Hansel et Gretel

If you think you know what this is going to be like, you actually might be wrong. Especially if you think this is a true adaptation of the famous child story. It's not, it's completely different. This Korean movie might seem like a story that could be told to people and it's shooting style is amazing, but it moves very slow.

The colorful movie has quite a few twists, while taking it's sweet time. We have great actors here, who play in this drama (well it's a bit of Horror too, but don't expect this to be a real Horror movie, you will be disappointed by that expectation) and a nice story. The main thing still remains the style it's shot, so Kudos to the Production design and the camera man, for making this world so vividly beautiful.

The original Hansel and Gretel story is a pretty dark fairy tale. This is basically a darker version with a similar concept but mainly different story overall. It's a dark horror movie with vivid and bright colors. The plot is about some guy who gets into a car accident and finds a young mysterious girl when he wakes up, she soon takes him to her family home. Which is a very fairy tale like home, even the inside of the home as well with bunch of sweets. Soon things start to get really creepy, especially the 3 children, one of them being especially annoying. The characters in this is pretty awkward at times, but it doesn't take away from the movie, but adds more mystery around it. The film is pretty cliché at first and predictable, but as the film goes on and on, it gets pretty good and entertaining to some degree. And at least the mystery of what is going on kept me interested, since I wanted to find out what is exactly going on. So the script is passable and is pretty decent, but could have been stronger especially in the beginning where it started to become a bit dull and dragged out a bit as well. Despite some flaws, there are still some good aspect in this movie as well. The set up is done pretty well and the cinematography is beautiful to look at, at times.

7/10

This is a must see!! At under two hours long, it does slow a little in the middle but wait and be prepared to be shocked and moved as the mystery unravels just after half way through. It will probably give you goosebumps if you're not thick skinned - but that's good right!

It revolves around a creepy family of children in a strange cottage in the woods, the adults they snare keep disappearing, when our main guy appears they take to him but he cant leave... they wont let him! The art department is fantastic! Watch this with some fairy cakes and sweets and you'll feel like you are there.

To sum it up: Everything about this film is wonderful! It just oozes class, the story is a nice mix of supernatural fantasy fairy tale with a small injection of psychological horror.

Take one dark little fairytale and blend it in with some Asian horror sensibilities, and you get this loosely based modern take on "Hansel & Gretel". Truth is that the "Hansel & Gretel" theme is actually just a background for the film, and not the whole story.

The basic storyline centres around a man who following a car crash finds himself lost in the forest. Taken by a friendly young girl to her family's home, he finds the family is living in a fantasy like house full of toys and nursery school imagery (replacing the gingerbread make-up from the original tale). Obviously, all isn't as it seems and escape is futile as the leading man finds that all roads out of the house through the forest seem to lead right back to it. The protagonists are the three children, controlling the house and toying with those who enter it, becoming the bane for our lead man as he tries his best to escape their "ideal" world.

What is it all about? Well, it's no fairy tale, and is more a psychological horror tale. However it's very dark and even most adults will feel uncomfortable throughout much of it. That isn't to take away from the film, as its meant to play with our preconceptions of the fairytale world. The story develops from fairytale to horror and then mixes in some serious social commentary. The story is captured with some incredible set pieces and settings, whilst the actors all seem to fully suit their roles in this twisted little tale. Original and intriguing, no matter how uncomfortable you may feel at points watching this early in the film, it is worth watching to the end.

Not all will love the ride on this merry go round, but those who give it a chance to the denouement will find it intriguing and satisfying.

A disappointingly mundane dark fairytale that takes the original storyline and transforms it into a modern-day offering about child abuse, the nuclear family, dependence and obsession. In truth, HANSEL & GRETEL bears little resemblance to the story we know of old, acknowledging it stylistically rather than via the narrative.

The film is billed as a horror movie but in truth it isn't. There are very few moments of violence or tension and these are glossed over rather quickly. Instead, the film prefers to depict 'happy family' scenes and hint at darkness behind the light, rather than focusing on anything specific. Yes, there are a series of supernatural events within the movie that could also help define it as fantasy, but again these are dealt with in hurried glimpses rather than focused upon.

Sadly, what we're left with is a series of repetitive events that go on and on for far too long. From the outset, it's apparent that Eun-Soo can't leave the idyllic woodland location he's trapped in, and yet a good half of the running time is about his endless attempts to escape. Then there are intriguing sub-plots that are never fully developed, such as the one featuring a would-be serial killer. The film ends up relying on huge chunks of exposition plonked in towards the end in an effort to explain things, and undigested back story never makes for a dramatically satisfying movie.

Indeed, you can't fault the calibre of acting on offer – especially from those great child actors – or indeed the technical perfection behind the scenes. But HANSEL & GRETEL's story feels bloated and unfocused, and needed the hand of seasoned professional to turn it into something better than it is.