Director: Kim Kwang-bin
Year: 2020
Country: South Korea
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Ghosts
Plot:
Following his wife’s death, a man and his daughter decide to move into a new home out in the country to try to move past the horrific events but once it becomes apparent that supernatural forces are at play within the house that pulls his daughter into their world he turns to an expert to try to get her back at all costs.
Review:
On the whole, this one was a rather enjoyable ghost effort. Like most great ghost stories, there’s a lot to like here with the general build-up of the story into far greater and more dangerous threats. The element of grief present in the backstory to this one drops a great sense of atmospheric grounding that has a lot to do with what the perception of the daughters’ behavior changes as she goes from an intimidated, quiet girl with an unresolved anger problem toward her father to full-on psychotic outbursts. The complete turn-around she experiences is found to be related closely to the spirits inhabiting the house signal the start of the investigation into what’s happening once the psychic arrives looking for evidence of the supernatural. These sequences and the resulting explanation into the backstory of the missing child from the house that soon transforms into a much larger case involving multiple missing children in the area and the eventual need to enter their dimension in order to rescue his daughter. This build-up of events is quite well-handled and one of the best aspects featured here.
Likewise, the film gets a lot out of its ghost action and activity. Focusing on the idea of something in the house with the scurrying footsteps, child-like laughing or strange noises off in the distance that are both inhuman and impossible to have been made by the daughter once he arrives to investigate, the gradual build-up of the haunted house they live in is quite nice. The subtle hints of something happening with the famed closet, with the inability to keep it closed, her refusal to let him near it, or the strange dream of it the ghostly woman emerging and cutting her throat in front of him cause even more enjoyable supernatural work within here that leads into the second half where it brings the ghoulish ghost-children into the picture to provide far more action than expected. These scenes benefit greatly from the creepy and chilling make-up used on the ghost children which is genuinely terrifying and creepy which certainly goes a long way to helping this one feature some fantastic positives.
There are some flaws with this one. The main issue to be found here is the film’s reliance on Hollywood-style ghost scenes that don’t do anything new to betray their influence. The sequence in the bedroom where all the ghost children emerge and attack him tackles plenty of scene setups and a general atmosphere of many J-horror films, especially with the main ghost attacking the lone victim waiting in the control room. The entire investigation evokes entire J-horror franchises with the heroes up against a clock looking for the source of the supernatural maladies affecting them. Finally, the entire trip into the other dimension to rescue his daughter is a direct and overt ripoff of select American films outright, reducing the impact of these scenes drastically. Since this is where the typical Korean penchant for overblown melodrama emerges as he tries to plead with the ghost to let go of her anger towards his family, this comes off as somewhat cheesy due to the lack of build-up being more straightforward before then. These aren’t truly terrible or wholly unworthy but do have a negative aspect on the film as a whole.
Overview: ****/5
A generally enjoyable ghost story, the film might not be able to outlive its influences but these prove to be its only real issues anyway which make this one quite fun in the genre. Fans of the style or other J-horror ghost stories will find a lot to like here while others who just like Asian ghost movies should also like this, but viewers who aren't into either faction might not enjoy the film.
This review was originally published on Asian Movie Pulse and is gratefully reprinted with their cooperation.
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