Réunion sanglante

This was a movie that I had never heard of until the Podcast Under the Stairs' Summer Challenge Series for the 2000s. I'm surprised it hadn't popped up before that as I'm a fan of South Korean films and for a stretch there I was seeking as many out as I could. Aside from what I heard on the episode, I came into this one pretty blind. The synopsis is buried grudges have disastrous consequences for a class reunion.

To start us off, we're given a lot of the back-story very quickly. There is a teacher of Miss Park (Mi-hee Oh). She is pregnant and takes her class to the beach. Something happens to her while there and her son is born deformed. She decides to lock the child in the basement and I'm assuming part of this is cultural as Asian countries from my experience strive for perfection. Due to the grief and stress here, Miss Park's husband commits suicide, leaving her alone with the child.

We then shift to the present time where an older detective is close to retirement. Along with his partner, they go to a scene that looks to be murder. This brings them to the hospital from what I remember. It is there we see the name Nam Mi-ja (Yeong-hie Seo).

It turns out Mi-ja is taking care of her former teacher, Miss Park. She has come down with a disease that is eating away at her. She is confined to a wheelchair and we even learn that she has trouble controlling her bodily functions. At her house, a group of her former students are coming to visit. There is Myung-ho (Dong-kyu Lee) who we see early on is popping prescription pills, driving a fast car and wearing a leather jacket.

There is also a couple of Eun-young (Seol-ah Yu) along with her fiancé of Se-ho (Hyeon-Soo Yeo). We have a former athlete of Dal-bong (Hyo-jun Park) who is hitchhiking to make the reunion and ends up being picked up by a former classmate of Sun-hee (Ji-hyeon Lee). She used to be overweight, but now is quite attractive. She is hiding something with always wearing sunglasses though. The last one that shows up also lives nearby Miss Park. He dropped out of school after his mother passed away and was kind of weird, Jung-won (Seong-won Jang).

Their time here isn't as happy as everything sounds though. We are given flashes that Miss Park wasn't as nice as she is carrying on to be now. Jung-won was mocked by students before leaving class, including the teacher. She has embarrassed them all in different ways when they were younger and the effects are still felt today. It has driven some to drink while others deal with deeper psychological issues. It takes a deadly turn when someone attacks and takes them one by one into the basement to torture them. Is this Miss Park's deformed son doing this or someone else finally snapping from their psychological damage from the past?

That is where I'm going to leave the recap of this movie as this is really about half of the runtime to be honest. They do a really good job at making sure we get to know each of these characters and this almost plays out like a giallo film actually. I'm not going to call it one, but it has that mystery type vibe for me. I could see some people not necessarily being on board for this part of the movie, but I think it makes a bit more sense to fully understand what happens in the second half.

To shift this slightly, this is an odd movie as well. I don't really know why they're having this reunion with Miss Park. At first, we are led to believe they all really like her. I think part of this could be cultural gap for me. She treated them all pretty horrible. We learn that she could be the cause of Dal-bong's knee injury. She humiliated both Eun-young and Se-ho. Yet, they're still there seeking her approval for them to be married. She mocked Sun-hee about her weight and there could be abuse that involves Myung-ho as well. All of them have a reason to want to kill her. There is also drinking going on at this party, which we know what can happen there with harboring anger.

There is also this aspect of Miss Park's deformed child. As kids, they would come to his window and there seems to be a bit of making fun of him. Really the only one that doesn't is Jung-won. He does get scolded by Miss Park for looking in on him. Of course, the killer in this movie is donning a rabbit mask like the boy would wear and there are some child-like aspects to how he ties up people that are taken into the basement. I will give the movie credit here that I dug the mystery it is building for this.

Now I will admit though, I think I need another viewing of this movie. When the reveals happen, it does feel a bit like a cheat and that everything we've seen leading up to this isn't exactly how we saw it. I want to see if there is something that I missed or some tell that makes this not a cheat, because I really don't want it to be. To bring this back with a positive though, I really liked some of the images we flash back to explain the ending as it comes together. I still don't fully think I grasped the ending though.

What I did like was the acting here. Jang is solid as this quiet guy. We don't fully trust him and as things go on, the group reverts to how they acted in school. Dal-bong starts to bully him again and it is sad actually. Dong-kyu Lee does well in harboring a dark secret and I liked that I could pick up signs before it is revealed there. Ji-hyeon Lee was good as well with someone with low self-esteem. She does want she can to present that she has gotten over her trauma, but we can see it is still there. Oh is interesting with the duality of her character. She's been humbled by her condition, but it doesn't give her a pass for the horrible things she did in the past. She pretends like they didn't happen until she's confronted which I liked. Park seems like this guy who has his dreams shattered and drinking is how he copes. He is a bit overweight now which fits as well. Seo's performance is understated here, especially by the end. She does really well. Yeo is similar to that of Dal-bong in that drinking his how he copes, but his anger is manifested differently and Yu was solid as his counterpart. She really has an interesting scene with Miss Park as things progress. The rest of the cast does round this out for what was needed.

So then the last thing I want to go into would be the effects. I was really shocked to see how far they went with things. This movie is bloody and really lives up to that part of its title. I think there is good color and consistency. The attacks looked good and the torture scenes made me cringe as well. The acting was solid in them as well with conveying their fear of what is happening. I believe there probably was some CGI with ants that we got, but I wasn't bothered there. Aside from that, the look of the movie seems a bit amateur. Not that it is a bad thing as the cinematography still looked good.

In conclusion here, this is an interesting little movie. I like how it starts off feeling like a group of students visiting their teacher, but the more we learn, the more we see that isn't the case. We're getting a good look at the trauma caused and the effects it has on adults. The actors do a great job in conveying that. As for the effects department, they looked to be mostly practical and looked good. The soundtrack fit for what was needed. This has an interesting mystery, but it is one that I want to rewatch to ensure it isn't a cheat now that I know how it plays out. I would say this is above average movie after this first viewing.

South Korea. Now and then there is a movie coming out of that country worth watching. And let me say, this one is a gem of that country. Be warned, you will have to go a bit into their traditions, and the way they are making movies. What is good about Bloody Reunion is the fact that there is a strong storyline. Just when you think you know the killer the director or screenwriter tricks you. It isn't all about the horror. The story takes you far beyond that. What Grotesque misses this one has, a story. Grotesque was all about torture, this one delivers more. An old woman being a teacher ones is dying. She gathers some old students to say goodbye but those who came to the reunion would like to say how they feel about her and their lives. It starts a bit slow with the arrival of the guest and then getting into the characters. Slowly we glide into terror that becomes horror. Ones we know who the killer is the movie changes from horror into suspense. But let me tell you, it all works and by the sudden changes into the plot you will watch it without being bothered by the language, it's spoken in Korean. Be sure to catch the full uncut. It's sometimes gory in the typical Eastern tradition. I wouldn't say it's HK III but for some it will be a bit brutal.

Dae-wung Lim's 'Seuseung-ui Eunhye' is pretty much another East Asian slasher flick made in the traditional fashion. It starts off slow and drags on. For a slasher flick, there isn't that much slashing which isn't necessarily a bad thing provided that the story's good enough. But, once the slashing starts, it goes on until almost the end. The torture scenes are quite creative and well executed. Unlike the Hollywood slasher flicks, the story here has layers and at least some of the twists make sense. Yet, it's not without its share of flaws. Plot holes are abundant and the pacing is poor. The dialogues do ramble on at some point. The performances, especially those of Seong-won Jang and Mi-hee Oh are better than what one usually expects from such movies. This certainly isn't the best of East Asian horror and slasher but it's not a bad suggestion for those who enjoy this kind of stuff.

The appealing combination of words "korean" and "slasher" pulled me into this one, and indeed it's quite the saucy slasher, but not in the best of senses. Via an unapologetically fast intro we learn that a teacher gives birth to a deformed child, who they don't love and keep in basement, until her husband commits suicide in front of the kid. Sounds like a slasher alright. Cut to present day, a class of that time is visiting the now old and wheelchair-bound teacher, and this dinner party will bring out old grudges. The script of "Bloody Reunion" tries hard to twist a bunch of borrowed tropes, and explore a high count of characters too deep too quickly, establishing plot-points frequently with little behind them. The movie is sort of 50/50 plot/slasher violence driven, and the plot involves serious matters, like psychological trauma through abuse, but as opposed to more acclaimed, focused movies on similar themes, "Bloody Reunion" doesn't allow time or space for substantial development and construction, and rather takes leaps. Visually, the movie is very well serviceable, but unimpressive, and the constant zooming in some dialogue scenes didn't work very well. When it comes to special effects, however, they're gruesome alright. It's a slasher that definitely speaks some effort, and is a decent attraction to the fans of the genre. 6/10.

Tartan's new release, Bloody Reunion (a.k.a. To Sir, With Love) is not a remake of the 1964 classic starring Sidney Poitier. It is a grimy, sadistic, South Korean foray into the slasher flick genre. In ways it is very reminiscent of early 80's Horror flicks like Jason or Sleepaway Camp. And just as those films are considered cinematic trash, Blood Reunion might also fit the same description. Fortunately for my viewing pleasure, I love Asian Trash Cinema! Bloody Reunion tells the story of a group of elementary students who return years later to visit their former teacher-who has recently took ill-in the countryside. Once the group arrives, the film briefly jumps back and forth between the past and present, showing us that this sweet teacher (Mrs. Park) had a cruel side to her. In fact as the film progresses we find out that most of her former students have murderous intentions towards the teacher. And their not the only ones with murderous intentions, as we soon find out. Someone in the group is systematically bumping off the students one by one in the most gruesome fashion possible.

That's pretty much the story, as the film's narrative kinda sputters out after the first 30 minutes and then degenerates into a slasher flick (literally). The film than takes you through a series of murders each more horrid than the next. This goes on for awhile, and if the film was just this,I would have probably liked it less. But just when you thought you've figured it out, the film twists into a way that you don't expect. And is pleasantly surprising.

The film has a lot of faults and loose ends. For one, the sub plot about Mrs. Park's deformed child never really pays off. The acting is substandard (but does anyone really expect good acting in a slasher flick?). And as I mentioned before the story kinda just stops and the viewer is left with a lot of unanswered questions. I guess it all depends on what your frame of mind when you watch it. Don't go into this with high expectations and you just might come out liking it. Also, if gore and violence aren't your thing, STAY AWAY from this film.

All in All, a decent horror flick with some genuine creepiness. Not as good as I had hoped, but it's nice to see a director depart from the long-haired ghost girl movies that Asian Cinema seems to puts out over and over