Land of Spirits: The Young Shaman (Ai Chết Giơ Tay: Kẻ Độc Hành) is a Vietnamese horror-comedy TV series directed by Huỳnh Lập and Lý Minh Thắng, and stars Huỳnh Lập, Puka, Quốc Khánh, Trịnh Tài and, NSND Hồng Vân, alongside other cast members. The series, which is a prequel to the franchise Ai Chết Giơ Tay, has 8 episodes, each with an average runtime of 40 minutes.
Netflix’s description of the series reads:
An amateur shaman born into a family of exorcists uses his expertise to catch ghosts in a neighbourhood filled with supernatural activity.
– Land of Spirit: The Young Shaman Review Does Not Contain Spoilers –
Land of Spirits: The Young Shaman focus on Tinh Lam’s life before he became a ghostbusting exorcist. Just starting out on his spiritual journey, we get a glimpse into his life and that of those around him as he tries to figure out his way around ghosts and spirits while saving those around him from a barrage of deadly foes.
The Young Shaman is a goofy show. Asian horror is a bit different from mainstream Hollywood horror movies and the series, in spite of good intentions, goes into it in a bit too ham-fisted way. The storyline focuses on the spirits of Tinh Lam’s village, where danger lurks around every corner. However, in spite of trying to be scary and bring forth a backstory to the dangers, the horror-comedy series falls short of creating any sort of impact. It’s not scary, and it’s not very funny.
On top of that, the series milks each scene for far too long; thus, it loses out on leaving any sort of an impact. You watch the series go on and on doing these very silly and stupid things that try to be funny (with its nature and background score) but fail at doing just that. Land of Spirits: The Young Shaman is simply so over-the-top that it’s difficult to sit through the series sometimes, and you won’t be able to stop yourself from skipping through some scenes.
The horror elements in the show never fully come through because of this because the series tries to make everything funny. You don’t feel any sort of shock or horror since something or the other happens to everyone. There are some emotional scenes, but they don’t make as much of an impact on you as you’d want, so watching the show leaves you unsatisfied. Let’s not even talk about the ghosts in the show – they look too goofy to be taken seriously. However, that’s how ghosts and spirits are portrayed in most Asian movies in general, so, really, it’s a matter of how you see it.
Land of Spirits: The Young Shaman showcases some very over-the-top characters that are, unfortunately, very much a given for horror comedies of this nature. I hate that every character constantly screams for no reason and goes overboard for the smallest of inconveniences. As a result, you don’t connect with most of the characters and get annoyed a bit too easily.
Summing Up: Land of Spirits: The Young Shaman
Land of Spirits: The Young Shaman is a silly horror-comedy that is neither horrific nor funny. It has some emotional moments that might make you feel some sort of way, but for the most part, it’s really annoying. For those who’ve watched the other shows of the franchise, this might tie everything up pretty well. For those who are thinking of getting into the franchise probably… don’t.
Land of Spirits: The Young Shaman is streaming on Netflix.
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