Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman (2023) Movie Drinking Game
Take a Drink: whenever someone expresses skepticism
Take a Drink: for every possession
Do a Shot: for cursed pillows and enchanted drums
By: Henry J. Fromage (Two Beers) –
If you’ve read much of this site over the last decade or so, you’re very aware of how much I enjoy Korean genre films, and how consistently they show up most of what Hollywood has to offer. So I won’t repeat myself…
Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman is about a young shaman who makes his bank via elaborate illusions to part fools and their money. He has legitimate shaman lineage, though, which comes in handy when he is given a new case by a young woman with some powers of her own, and an infestation problem with a body-hopping ageless warlock who is vying to escape his eternal prison.
A Toast
This is just fun- a good mix of action and comedy that keeps up a great pace, never lingering on anything that doesn’t work before jumping to something that most likely will. A lot of that is due to how it delves interestingly into the Korean occult and shamanism, which has featured beautifully in pure horrors like The Wailing before, but which reveals yet more really unique and interesting mythology here.
I also have to praise it for not falling to the temptation of an overlong runtime like a lot of Korean genre fare- it gets in, kicks ass, and gets out, and you have to respect that.
Beer Two
Some of the action and effects may play goofy to some, even when it doesn’t appear they’re necessarily going for that, but either way I thought they added a hilarious touch.
As did the Parasite references
Verdict
Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman is a fun supernatural action comedy with plenty of space to become the franchise it’s clearly going for.
Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman opened in theaters on Friday, October 6th. Check it out when it comes near you!
