Sonnim

I recall watching the American movie Willard more than thirty years ago. Roddy McDowell was the star. He befriended a bunch of rats who obeyed him like trained dogs. This time around, a man travelling with his ten year-old son through the Korean countryside, stops at a remote village where the people are hiding from the war. They have a major rat infestation and the stranger agrees to rid them of the rodents for the price of a pig. He uses an ingenious method to extract the vermin. Betrayal follows soon after and that is when the fun begins. Revenge is sweet and I will leave it at that. The film is a bit too long but it is a fun ride nonetheless.

The Piper: South Korean Folk Horror take on the legend. It's 1953, just after the Armistice, a man and his young son wandering through a forest finds a village. The chief of the settlement invites them to stay for the night. The stranger entertains the locals playing tunes on his pipe. His music causes rats to move. He is asked to stay on and is offered a reward when he claims he can rid the village of it's plague of rats. These are fearsome rodents, they eat cats and menace humans. When the villagers had to flee during the war, the sick and there Shaman wouldn't leave and they were massacred by the rampaging Chinese soldiers. The Chief and his followers returned to find their bodies being devoured by rats. Using his pipe and bait the piper clears the rats out. But as in the fable the villagers renege on the deal. There is real horror ib this film, the rats descending in swarms, devouring the living and the dead, the spirit of a wronged Shaman returns and possesses a young woman, gruesome murders. It is far darker than the original legend as the villagers are also hiding secrets which shame them. The rats deserve an award for best ensemble performance. The psychological horror is also impressive as the Piper's achievements are denied, accused of being a spy, the far of the stranger used to turn a mob against him. The existential terror of the final scenes will stick with me for a while I reckon. Written and Directed by Kim Gwang-tae. 8/10.

"A Korean Willard" is the best review. The Piper is the perfect date night movie, slow enough to give you time for personal activities and scarey enough to have her cling close. Watch this one.

A terrific film that, along with Train to Busan the following year, shows how far Korean horror has developed since The Host. Starting slowly, the story develops its characters and the sense of post-war suspicion well. Subtle clues, and some less subtle, gradually add to the sense of unease as the father earns the villagers' trust and friendship before they turn against him. The last third builds mercilessly towards its tragic conclusion. Despite nods to the Piper of Hamelin and The Fog, the film never feels derivative and the viewer is pulled along with the dripfeed of revelations. Well worth a watch.

A dark, strange and formidable fairytale that i wouldn't describe as a horror though it has the power of one.

It's very easy to take it seriously even with the comical handling. A criticism I make of a lot of movies is that they "don't judge their own tone well" which is really just a way for me to say I couldn't get into it that makes me sound more articulate than I really am. However, it was really a treat to see a movie that is pretty much note perfect in the story it wants to tell, being atmospheric in its folkloric tale of bargains and power struggles with a mystical centre.

There are only two real flaws if you can get into it at all: one is that the rats are frequently unconvincing (on that note, this is NOT for people with a problem with rats. It's like that scene in Ratatouille but more so).

Secondly...there's just too much of it. I can't think right away of a bit they could cut or trim because it's pretty efficient storytelling but you will feel this movie in your numb buttocks.

Ultimately this movie really makes me want to like it. It develops and resolves with the perfect timing of a virtuoso, able to sell to you that we live in a world of magic without ever compromising its status as a serious fairytale for adults.

The acting is impeccable (even from our youngest actor), the star conveying pathos and humour in a way we haven't' seen since Giulietta Masina and the antagonist has a smouldering power you just love to hate.

And the music... even if you don't watch this movie, buy the soundtrack, all the music, diegetic or otherwise, is a treat for the ears.

Not for everyone but I am certain to check out the writer's other stuff. A movie that truly feels like it was made out of passion.