Watch Taiwan’s Horror Blockbuster ‘Incantation’ Trailer

Incantation The Most Terrifying Taiwanese Movie of All Time, will hit Netflix on July 8

“Incantation has resonated strongly with Taiwanese audiences, and we are excited to share this movie with our members around the world,” said Janelle Ong, Netflix’s Chinese-language content acquisition manager. “Asian horror has been very influential in shaping the genre and bringing it to new heights, and we are proud to partner with a new generation of Asian filmmakers who are creating the movies that will define what terror means for today’s viewers.”

Inspired by a true story involving a family of cult worshippers in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the film was shot in a mockumentary style interspersed by found footage and actors breaking the fourth wall to address the audience. A critical as well as commercial hit, Incantation has received seven Taipei Film Award nominations including for best narrative feature, best director, and best actress. The Taipei Film Award winners will be announced on July 9, the day after the film’s Netflix global debut. A sequel also has been announced.

Incantation is the latest and most successful outing to date of Taiwan’s horror wave that began with director Cheng Wei-hao’s The Tag-Along in 2015, followed by The Rope Curse (2018), Detention (2019), and The Bridge Curse (2020). A substantial portion of the output in the genre is rooted in local folklore, urban myths, or superstition, giving them a unique Taiwan flavor. This year has been billed as “a year of terror” in Taiwan with many more scary movies slated for release. The growing popularity of the genre and consequent slew of productions has been credited with contributing to a rejuvenation of the film industry in Taiwan.

Director Ke said that the goal of this film is to establish an interactive connection with the audience: “I know how to effectively use horror scenes to scare the audience, but a good horror film will not only have these skills, human nature is the core of the film. To be the most extreme , let the audience care about the characters in the movie.”

This notion was heavily influenced by the Asian horror films that made waves around the world in the 1990s and early 2000s, such as Japan’s “One Missed Call“, “The Ring“, “The Grudge“, “Dark Water 2002“, “The Eye 2002” etc. Director Ke said, “Asian horror films don’t focus on the bloody and scary images, but on the softer parts of the story. This kind of film is scary, but it’s also touching and even healing.”