Hansel et Gretel

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.

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

Hansel & Gretel took me by surprise, in a good way. I was expecting a sick film about a man who gets taken hostage by a murdering, cannibalistic family and he had to escape. I should've known more, being that the film is Korean and the way in which they make films is often character driven, complex and with heart. Hansel & Gretel provides all three. The title is a mere intelligent reference to the Grimm's story, it's not simply a re-telling but a fairytale of its own, although I wouldn't go telling this story to any kids!

The film is beautifully shot. In the beginning the colours are extremely bright and vivid, giving the film an unnatural quality so that you know that there's something wrong. However, the colours and props gradually decrease as we find out the many secrets as it leads up to a big twist at the end that I'm sure you will never see coming. What makes the film so gripping and worthy of its two hour running time is that it's highly unpredictable. When you think the films going one way it completely changes direction in a similar way to "Martyrs", although not that harrowing! Hansel & Gretel is jam-packed (Nathan's jam, in my own fairytale) with twists and turns so there's hardly ever a dull moment.

Although things start to become repetitious when our hero keeps going into the woods and getting lost, so going back to the house it's there for a reason, so that we start to feel as fed up and trapped as he does/ There's a great atmosphere of isolation and the film is incredibly eerie at times with the creepy children. Hollywood could never make a film like this because they lack the imagination and creativity that makes Hansel & Gretel so great. Many people may not totally get the fantasy element but I see it important, as it makes the film become its own fairytale and also leaves a lot of things up to interpretation, and I like that sense of ambiguity.

The protagonist is also a very likable character,being that he's the only normal one in the whole film. We uncover the mysteries with him, putting the audience in his shoes makes the film even more compelling. The screenplay is very clever and explores extremely dark and brave areas towards the end. It makes you sympathise for the characters and almost changes into a completely different genre which is very original.

Hansel & Gretel can sit up there with all the other great Korean films, I have yet to see a bad one! It also makes a nice change to do something different rather than the usual (but brilliant) bloody revenge horror/thrillers. It's highly original and compelling with a big heart. It's scary and heartfelt exactly when it needs to be with a lot of questions that can be answered in very different ways. It's eerily directed and never boring. You'll care as much as our hero about uncovering the secrets in the strange house! I think that it deserves to be seen by much more people. (Luckily I caught it on Film4, having never even heard of it before!)

The Grimm's classic fairytale Hansel and Gretal is one that lives forever in the memory. With its gingerbread house and wicked witch, it is a children's tale that possesses joyful wonderment and creepy scares in equal measure. When Yim Pil-sung released this film in 2007, he promised to pay homage to such beloved fairy tales; however, the famed story which lends its name to Pil-sung's film is observed but not adapted here.

Hansel & Gretal works on many levels. The film has a magical and original script supported by equally magical visuals. The capture of the snow filled Korean forest and claustrophobic house create a feeling of wonderment straight out of a fairytale. This has maybe gone a little unnoticed outside of its native Korea, but it is well worth chasing up. A big surprise for its charm and inner delights, this is a horror film with a very sweet tooth. LW

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.