Tag Archives: Korean language films

Aug 23 2026

Mel’s 5 Second Review: Exhuma

Exhuma (2024)
Kim Go-eun, Choi Min-sik, Lee Do-hyun, Yoo Hai Jin, Kim Jae-cheol, Kim Sun-young, Lee Jong-goo, Lee Yeong-ran
Directed by: Jang Jae-hyun

This one’s been in my to-watch list since it came out 2 years ago, and I finally got around to it. And while I’m left slightly confused, I did enjoy my time with it.

After tracing a strange ailment to a remote grave site, a team of supernatural experts soon discovers what happens when you mess with the wrong grave.

So, this one was special. I can confidently say I’ve never seen anything quite like it. But honestly, that’s because this film leans heavily on Korean and Japanese folklore, so I had no idea what was going on half the time. The run time was also a little daunting, clocking in at 2 hours and 14 minutes. I’d say it was a little excessive, but really, it didn’t feel that long. It’s definitely a slow burn, but everything that’s in there kinda needs to be. I’d have been even more confused if anything had been left out.

On a technical level, this film is gorgeous. The colours, the camera work, everything worked in its favour. The acting was all around terrific, especially from our leading lady. I almost didn’t watch it cause when I put it on, on Prime, it was dubbed and I was like nope, I’m out. But then I thought to check the audio settings, and I changed it to original, and put English subtitles on and voila! No more awful dubbing. And from the little I heard, the dubbing was truly awful. And, because I’m contractually obligated to say so, the most beautiful Asian man I’ve ever seen is in this film (Lee Do-hyun as Yoon Bong-gil). I mean, holy hell…

So, do I recommend it? If you don’t mind experiencing other cultures, and slow burns don’t bother you, then yes, absolutely. I give it a pretty great 8/10. Now to go hunt down Lee Do-hyun’s other work…

M.

This film is currently streaming on Amazon Prime, AMC+, and Shudder.

Aug 25 2020

Mel’s 5 Second Review: The Wailing (곡성, Gokseong)

The Wailing (곡성, Gokseong) (2016)
Kwak Do-won, Jun Kunimura, Kim Hwan-hee, Kim Do-yoon, Son Gang-guk, Jang So-yeon, Hwang Jung-min, Chun Woo-hee, Her Jin, and Kil Chang-gyoo
Directed by: Na Hong-jin

So, I’m not quite sure what to make of this one. It was so all over the place. I’m not even sure if I liked it or not.

After a bizarre Japanese man comes to their village, some of the inhabitants seem to lose their minds and become homicidal. A hapless police officer goes to great lengths to protect his daughter who has started showing signs of the infection.

First of all, I hated the first 40 minutes or so. All the characters act really dumb, and it feels more like a slapstick comedy than a horror film. After that they calmed down with that aspect, and the film finally started. It had great ambience, some really tense moments, but it was all so confused and complicated that it took away a lot of the good they were laying down. There were so many twists that I got whiplash. So many things that the characters do simply don’t make sense, and the film does nothing to explain it. The acting was mostly stellar, especially from the possessed child, but again, it get lost in the over-convoluted story. And can someone please tell me who the woman in white was? All I can figure is she’s a creature from Korean folklore, and since I know nothing about that, I simply didn’t get it. And holy hell was it long. At 2 hours and 36 minutes, I think it’s the longest horror film I’ve ever seen. All in all, it wasn’t a bad film, but it’s definitely not something I’ll ever watch again. It gets a decent 7/10 from me.

M.

This film is currently streaming on Shudder.