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The Wailing (2016) N
Korean horror that was (kinda) recommended to me elsewhere.
In small Korean town (or village) some people have been getting sick. Symptoms are pretty nasty rash and aggressive behavior that usually ends up in multiple homicides. Local police sergeant is investigating the case and his research leads him to a Japanese man who's arrived just before the first case of sickness.
I seem to have some compatibility issues with Korean movies. There's something in them that usually doesn't match my preferences and I think Korea's track record with me is the worst out of all Far East countries (and by that I obviously refer only to countries from which I've seen at least some films). My biggest issue with them is probably their habit of overusing comedic elements in serious films and there's plenty of that in The Wailing.
Main issue with The Wailing specifically is its length. It's over two and half hours and without any exaggeration somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes could have been cut out. First hour is mostly just laughing at the incompetent cops and wandering in the woods and crime scenes. After the film takes a turn towards The Exorcist things get little more interesting. In the end the plot seems to be completely senseless and I was left with nothing more than a bunch of questions.
Visually The Wailing is very beautiful (like Korean films often are, it's the storytelling I have issues with). Acting is hard to judge. At times it feels good but occasionally the characters are just written too silly and things feel more like a sketch than dramatic horror. The little girl who plays the sergeant's daughter does the most even performance.
Far too long and either illogical or just messy horror that barely drags itself out of the bad rating. Huge disappointment still.
Korean horror that was (kinda) recommended to me elsewhere.
In small Korean town (or village) some people have been getting sick. Symptoms are pretty nasty rash and aggressive behavior that usually ends up in multiple homicides. Local police sergeant is investigating the case and his research leads him to a Japanese man who's arrived just before the first case of sickness.
I seem to have some compatibility issues with Korean movies. There's something in them that usually doesn't match my preferences and I think Korea's track record with me is the worst out of all Far East countries (and by that I obviously refer only to countries from which I've seen at least some films). My biggest issue with them is probably their habit of overusing comedic elements in serious films and there's plenty of that in The Wailing.
Main issue with The Wailing specifically is its length. It's over two and half hours and without any exaggeration somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes could have been cut out. First hour is mostly just laughing at the incompetent cops and wandering in the woods and crime scenes. After the film takes a turn towards The Exorcist things get little more interesting. In the end the plot seems to be completely senseless and I was left with nothing more than a bunch of questions.
Visually The Wailing is very beautiful (like Korean films often are, it's the storytelling I have issues with). Acting is hard to judge. At times it feels good but occasionally the characters are just written too silly and things feel more like a sketch than dramatic horror. The little girl who plays the sergeant's daughter does the most even performance.
Far too long and either illogical or just messy horror that barely drags itself out of the bad rating. Huge disappointment still.