Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum

Technically, it is not fake news. CNN Travel called this abandoned Korean mental hospital one of the “7 freakiest places on Earth,” but they never explicitly claimed it is actually haunted (notable for Korean film fans, Battleship Island also made the list). There is no question the place is creepy, so it rather makes sense for a paranormal investigating web series to film an episode there. Horror fans know they are probably filming their final show in Jung Bum-sik’s Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (trailer here), which opens this Friday in Los Angeles.

The title pretty much says it all: Gonjiam is an asylum that is haunted—especially room 402. Reportedly, people have died trying to open this mysterious locked chamber. Naturally, that is what the producer of Horror Times has planned for their ill-conceived grand finale. Determined to reach one million viewers, the Horror Times boys have a couple of planned scares to throw at their four “lucky guests” chosen from a pool of fans. Not surprisingly, they selected three cute girls and a socially awkward guy. However, the two on-camera hosts will be screaming like little babies when things get real.

Basically, Gonjiam does exactly what the original Grave Encounters and Hollow Grove did, but somehow it is even eerier in Korean. Jung and co-writer Park Sang-min also manage to flesh out the characters to a greater extent than you see in most found footage horror films, at least with respect to their fan-guests (whereas the Horror Times crew are just bad karma-generating jerks). Moon Ye-won and Oh Ah-yeon are particularly notable as the rich, hip, and terrified Charlotte and the naïve but comparatively grounded Ah-yeon, respectively.

Jung skillfully builds the tension with small but unsettling bits of business, like doors ominously opening and candles extinguishing themselves. He also exploits the absolutely terrifying setting for all its worth (it is hard to believe the real Gonjiam was operational until 1996, because the movie analog looks like it has been moldering since the 1960s). As in franchising, location is often everything for horror films—and this one is profoundly malevolent looking.

So yes, this is another haunted asylum movie, just like the subtitle promises. Jung delivers on it. If you haven’t seen Grave Encounter, you will probably find Gonjiam a wildly chilling ride, but more experience may very well find themselves investing in spite of themselves, thanks to Moon and Oh. Recommended for K-horror fans due to some skillful direction and evocative set and prop design, Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum opens this Friday (4/13) at the Los Angeles and Buena Park CGV Cinemas.

NYKFF ’10: Bestseller

Take it from someone in book publishing, most bestsellers are highly derivative. Still, they should not constitute outright plagiarism. Regrettably, one popular author inadvertently crosses that line. In proper K-horror tradition, her comeback will be even more painfully than the scandal itself in Lee Jeong-ho’s Bestseller (trailer here), which screens as part of the 2010 New York Korean Film Festival now running at MoMA.

Needing refuge from the media, Baek Hee-soo and her daughter Yeun-hee rent an old lake front manor in the Korean equivalent of the Maine fishing villages found in Stephen King novels. Being a sweet-tempered child, the supernatural force at work in the villa wastes no time in keying in on Yeun-hee. Of course, since Baek is already somewhat emotionally taxed (and will only become more so), it is also a safe bet her sanity will eventually come into question. Her discovery of a twenty year old crime committed in their temporary digs is hardly a stabilizing development either, but Baek considers it rich source material for her literary return.

Bestseller’s big mind twist actual comes at the halfway mark. At that point, as its characters deal with reality redefined the film down shifts into a psychological thriller gear, while still retaining some of the trappings of its Grudge-like horror. Korean super-star actress-singer-lingerie designer Uhm Jung-hwa takes a bit of risk in Bestseller, tackling a character that is not always sympathetic, yet she launches into the bloody melodrama with admirable zeal. Indeed, she helps sell the film, even when logic threatens to intervene. She also gets an effective assist from Park Sa-Rang, an unusually expressive child actress, as the supernaturally targeted Yeun-hee.

Lee and cinematographer Choi Yeong-hwan create a moody atmosphere and handle the visions, flashbacks, and other complications of reality relatively nimbly. Oddly enough, the fantastical elements hold up quite well (if you can buy The Grudge you can buy Bestseller), whereas the film’s only credibility issues are of a more conventional nature. Still, for genre cinema, especially K-horror, that’s not bad.

Solid genre entertainment, Bestseller should appeal to a wider audience than traditional K-horror aficionados. To draw comparisons from a dying industry, regular readers of King, Koontz, and Matheson should have no trouble with the themes and tone of Bestseller. It screens again at MoMA this Wednesday (9/29) and at BAM this Friday (10/1).

Tribeca ’10: Possessed

South Korea is considered the most Christian of Asian nations, in terms of population percentages, so a Korean horror movie that engages and subverts Christian themes presumably knows what it is doing. Though hardly approaching Exorcist territory, the religious motifs of Lee Yong-ju’s Possessed (trailer here) might distinguish the film from run of the mill k-horror, but should still satisfy genre aficionados when it screens during this year’s Tribeca Film Festival as a Cinemania (formerly Midnight) selection.

Largely estranged from her evangelical mother, Hee-jin rarely visits home. However, when her younger sister So-jin disappears after placing a mysterious call to her cell phone, the overworked college student returns to their drab apartment. It is immediately obvious something is not right in the building. In addition to all the eerie lighting and sound effects, the neighbors seem to be committing suicide in the most outlandish methods.

Rather than call the police, Hee-jin’s mother relies on faith. She is convinced her prayers already saved the young girl once, concluding her daughter is in some way marked for greatness by God. Hee-jin is more practical, but the cynical cop on the case hardly inspires confidence. Throw in a creepy shaman, two attractive frenemy neighbors, and a mounting body count and it all adds up to some relatively ambitious k-horror.

Make no mistake, Possessed is strictly genre fare, but the execution is above average. Lee Yong-ju, who served as an assistant director on Bong Joon-ho’s Memories of Murder, has a clear intuitive understanding of horror movie mechanics. Wisely, he shows little, deriving the chills through mystery and suggestion. It is not until the final ten minutes that Possessed breaks down showing too much to maintain its sinister vibe, but frankly that is well above the k-horror industry standard.

At times, Possessed is decidedly hostile to Christianity, particularly the apparently fundamentalist variety practiced by Hee-jin’s mother. While one could argue it takes an equally dim view of alternative faiths, it is Evangelicals that spend most of the film squarely in its crosshairs. That might be problematic, but it also adds a layer of significance to the fright feature.

Possessed also benefits from a strong cast that plays the genre material deadly seriously. Nam Sang-mi avoids most of the horror heroine traps, coming across as a believable, disbelieving protagonist. In smaller supporting roles, Oh Ji-eun and Jang Young-nam also make strong impressions as the neighbors harboring their own secrets.

For those unfamiliar with k-horror, Possessed might not be the perfect starter film. However, those looking for moody and manipulative frights and can handle subtitles as well as some hot-button religious content should find Possessed nicely suits their tastes. It screens during Tribeca tonight (4/23), tomorrow (4/24), Sunday (4/25), and next Saturday (5/1).

K-Horror: My Bloody Roommates

Despite its English title, Kim Eun-Kyung’s contribution to One Day Suddenly: 4 Horror Tales, a quartet of k-horror films based on the novels of Yoo Il-Han, is not a slasher movie. However, it certainly features many of the universal elements of the dead-teenager horror film, like its isolated private school setting—in this case an all-girls prep school (so much the better). Though relatively restrained with its blood splattering, Kim wrings plenty of apprehension and angst out of the academic pressure cooker environment in My Bloody Roommates (also known as D-Day, trailer here) now available on DVD.

The Younghwa Academy is the last chance for girls who failed their university entrance exams. As the principal explains in their promotional video, if you can survive a year with them “you’re already half successful.” Still, the emphasis she places on the presence of their school nurse might seem a little odd. As it turns out, Younghwa was rebuilt three years ago following a tragic fire which killed the entire student body. Evidently though, there were no lessons to be learned from this incident, as the faculty prepares to lock in the incoming class for 312 days of academic boot camp.

Since everything is regimented at Younghwa by test score, Eun-Su is number one. She actually passed her college boards, but not at a level high enough to satisfy her perfectionist family. In contrast, her roommates start out much lower in the academic pecking order. Yoo-Jin is a rebellious child of privilege obviously on a collision course with the school’s strict code of discipline. Bespectacled Da-Young is socially awkward, but well-meaning, while the sensitive Bo-Ram supplies the film’s intermittent narration.

Even with its supernatural overtones, Roommates is more of a creepy drama than a shocking fright flick. Its depiction of students breaking under pressure and ultimately succumbing to madness (or something even worse) is surprisingly chilling. The underdog kids versus the Dean of Mean storyline might even inspire some viewers to start humming a little bit of The Wall.

Overall, the cast is quite solid, with particularly strong performances coming from Kim Ri-Na, who shows considerable range as Eun-Su, and the deliberately geeked-down Heo Jin-Yong as the touchingly innocent Da-Young. Kim makes effective use of the claustrophobic atmosphere and the countdown to D-Day, the date of the university exams, maintains the tension reasonably well. Unfortunately, it all falls apart at the end with a typical horror movie conclusion and a total downer of a denouement.

Roommates legitimately exceeds expectations, but it is still probably not a film for multiplex audiences. Still, somewhat more adventurous viewers, especially devotees of Asian genre cinema, will find it a pleasing DVD experience and make note of its talented up-and-coming cast.

Art-House K-Horror: Thirst

Vampires typically do not display a lot of angst. Unlike werewolves in human form, they usually enjoy their undead gigs. However, Sang-hyun is not a normal vampire. For instance, he is a Catholic priest who dearly believes in the sanctity of life. Inevitably, this new supernatural condition leads to considerable difficulties for the good Father in Park Chan-wook’s Thirst (trailer here), which opens today in select cities.

Feeling powerless in the face of the death and suffering he sees everyday as a hospital chaplain, Sang-hyun volunteers as a guinea pig in a risky clinical trial developing a vaccine for a deadly rare virus. When the testing goes awry, the priest receives an emergency transfusion tainted with vampire blood. The transfusion reverses the ravages of the virus, but at a mortal price.

Repulsed by his new appetites, Sang-hyun uses his hospital access to obtain blood without the loss of life. Yet this situation clearly will not last when Sang-hyun’s tenuous equilibrium is upset by the desires stirred by Tae-ju, the apparently innocent, put-upon wife of a childhood friend. (As readers of paranormal romance know full well, drinking blood is only one of the vampire’s compulsions.) Tae-ju represents the perfect storm for Sang-hyun, stimulating his new found darker urges as well as his lifelong instinct to protect the weak and vulnerable.

Winner of the Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival, Thirst is far more stylish and ambitious than the average k-horror film. Frequent Park collaborator Song Kang-ho is convincingly anguished as afflicted priest and Kim Ok-vin is quite the seductive and scary femme fatale.
While there is a fair amount of blood-letting it is not nearly as gory as most American splatter movies. Instead, Park tries to disturb viewers with transgressive imagery that conflates the sacred and the erotic.

Park certainly employs some theologically charged themes, like life after death and the corruption of innocence, but it often seems like he is only playing with them for shock value and never really plumbing their dramatic depth. At times, the tone of the film is also oddly inconsistent, alternating between heavy scenes informed by religious and archetypal motifs, and moments of black comedy, like those involving the ghost of a particular victim that feel like they could have been lifted straight out of John Landis’s An American Werewolf in London. Still, by depicting concepts like sin and sacrifice with absolute sincerity, Park elevates Thirst above more standard vampire fare.

A Cannes favorite with a cult following that includes Quentin Tarantino, Park is known for his arty violence. His diehard fans should be well satisfied with his latest helping of dark mayhem, even if it does not fully live up to its early promise. It opens today in New York at the Sunshine Theater.

K-Horror: Hidden Floor

Hidden Floor
Directed by Kwon Il-Soon
Pathfinder Home Entertainment

A little girl is threatened by an angry spirit with mussed up hair. A disturbing image? That is what Korean K-Horror is all about. Like their Japanese J-Horror cousins, K-Horror films can really get under your skin with their unsettling visuals and the recurring child-in-jeopardy motifs. Such is certainly the case in Kwon Il-Soon’s Hidden Floor (trailer here), now available on DVD.

Single mother Chae Min-young and her daughter Juhee have just moved into a new apartment. It is converted modern office building, so it should not have much psychic baggage, right? While it might not be built on a Native graveyard, there is still a weird vibe to the place. As is common practice, it also lacks a fourth floor, due to tetraphobia stemming from the similarity between the Chinese words for “four” and “death.” Juhee and her mother have moved into apartment #504. Of course, it is easy to do the math and figure they really live in #404. This might be significant.

Their neighbors also happen to be a little anti-social, bordering on the unstable. However, some of the more unsavory ones start to turn up dead in what might be considered mysterious circumstances. Much to her mother’s alarm, young Suhee does not seem to be herself either, exhibiting strange mood swings and skin outbreaks. Something is definitely wrong on the not-the-fourth floor.

Horror films are always scariest when they imply rather than show, and this is particularly true in the case of Hidden. It is downright creepy when Min-young listens to mysterious sounds coming up through the floor boards or sneaks down shadowing stairwells. Yet, when the entity in question finally shows itself, it is nowhere near as effective.

In a sense, the K-Horror/J-Horror formulae are almost cheating, because it is impossible to see a little girl like Juhee in mortal peril and not feel the desired response. As Min-young, Kim Suh-Hyung is a believable single-mother and a sympathetic rooting interest. Her earnestness and the surprisingly compelling screen presence of Kim Yu-Jung as Juhee inspire an emotional investment in the film on the part of the audience, despite its liberal recycling of many familiar horror tropes.

While Hidden might not break any new ground in the K-Horror genre, it still delivers a good number of chills, capitalizing on the austere atmosphere of the cursed apartment building. By American horror film standards, the violence is not that graphic, but the woman-in-jeopardy and child-in-jeopardy scenes are sure to disturb some viewers. Thanks to its two lead performances, Hidden is a reasonably successful little chiller that ought to be pleasantly diverting for genre enthusiasts.