“Shadow Master” is the latest feature directed and authored by Pearry Reginald Teo, known for movies like “Gene-Generation,” “Children of Arcana,” “Liberta Me,” and more. The movie stars the likes of Dy Sao in the role of An Voaen, Lyton Mathews as Detective Russels, Craig Ng as Boon-Nam, Anna Harr as Dewitt, and Luciana Faulhaber as Jenett. “Shadow Master ” follows the story of An Voaen struggling to make ends meet after he departs from his old job.
An Voaen takes a watchman job at a mental institution, where Mephisto and the Four Horsemen are abducting children for a sacrificial ritual to bring about the end times, aka “The Judgement Day.” An succumbs during his first confrontation with the Horsemen but is later resurrected with enormous strength after trading his soul with the Death God.
Spoilers Ahead
‘Shadow Master’ Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Movie?
The movie kicks off with the protagonist, An Voaen, raining punches on multiple armed assailants, taking them out one by one, but shockingly, they soon surrender. An Voaen is brought in front of a police commissioner, who asks for his name and reason for killing those men. The audience also overhears an eerie voice instructing the protagonist to inform the commissioner about the impending war, hinting that maybe An Voaen is possessed by some evil spirit. This theory is later thickened when An referred to himself as the “Devil.”
An finally decided to tell his side of the story and revealed that he took a job as a night watchman at a mental institution in return for food and shelter. At the institution, An meets DeWitt, who also lives there and takes care of her mother, who went crazy years ago. Dewitt raises doubts regarding An’s skills, but the following flashbacks of him clearing out a room full of goons settle that question. Further into the movie, An encounters a strange woman named Jennett, who reveals that An has joined during a very dangerous and cursed month of Fantasia and requests that An look out for hungry ghosts. At dinner, Boon Nam reveals to An that his job here at the institution will be a breeze since they get zero visitors after several children have gone missing. Boon Nam also provides An with a “Hanuman” locket to help him ward off ghosts, devils, and evil spirits. The people at the institution were awfully calm about the ghosts and the missing children, implying that they’d been dealing with this for years and were maybe hiding a sinister secret from their new night watchmen.
The Missing Child, & The Four Horsemen
The very next morning, a woman mourns her missing child, but strangely, no one blames An. Jennett calls Dylan into her room and reveals that she once overheard that Mephisto is behind all the sinister happenings. An also learns about the Four Horsemen and their plans to harvest children’s souls to bring forth the end times, aka judgment day. Mephisto abducts children so he can use their pure and free spirits to push the world into chaos. The only way to revert the impending chaos is to annihilate them, but it’s not an easy task as they’ve blended themselves into the world of men. While patrolling, An is always followed by a strange feminine voice that informs him about an evil lurking underground. An escaped prisoner makes his way to the underground and encounters a couple of strange figures abducting another kid. A battle ensues, and An is gravely wounded. After days of immeasurable pain, An is saved by Hanuman, who, in return, asks him to be his pawn on Earth. An was born again, but this time with unfathomable strength, and he had a real chance to destroy the horsemen and stop the end times. Meanwhile, the horsemen were just two kids short of gaining immortality and destroying the world. Boon-Nam reveals to An that Hanuman needs to host in the world of the living and may try to control An, but the latter still ignores his advice and labels his encounter with Hanuman as a fragment of his nightmares. Back in the present, the detective brands An’s words as lies and blames him for the strange disappearance. An gathers her strength but is still constantly haunted by Hanuman’s voice, which pushes him to kill anyone who stands between him and the horsemen.
‘Shadow Master’ Ending Explained – Was An Able To Save The Missing Children?
The Horsemen strike again and try to abduct Bennison, Jennett’s son, but are stopped by An, who easily overpowers and kills one of the enemies. An chases one of the horsemen but soon falls to the ground, crying in pain. Hanuman has vested great strength and powers in An, but these powers are more like a curse than a blessing as they weaken An every time he fights, and Hanuman grows stronger with every drop of blood An spills. Hanuman is slowly fusing himself into An’s body and plans to manifest his physical form through An’s flesh. Meanwhile, Mephisto is planning to abduct a final child, so he can finally start the ritual. Mephisto sends his Horsemen against him but is met with heavy resistance from An, who again slaughters one of the Horsemen.
An is living on borrowed time and knows he needs to act fast if he wants to save the children. An asks the inhabitants of the institution to barricade themselves while he goes to free the children. An cuts the power in order to lure the Horsemen and enters the underground lair. A battle ensues, but An is defeated. The warrior turns to the death god for help, but he denies it, as An has failed to provide him with a slaughter this time. He picks up a blade and stabs himself to death, providing Hanuman with a slaughter in order to achieve more strength. In reality, An never agreed to trade his soul, but this curse was forced upon him by Boon-Nam, who orchestrated the death ritual to save An’s life so he could protect them and the children from the evil lurking underground. But this time, An offers his soul to Hanuman for eternity. Hanuman provides An with his staff, allows him to return to the world to finish his job, and warns him to take control of his soul and mind after he has saved the children. Meanwhile, the citizens of the institution have finally taken up arms against the evil and are ready to aid their Nightwatch against the never-ending horde. The Horsemen plan to sever the link between An and the death god and decide to fight An with dark magic. The Horsemen cut the chin off a pregnant lady who had died a tragic death and burned it to form the oil to use against An.
The spirit of Santa Maria leads An to the ritual site, but he is stopped by Samael. Initially, An struggles under the oil’s influence but eventually rips the bone out of Samael’s neck, killing him instantly. Meanwhile, Jennette, with the help of others, rescues the kid.
In the present, the detective applauds An for his tragic story, rhetorically blaming him for letting Mephisto escape. But the movie is yet to reveal its biggest secret. In reality, Mephisto was posing as detective Matthews all along, but An (now fully controlled and taken over by Hanuman) kills Mephisto after recognizing him from his smell, finally completing his deal with the Death God. Towards the conclusion, Hanuman completely takes over An’s body and transforms into his true form.
The director made attempts to blend mythology with supernatural elements but failed drastically. The opening sequence is really suspenseful, but the rest of the film isn’t very convincing. The author, Pearry Reginald, paid little mind to the need for continuity and coherence in his writing. The only thing “Shadow Master ” excels at is martial arts. Dy Sao ( in the role of An) is renowned for his high-rated martial arts movies across Malaysia, Korea, and Thailand.
“Shadow Master” is a 2022 fantasy thriller film directed by Pearry Reginald Teo.
