Inhyeongsa

Yong-ki Jeong's "Puppet Master only with scary parts" was the most recent Korean Horror flick I had the pleasure of watching. With the title of "Inhyeongsa" in Asia, this movie struck me immediately when I saw it reviewed online, with images that made me think of Puppet Master, Childs Play and other toy/doll based horror flicks in the past. But for some reason I didn't think.."Boy, this will be tacky", I imagined it would be creepy and fun. Toysome horror done well almost.

The movie starts slowly, but I like that, so it was fine. The score, almost like I found with Acacia, was beautiful and very much reminded me of classic horror scores of the past. I wont give much away, but the story was strong in this one, and I would highly recommend it to any fan of Asian HORROR. It isn't extreme, it isn't to be taken with utmost seriousness, but it is really good.

A cute sculptor Hae-mi and four other people are invited to a gallery of dolls.They are excited to pose to be a doll model.Superintendent Mr. Choi and Jae-won a doll-maker are the hosts who invite them to this gallery.After just being in the house a short while strange things start to happen to each one of the newly arrived guests and there are also other strange things going on there,like a man being chained in the basement and some weird acting girl in a red dress showing up every now and then.I must admit that the dolls in "The Doll Master" are spooky as hell.However the climax is disappointing and the pace is slow.Still "The Doll Master" is decent enough to watch it once.6 out of 10.

So the Koreans are now knocking off American horror flicks. But they are doing so with style. DOLL MASTER is a close copy of PUPPETMASTER and DOLLS, and even has a little CHILD'S PLAY going for it. Several young adults are invited to attend a special event at a gallery filled with dolls, only to find they are targets of a vengeful spirit. The dolls come to life and do some pretty nasty things to the kids. The gore level is reasonably high, the photography and set design and production values are first rate, the acting isn't all that bad, and the scares are definitely there. DOLL MASTER may not be in the same league with A TALE OF TWO SISTERS or even DEAD FRIEND, but it's close. Give it a watch. You won't be disappointed.

Well, I just saw this movie and I started thinking that may be I have seen too much Asian horror because I just had one good jump of fear while watching this film. Even when I have to say that this is the most "frightening" scary-dolls movie I have seen, I have to say as well that, as an Asian film I was expecting more tension and good psychological horror. It actually only contents a little dose. It has more gore than I expected and that I'm used to (regarding to Asian's movies). Besides, at some point it gets quite predictable, the climax is loose, and a pair of special effects are cheesy. On the other hand the acting was really good, the atmosphere was well studied, because,I mean, the dolls were amazingly creepy and well located. The plot is not bad, it's well justified, but I realized that this is an Asian movie with a north American horror style and that's what I didn't like of it. No offense. Anyway... at this moment I'm wondering if to get rid or not of my old Barbie doll that I keep in my wardrobe. May be she can get upset. :D

Have to say, the film has a lot of potential to be something really spooky but unfortunately resorts to the almost Hollywood like style sense of horror with the predictable deaths of its characters which makes this look more like a slasher film.

It doesn't help that all the characters feel like card board cut outs - the annoying college girl, the annoying male, the uptight and serious guy, the awkward weirdo girl who can't be removed from her doll and our heroine who is sort of in the middle of everyone. They are all invited to a house so the owner can model dolls from their features and find well....there is more going on in this house than meets the eye - like you couldn't work that out for yourself.

The film doesn't build up the suspense which would have been perfect considering there are so many creepy dolls in this house - but relies more on the cheap scare tactics which doesn't work at all here. And it is a pity considering the production design and the look of the film has so much to work with.

If the director had seen A Tale of Two Sisters and tried to make that approach by slowly revealing things while still maintaining a sense of mystery instead of throwing it down your throat, this would have been a much better film but unfortunately, is on the same level as a teenager slasher film. Disappointing - has its nice moments but overall just as hollow as normal doll - all looks but nothing inside.