The Wailing: Die Besessenen

There were a few twists and tense moments, but it was a long, drawn out movie, with little to sustain it. The scenes with the shaman were the most entertaining, but the last 30 minutes I was yelling "come on already!"

I expected this to be a slow pace,d very atmospheric horror film. Instead, I was surprised by how crazy and intense it is. It never really allows you to completely wrap your head around it because it is constantly pulling the rug from under you. The cast does a great job from verging in both drama, horror, and even comedy, which the film is able to balance with the other genres very well, for the most part. Because of that the film sometimes feels a little messy and a little jumbled in its very ambitious aims, and as a result it suffers. I wouldn't call it a great film, but I do recommend it simply for the sheer effort and ambition on display here. Certainly a horror film to remember.

Not enough here to recommend it.

Good acting, great scenery, nice atmosphere.. But the story goes nowhere.

A few tweaks and it would have been very good.

But in the end it's just a "Who is the real bad guy?" story.

Convoluted. Unsatisfying and a little simple.

Imagine someone tells you that you are going out to dinner at a fancy restaurant. You get dressed up, a limo picks you up, you drive to the expensive part of the city. They have you put on a blindfold so you dont know which restaurant you are going to.... and then when you take off the blindfold it is Wendy's burger joint.

Hey, there are worst places to eat, but the build up made me think this was going to be a special meal. It wasn't.

Here is a movie that got a tremendous amount of praise from critics and viewers as being a memorable horror film. I thought it was well filmed and acted, especially the child actress. This might be the most intense performance a child actor has given on film. The story definitely made me care about the characters, and when it was over, I wanted to know more about what I had just watched. However, after taking time to reflect and review some of the interpretations that have been put out there, I've decided that The Wailing didn't quite meet my expectations. It was hard to follow, and most people seem to understand that the director wanted some things to be intentionally vague. But what bothered me is that I felt like the story kept introducing new plot points that didn't seem connected to what had come before. When I got to the end and saw what other people had to say about what was going on, it didn't do anything to deepen my appreciation of the movie. It's long, too, and it feels like it meanders, even if everything does somehow tie together at the end. I just didn't respond that strongly to it. I think some of the imagery will stick with me, but I don't feel like I enjoyed it enough to want to watch it back. I can't say that I don't recommend it, because obviously a lot of people really enjoyed it, I just didn't happen to be one.

After catapulting himself into the league of South Korea's brightest up-n-coming filmmakers with his extremely polished & mercilessly violent directional debut and then following it up with another thriller that was more or less a misfire, director Na Hong-jin makes a splendid return to form after six years of inactivity, and delivers a cinema that's drenched in blood, sickness & devilry.

The story of The Wailing unfolds in a small South Korean village where a mysterious illness begins to spread & claim many lives after the arrival of a strange Japanese man in the nearby mountains. Investigating the case is a police officer who becomes all the more involved after his own daughter begins exhibiting similar symptoms and enlists the help of a shaman to solve the mystery before its too late.

Written & directed by Na Hong-jin, The Wailing finds the budding filmmaker stepping into the realms of supernatural horror and features numerous elements that made his first film an instant classic. It is a considerable improvement over Hong-jin's previous film, plus his direction exhibits more confidence & comfort this time. The script is just as impressive although it still could've used a bit more refinement.

The film doesn't hold back on violence & gore and keeps the element of doubt alive until the very end. Also admirable is how successfully it manages to force its viewers to switch their allegiance from time to time and keeps them in the dark throughout its runtime. Humour is brilliantly utilised whenever it's required but the tone is grim for the most part and only intensifies as the plot nears its conclusion.

The technical aspects are finely executed. The rural setting & isolated surroundings provide a big enough canvas for the horror to play out. Camera-work is expertly carried out, filming each n every moment in fine detail. Editing is definitely a highlight, given the unpredictable nature of its plot in addition to unforeseen twists n turns, and despite its 156 minutes runtime, it is never boring and is actually cleverly paced from beginning to end.

Coming to the performances, the entire cast chips in with apt contributions in their given roles and play their part responsibly. Kwak Do-won plays the police officer investigating the mystery illness & killings and although a comic relief at first, he wises up as the plot progresses. Hwang Jung-min is in as a shaman and goes bonkers with his role. But the two most measured inputs comes from Jun Kunimura & Chin Woo-hee who play the Japanese stranger & a mysterious woman respectively.

On an overall scale, The Wailing is a fresh, fascinating & ferocious entry in the world of horror that makes terrific use of its atmosphere & supernatural elements to deliver a thoroughly unsettling & consistently engaging experience. There are, however, times when it may leave you a little lost or unsure of what's happening but the interest is never lost for once and only gains momentum as it heads towards its long-awaited finale. A work of mythic weirdness that's diabolical in every sense of the word, The Wailing comes highly recommended.