{"id":120,"date":"2024-01-26T21:59:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-26T13:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.144.183.115:206\/?p=120"},"modified":"2025-05-13T16:59:52","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T08:59:52","slug":"the-most-unfortunate-of-the-year-i-think-its-an-understatement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/televisionnews.live\/index.php\/2024\/01\/26\/the-most-unfortunate-of-the-year-i-think-its-an-understatement\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Unfortunate of the Year? I Think It’s an Understatement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Whether it lives up to expectations or not is yet to be seen; what’s crucial is that it actually curses people! Reflecting on last year\u2019s Asian horror scene brought us four rising stars: “The Medium,” “The Queen of Black Magic,” “Incantation,” and the infamous “The Sadness.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All four films eventually stumbled with none maintaining solid ratings. The reason for mentioning this is that a drop in ratings doesn’t necessarily mean failure; if initial scores are absurdly high, subsequent drops are inevitable. For instance, despite early hype pushing \u201cThe Sadness\u201d above an 8 on Douban (a popular Chinese review platform), Yahoo Taiwan revealed its true colors with a dismal score of 2.6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how did \u201cIncantation\u201d fare in Taiwan? It scored 3.3 out of 5 on local scales\u2014equivalent to 6.6 out of 10\u2014lower than its Douban rating. This isn\u2019t an epic downfall but rather an expected adjustment back down to earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you\u2026 do you believe in blessings?\u201d Can sheer willpower change outcomes or reality itself? This philosophical opening leads into chilling scenes: a scarred girl with teeth-filled mouth\u2014no special effects here; this is Li Ruonan’s real ordeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A DV camera capturing forbidden footage spares no viewer; those around her die mysteriously as evil encroaches further and further into their lives. For viewers still daring enough to continue watching, Ruonan offers some \u2018friendly advice\u2019: Recite these blessing words: Huo Fo Xiu Yi Xin Sa Mu Mou.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems thoughtful but oh Ruonan\u2014you\u2019re so naive! Six years ago she followed A Yuan and A Dong into Chenjia Village\u2014not just for family rituals but also seeking paranormal activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legends spoke of an off-limits tunnel behind the village; as ghost hunters filming their adventure they couldn\u2019t resist exploring it despite warnings about dire consequences if entered during rituals involving offering names every decade while worshipping Buddha Mother\u2014the village deity who even sensed Ruonan\u2019s recent pregnancy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could these legends hold truth\u2014is this place divine? Despite internal hesitation they braved Hell\u2019s Gate anyway only finding curses awaiting them once inside!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six years later Li Ruonan emerges from psychiatric care seemingly normal again\u2014as if nothing ever happened\u2014heading straightaway towards picking up her daughter Duoduo from foster care after abandoning her earlier hoping now for fresh beginnings together!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back home first thing she teaches Duoduo are names\u2014Chen Letong & Li Ruonan\u2014a touching reunion between mother & daughter indeed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Whether it lives up to expectations or not is yet to be seen; what’s crucial…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film-criticism","category-movie","category-tv-shows"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/televisionnews.live\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/televisionnews.live\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/televisionnews.live\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/televisionnews.live\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/televisionnews.live\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/televisionnews.live\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":123,"href":"https:\/\/televisionnews.live\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120\/revisions\/123"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/televisionnews.live\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/televisionnews.live\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/televisionnews.live\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/televisionnews.live\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}