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A female
detective and her new assistant are investigating
a recent series of homicides. What's so strange is that
all of the victims seem to have died due to an acid
unleashed inside of their bodies. As the two detectives
discover more about their case, they soon start to
realize that the recent deaths may have something to
do with an incident that occurred ten years ago,
in a salt house.
CSI meets The Grudge in this overambitious ghost story
filled with vengeful ghosts and ludicrous twists. Once
again we are treated with a plot that tries too hard to
be clever and ends up being tedious and clichéd, with a
vengeful ghost who just doesn't seem to know when it's
time to cut her hair. There's even one scene where the
entire roof inside a shower is covered with hair and
honestly, I think that it's time that someone unclogged
this mess and let some fresh ideas run through.
We've all heard the basic story-line before, and some
scenes are actually ripped right out of the Thai
horror flick Shutter. A couple of years ago, some
rich guys raped a girl who mysteriously disappeared
some time later. Now, the guys are all grown up and
one day they start receiving strange (but naturally
very flashy) email messages accompanied by a very
unoriginal melody (think One Missed Call). Shortly
thereafter, they start turning up dead, one by one
and it's up to two detectives (obviously a dynamic
duo of a strong independent woman and a dorky guy)
to solve the mystery.
Poorly guised as a mystery-thriller, this ghost flick
was obviously made with only one purpose in mind - to
make a quick buck. While most South Korean movies are
beautifully shot with brilliant cinematography and
lots of passion behind the camera, Arang feels somehow
empty. There's simply no soul in it. The actors deliver
their dialogues but don't go far beyond that, the
director seems to have done what he was hired to do,
but not a whole lot more. It's hard to explain, the
movie just felt so pale compared to other Korean films.
I can't say that I'm disappointed with Arang though
since I knew that it wasn't going to be anything
original. It's just sad to see that these movies are
still making good money since I wish that South Korea
would spend more time producing movies like The Record
(it wasn't great, but at least it was something that
we weren't used to seeing from Asia). Ultimately,
Arang had few things going for it, it was a watchable
but not a whole lot more. Too many flashy effects and
not enough atmosphere might have been the main reason
to why this movie failed though.
Nothing really.
Apart from the "One Missed Call"-sounding melody, there
wasn't anything really noticeable in here. Just like
the movie, it was very bland and uninspired.
Arang is just another forgettable horror flick about
a long-haired ghost with some serious eye issues. It
copies a lot from "Shutter" but resorts to flashy
effects and ludicrous twists, which ultimately was
this movies downfall. Don't waste your time on this.
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