Geomi sup

SPIDER FOREST is a fantastic, multi-faceted ghost story. In fact, there's so much going on that multiple viewings are -cheerfully!- recommended. The twists come in rapid-fire succession, building a layered story of loss, betrayal, deception, murder, and the beyond. If you're longing for an intelligent supernatural tale with heavy doses of mystery and suspense, then this movie will fill your need! There's even a non-linear, dreamlike quality! More horror bliss from South Korea!...

I saw Spider Forest at the Toronto International Film Festival last night. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure of what to expect from it - was it a horror film? Or was it a detective story, a thriller, or something altogether different? The answer, I think, is that it is all of those things.

The film begins with a series of mysterious and shocking events in a cabin in the forest, and much like a spider's web, returns to this place quite often in an attempt to unravel its secrets.

Spider Forest manages to avoid most of the modern horror/suspense/thriller conventions, including scary pale children and does not rely on special effects to set the mood. Instead, the psychological predicament of the main character creates an atmosphere of blurred confusion and distrust of one's own memory.

The story is entirely unique and never quite goes in the direction the audience is expecting.

I give a confident recommendation to see this film.

Well...what can I say about this film. I guess my initial thought was to mention a few movies that share a similar story or plot, but upon doing so I'd ruin the film. I just think that the concept although no tired yet, is getting a bit more common. I can count three to four titles I've seen in the last two years that use this concept to a certain degree within the storyline. This film is nothing new or original at all, and that in itself was a bit disappointing.

Let's put it this was. Within the first 15 minutes both my friend and I pretty much figured out was what going to happen. Why? There is a French horror film that came out (produced by a Korean studio also) that is close to identical to this film, except the main character is a woman. If you're interested message me and I'll pass the title along.

That being said, the story itself was still above average, but the execution was a bit poor in my opinion. I think the movie was just a bit too long for what it was trying to do (I think it was only 2 hours, but it felt like 3-4). The movie could have had the same impact if they cut off about 30 minutes. I keep thinking I missed something, or there was something more to this film...however there aren't any questions for me to ask...so I can't see how I could have missed something.

I saw this at the Toronto Film Festival, and I can't say that I was upset I saw it. I think it's worth a rental, but I wouldn't suggest anyone go out of their way to find this. It really had some potential, but again it just didn't execute in the areas it should have. Upon leaving the theatre all I was thinking was "I've seen this before...and I liked the other films a little more"

Not bad...but nothing to write home over.

"Spider Forest" is a South Korean movie which would be better classified as a psychological thriller, in my opinion. Some would say it's a drama. Others would argue that it's really a horror movie, depending on your interpretation.

And that's what this movie is about: Interpretation. Much like David Lynch's puzzle movies, this one is all about what's real or not, and it's up to you to decide what's happening.

Two things I can say about it - it's that the movie has a cyclical nature, and that there's no real closure on screen. The ending can be interpreted as hopeful or depressingly frustrating, or anything else entirely. It's up to the viewer to decide.

So, While "Spider Forest" has many elements borrowed from other movies ("Mullholland Dr", "The I Inside", and to a lesser extent "Memento" and even "Lost" in the forest scenes), they are done well here, and help make a quality movie that poses a lot of questions, answers them all only to have you wondering what really happened in the end.

If you like this kind of movie (I know I do), get inside the Spider Forest...

8/10

I also scoped this movie out at the Toronto Festival (Sept 14th). They showed it at the ROM theatre which has the unfortunately acoustic property of being directly over a subway.

I liked this movie a lot, more for its style than anything else. The tunnel scene has some of the coolest lighting I've seen in a while. The plot was a bit hard to follow and I did leave the theatre scratching my head a bit. I didn't know what to expect at all, so it took me a while to get with the flow. I'd like to see this film again to get a better handle on the story.

I definitely recommend this film for fans of visual, stylistic film making.