vegadu

I don't usually write many reviews for movies but this one deserves it. It had perfect pacing, was confusing in all the right ways so you never know what's going to happen, the acting was superb (especially the psychic Nori), & it leaves you with a sense of extreme discomfort after the end. I say it all the time, the Japanese have perfected the horror genre. This is a found footage/documentary type film (before it gained popularity after Paranormal Activity), & being made in 2005 (not 2017 like Shudder says), I believe it was the first horror film to use the deep bass sound that vibrates sheer terror for the viewer. As a warning, there are some scenes with dogs being shown deceased, at the 1 hr 31 min, 1 hr 39 min, & 1 hr 46 min mark, just a head's up about that. This movie was excellent, watch until the end, there's a scene in the woods that was so shocking I had to pause the movie and just sit & process what I saw on the screen!

I watched this as a risk due to the fact there's no actual written reviews on here about this movie. I'm a huge fan of horror films especially from Asia. This one didn't disappoint. There's not a huge amount of jump scares, but what's really scary is the fact that what occurs in the movie is so realistic. Those things are based in reality on what happens in Korean prep schools. The horrific bullying and violence in schools got a little better during the pandemic, but it is now worse than it's ever been. That's what is truly scary, that the absolutely abhorrent and shocking behavior shown happens in real life, sometimes even worse than what was in the film. I did have an issue with how justice is served in the film towards the end, for some it may be very satisfying and will have no issues with it but for me I wanted even more based on how angry I felt at what happened to Miok. That's why I rated it 8/10.

I thought this film had excellent acting, really amazing high quality CGI effects, and the scary parts were actually terrifying. It's by the director of "Ju-On", or "The Grudge" which the Japanese version will always haunt me. It even had HBO's "The Last of Us" vibes and the overall storyline was excellent. It is slow in some parts but like I said, when the scary scenes happen they make the movie. I actually cringed in fear a couple times which it takes a lot for me to do! Not sure why it got some negative reviews, maybe they wanted more action, but to be a truly scary film, it has to have subtle fear that really digs into your soul. I've watched countless horror films and this was something definitely different and refreshing.