10 Recent Horror Movies Which Broke The Fourth Wall To Scare You
2. Incantation
Written and directed by Kevin Ko (who co-wrote it with Chang Che-wei), Incantation made waves in Taiwan in early 2022, becoming the highest grossing horror film from the island as well as the top earner for the year of its release. It is a solid atmospheric ritual horror story with strong performances, sharp use of religious and folk imagery and a memorable ending that unfortunately does not quite accomplish its lofty ambitions.
The film kicks things off by inviting viewers to take part in the supernatural events by praying alongside its protagonist Li Ronan (Tsai Hsuan-yen). Whoever is watching the feature is asked to memorize a symbol and chant an incantation alongside Li, who wishes to lift a curse placed upon her young daughter, Dodo (Huang Sing-ting).
After multiple inexplicable deaths happen in conjunction with the presence of the mother/daughter duo, Li reveals that the incantation that the viewers have been chanting alongside with her is meant to spread the curse to as many people as possible.
This has the effect of watering down its potency and curing Dodo, but at the expense of the people in her lives as well as the viewers (as well as implicating the latter in multiple gruesome deaths).