VOD of the Dead - CRACKED (2022)
Does a genre, or subgenre, ever truly run its course? Meaning, are there some genres or sub-genres that are so overdone they can no longer innovate? The aspirational part of me believes that nothing is ever truly “dead”, and reinvention is as much about innovation as it is timing. How many movies have people claimed were “ahead of their time” only to become cult classics in later years? The pessimistic part of me believes that there will always be interesting stories to tell, but some genres or subgenres may have reached a “boiling point” where even with an interesting story the final product is still just “more of the same”. As in most aspects of life, there is no definitive answer here, only opinions. And when it comes to supernatural horror movies, it becomes harder to reconcile most films as “something we have seen before”. This isn’t to say that everything has to be “new”, but when a subgenre hasn’t really changed much it can sometimes feel like it’s just an old car with a new paint job. Southeast Asia certainly has something to say about that, with 2022’s CRACKED. Is this Thai supernatural horror film, releasing on VOD and Physical Media on MAY 26, 2023, breathing new life into a tired subgenre?
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Ruja returns to Thailand from New York with her young daughter Rachel to settle her late father's estate. Included in her inheritance are two mysterious portraits of a bewitching woman that she is told are worth a fortune if only they weren't damaged. Desperate to sell the paintings, Ruja hires Tim, an art restorer, to prepare the canvases for sale. But the cracks in the paint have begun to reveal long-hidden secrets, and as strange phenomena begin to emerge around them, Ruja and Rachel quickly realize their lives are in grave danger.
HOW IS IT?
I’ve long maintained that supernatural horror movies are some of my least favorite horror movies. This is mostly on account of preference rather than quality, but just because something isn’t your favorite doesn’t mean you can’t get some enjoyment out of it. Some folks prefer to over-index on other genres, in fact, I dare say everyone has “favorites” and “least favorites” when it comes to subgenres. One of the reasons I keep coming back to supernatural horror movies, especially Southeast Asian ones, is that they are far more entertaining than their Western counterparts (mostly). It seems my intuition is once again correct, as CRACKED is a prime example of a supernatural horror film not doing anything novel, but getting everything it does right!
CRACKED is basically about a mother and daughter who are tasked with settling their late father/grandfather’s estate. Included in said estate, are two paintings that could be extremely valuable, as long as the cracks in them can be addressed. As these things go, we learn that the painting holds far more secrets and horror than the pair imagine, and what ensues is not much different from most films in this genre. What really makes CRACKED work though, is the backing story that surrounds the paintings and how they came to be. While we won’t be going into spoiler territory here, it is just another example of what Southeast Asian supernatural horror films just work better. There is a nefariousness to them and their characters that permeate throughout most of the films. They often deal with awful people doing awful things that in turn create awful spirits. It is those backing narratives that hold films like these together, and the ways in which CRACKED doubles down on the nastiness of human potential is the lifeblood of the film and the secret to keeping the viewer engaged.
While narratives are important, most folks like supernatural horror flicks because they are rife with jump scares and unsettling moments. To that end, CRACKED is proficient enough to generate a few jumps from the unsuspecting viewer, but to the trained horror mind they may not give the same reaction. In fact, the film's greatest flaw is sadly that it doesn’t really do much to move the genre forward. Even though it’s a well-crafted film that could serve as a great boilerplate for where supernatural horror is today, it doesn’t play with conventions around storytelling, character development, or aesthetics. Instead, it just focuses on what has worked and still works, and that’s completely okay. In spite of its run-of-the-mill approach, it gets the approach right and that’s what matters here. While many other supernatural horror films fail to capture anything interesting in the characters or plotting *cough* Conjuring 3 *cough*, it also doesn’t make the same mistakes as other films by being overlong, uninteresting, and shying away from uncomfortable characters.
LAST RITES
CRACKED is further proof that Southeast Asian cinema is the champion of supernatural horror. Combining some diabolical backstories with bang-on appropriation of supernatural tropes, CRACKED is entertaining and engaging, even if it isn’t really innovating.
THE GORY DETAILS
Directed By
Written By
Starring
Where can you watch it?
PREMIERING VIA VOD & PHYSICAL MEDIA ON MAY 26, 2023
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