Dead Talents Society [Movie Review]

Dead Talents Society [Movie Review] | Intrigued by the title, I decided to give the movie a go. 

Horror comedy, it says. Let's see. 

SYNOPSIS

Dead Talents Society (2024) Trivia

• Starring: Chen Bolin, Sandrine Pinna, Gingle Wang, Eleven Yao, Bai Bai & Soso Tseng
• Director: John Hsu
• Producer: John Hsu & Vincent Tsai
• Production Company: Activator Co. & Sony Pictures International Productions

• Distributed by: Sony Pictures 

• Release date: August 7, 2024

• Running time: 110 minutes
• Rating: MA
• Country: Taiwan
• Language: Mandarin
• IMDb: 7.4/ 10
• Tomatometer: 94%
• Metascore: NA 
• The director is well-known for creating World of Warcraft videos.

Catherine, once the queen of hauntings, ruled the underworld scene, until her protégé Jessica upstaged her with viral jump scare videos, stealing the Golden Ghost Award. Catherine faded into obscurity.

Four years later, a rookie ghost realizes she’s disappearing. Her essence is tied to a childhood piano certificate, which now trashed by her sister during a move. With just 30 days before she vanishes, she turns to her ghostly friend Camilla for help. Their best shot? The Dead Talents Society, where ghosts audition for a working pass in the living world. She bombs her performance, but Makoto, an agent managing the washed-up Catherine, takes her in, hoping she’s too useless to ever betray Catherine as Jessica did.

Her training is brutal. Rookie’s scares are pathetic and Catherine isn’t impressed. A failed haunting attempt almost gets them kicked out, until Rookie accidentally pulls off a spectacularly terrifying stunt, falling from the roof after Catherine kicked her from behind and impaling herself on the hotel sign and short-circuiting the place. The footage goes viral.

Meanwhile, a ghost-hunting influencer, Non-Believer, plans a vlog showdown: watching Jessica’s viral scares inside Rookie’s haunted hotel. The underworld buzzes. Even the Chairghost of the Society wants to see how the two urban legends clash. Jessica, now a global icon, after she literally scaring an influencer to death, jumps at the chance to destroy Catherine’s new protégé. She humiliates Rookie on live TV and when Catherine scolds her for not fighting back, Rookie quits in anger.

Makoto finds Rookie at her old home. Her precious piano certificate was fake. Her dad made it to make her feel special. A lifetime of failures, including flunking out of university, led to her last hope: being a good daughter. She died in an earthquake trying to save that worthless piece of paper. Makoto tells her to stop living for others and just be herself.

Meanwhile, the much-hyped crossover haunting is a disaster. Catherine and Jessica sabotage each other, failing to scare anyone. Jessica, enraged, attacks Catherine, wrecking the influencers’ cameras. The Chairghost, unimpressed, leaves early. At the last moment, Rookie swoops in, unleashing a terrifying leap that sends the influencers running.

Did they make it big in the underworld?

MY REVIEW

What I Like:  

• It really is a horror comedy. I find myself laughing at the silly antics.
• Not trying too hard but it works.
• Great cast.

What I Don't Like:

• Too short to my liking since the movie was enjoyable and funny.

Will I Watch It Again: Yes, I will!

Overall: 4.7/ 5.0

The pictures are taken from multiple sources on the Internet. Thank you.

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