The Butterfly
Tornado Alley
This review may contain spoilers
Ghost Sweepers aka Fortune Tellers was a frenetic mish-mash of half told stories and back stories labeled as a ghost comedy. Whether you find it funny will depend on how much you enjoy slapstick hammy humor and acting. It looked extremely low budget and low tech and hasn't aged well.
A wealthy woman who wants to develop a small seaside town invites 50 shamans to rid the place of a malevolent ghost who has killed 87 people over the last 50 years. Once the shamans arrive, they are attacked by a vicious spirit and most hightail it out of town. The five remaining shamans include---a scientific ghost buster, a young woman who can see the past, a small boy who can see the future, a Buddhist monk who can see the spiritual world with his mystical eye, and a shady shaman who uses his abilities to become rich. Along for the ride is a reporter in trouble with her boss whose father died in the town years ago. The local fishermen work for the ghost, a ghost who is protecting a Japanese treasure on the sea floor.
The movie started out promising by introducing the characters and their abilities. Unfortunately, the female shaman and the school age boy had little to do in the movie and they had potential. One of the five was cut down early, which was too bad, he was one of the most interesting of the characters. In their throw everything at the wall and see if it sticks mode, the story included an estranged father and son. One of the problems being that in real life the actors were only 14 years apart. A father and daughter separated by a mysterious death had a couple of side stories. None of the "emotional" backstories were delved into but took up time in a too long movie. The biggest problem I had with the movie was the female lead. Kang Ye Won overacted and the character was written as illogical, childish, and annoying. She and the shady shaman were given the lion's share of the screen time along with the ghost buster. I enjoy Lee Je Hoon's acting but his character felt underdeveloped.
No part of the movie was polished-the story, acting, or CGI. At times it almost felt like a high school play where they were making up it up as they went along. There were parts of it that were entertaining and if a competent enough hand could have brought the circus under control it could have been quite a good little ghost movie. As it was, I struggled to finish it little caring who made it out alive, which I'm sure the little boy could have foretold if he had been given enough screen time.
10/2/23
A wealthy woman who wants to develop a small seaside town invites 50 shamans to rid the place of a malevolent ghost who has killed 87 people over the last 50 years. Once the shamans arrive, they are attacked by a vicious spirit and most hightail it out of town. The five remaining shamans include---a scientific ghost buster, a young woman who can see the past, a small boy who can see the future, a Buddhist monk who can see the spiritual world with his mystical eye, and a shady shaman who uses his abilities to become rich. Along for the ride is a reporter in trouble with her boss whose father died in the town years ago. The local fishermen work for the ghost, a ghost who is protecting a Japanese treasure on the sea floor.
The movie started out promising by introducing the characters and their abilities. Unfortunately, the female shaman and the school age boy had little to do in the movie and they had potential. One of the five was cut down early, which was too bad, he was one of the most interesting of the characters. In their throw everything at the wall and see if it sticks mode, the story included an estranged father and son. One of the problems being that in real life the actors were only 14 years apart. A father and daughter separated by a mysterious death had a couple of side stories. None of the "emotional" backstories were delved into but took up time in a too long movie. The biggest problem I had with the movie was the female lead. Kang Ye Won overacted and the character was written as illogical, childish, and annoying. She and the shady shaman were given the lion's share of the screen time along with the ghost buster. I enjoy Lee Je Hoon's acting but his character felt underdeveloped.
No part of the movie was polished-the story, acting, or CGI. At times it almost felt like a high school play where they were making up it up as they went along. There were parts of it that were entertaining and if a competent enough hand could have brought the circus under control it could have been quite a good little ghost movie. As it was, I struggled to finish it little caring who made it out alive, which I'm sure the little boy could have foretold if he had been given enough screen time.
10/2/23
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