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Post by Martin Stett on Feb 22, 2017 3:55:59 GMT
This is why I miss IMDb. I want to see what other people thought of this schizophrenic, rambling piece of insanity. I mean, there are five different movies in here! It starts off as a black comedy about two idiotic, bumbling cops getting knee deep in a murder spree. Then it switches gears into becoming The Exorcist. And then it dumps that and becomes Prisoners. And then it goes back into religious horror mode, but with a heavy focus on crises of faith, before being capped off with one of the most wtf endings in recent memory. I actually liked the movie on the basis of never knowing how the hell I was meant to respond to it. It was totally nutters. I'm not sure it was nutters in a good way, but I'm too confused to care.
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Post by stephen on Feb 22, 2017 3:59:19 GMT
It's a very messy film that could've easily had a full forty-five minutes excised at least, but it's an entertaining enough flick, and it's basically about the most ineffectual Barney Fife-esque cop in Korea solving a case straight out of a Blatty novel. I also think Jun Kunimura's performance was fantastic and close to nom-worthy.
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mrx2848
New Member
Posts: 45
Likes: 10
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Post by mrx2848 on Feb 22, 2017 4:17:36 GMT
It's so crazy, but SO GOOD! One of the most utterly unique movies I've seen in a while. Months after seeing it, I'm still trying to put the pieces together in my head... I'll definitely need to give it a rewatch. The part that stuck out most was that amazing exorcism scene... the sound, the choreography, the EDITING!!!
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Post by DeepArcher on Feb 22, 2017 4:34:32 GMT
I was actually thinking about re-watching it soon, to see if it holds up. It's my favorite film of the year that ranks outside of my highly-coveted top seven, and it's probably my favorite horror film of the decade so far.
The first act is certainly tonally all over the place, but once it finds its footing (roughly around the investigation of the Japanese stranger's house, if I recall correctly), it's a non-stop thrill ride. I know I'm in the minority here, but I actually think it earns its runtime. Those two-and-a-half hours flew by for me, and I know that's a cliche statement, but I don't throw it around lightly. The second and third acts are just exhilarating, and some of the most genuinely frightening horror I've ever seen (the image of the demon at the end is unforgettably terrifying). It has some masterfully done sequences that are among my favorite cinematic moments of the year, particularly the exorcism scenes and the Nolan-esque climax. The ending is perfect. And the acting is quite good; Kim Hwan-hee blew me away, and Jun Kunimura and Hwang Jeong-min also delivered expertly.
I know it has its flaws, but I really wish more people were taking to it as much as I did. It has a totally brilliant sense of mysticism and it's engrossingly enigmatic. Just talking about it makes me realize I need to experience it again.
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Post by Martin Stett on Feb 22, 2017 5:13:23 GMT
I really found my attention wandering during the Prisoners section with them hunting down the Japanese guy. That whole section really should have been cut -- or better yet, re-written.
Religious horror really isn't a favorite genre of mine. Too often, it functions as a shortcut to scaring people that neglects character development. (A big gripe I had with The Witch.) This movie suffers from that too, especially at the end. The imagery may be freaky, but... it was just random imagery, with a random side character that has no development, and it distracts from the dilemma facing the protagonist.
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Post by Real Duality on Feb 22, 2017 5:21:47 GMT
I do think it's all over the place, unnecessarily confusing, at times over dramatic, pompous, and try hard, but damn I was well entertained throughout the whole two-and-a-half hours. It is good, and I third Jun Kunimura being great. Also, I liked the actress who played the young lady.
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Dougie Jones
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https://letterboxd.com/comradekubrick/
Posts: 188
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Post by Dougie Jones on Feb 22, 2017 9:02:48 GMT
I absolutely love it! The double ritual scene was one of the most intense things I have ever seen.
Potential spoilers below. The film is overall obviously a mess, but at the same time it did sort of make sense to me as commentary on storytelling and on folklore. We will never know what was actually going on in the mystery, but everyone sort of found their own way of experiencing in, all based in different folklore or horror tropes.
The only thing I wasnt a fan of was the zombie section, that was the only thing i didnt feel worked tonally, but otherwise it is absolutely fuckinf great!
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Post by notacrook on Feb 22, 2017 11:17:46 GMT
I really disliked the first hour, simply because it just felt like the movie had no idea what it wanted to be. The scares were cheap and kind of laughable, and the family drama felt entirely out of place. It was becoming a chore to watch. The main character was also incredibly irritating.
However, things started to pick up in the second hour, especially with those gonzo ritual scenes, and the final twenty minutes were just fantastic and really gripping stuff. So I'd say I had mixed feelings on it overall - it's definitely at least 40 minutes too long - but I'm glad I saw it. Its got nothing on The Witch though.
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Post by Pavan on Feb 22, 2017 15:55:00 GMT
Yeah it tried to mix several aspects into one. A black comedy, a zombie flick, religious horror, family tragedy etc., but I liked it. Could've trimmed the black comedy part a bit to make it more crisp.
The unsettling atmosphere adds more flavor to it.
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