|
Yoon Hee is
trying to find inspiration for her next
book and finds out about the legend of Muoi's portrait.
Apparently, Muoi was brutally killed right after the
painting was finished, and ever since then, the locals
have believed that the portrait is cursed. This doesn't
scare Yoon Hee though as she decides to travel to
Vietnam where she meets up with a friend to investigate
the real mystery about the portrait. Naturally, this
is an extremely bad idea.
South Korean horror flicks are rapidly decreasing in
both quality and popularity as they just don't seem to
get that the long-haired ghost girl trend is long dead.
A couple of weeks ago, I reviewed the first South Korean
summer horror of the year, "The Evil Twin", which wasn't
exactly a promising start of the South Korean horror
season. Luckily, Muoi is slightly better than Evil Twin
and delivers more than just a couple of cheap scares.
Muoi takes us back to the beginning of the new millennium
when South Korean horror flicks had intriguing and
well-crafted stories. This time an author travels to
Vietnam to get inspiration for her next book, only to
find out about the legend of a haunted portrait. The
woman on the portrait was killed back in the late 19th
century and it's said that the painting is cursed by
her spirit. This may not sound too complex but believe
you me, this is the most complex South Korean horror
flick that I've seen in several years. Everything about
it feels very ambitious and it's really a shame that
they, like many other recent Korean horror flicks,
forgot that they were making a horror flick.
See, Muoi may work well as a drama but the horror aspect
of the movie was left in the dark and didn't come
through until the mediocre and predictable climax.
In that sense, Muoi is a typical Korean horror flick
as it has the predictable story, a far-fetched twist
and some of the most beautiful cinematography that you
can ever imagine - but with the obvious lack of suspense
and scares. Sure, the long-haired ghost girl makes a
subtle appearance every once in a while but never in
a creepy way - she's just there and that's all there is
to it. It's unfortunate that the horror aspect of the
movie felt so forced and out of place as the story is
very intriguing and will definitely keep you watching.
Overall, Muoi is a decent horror flick and I'm glad to
see that they haven't completely given up trying to
come up with complex and interesting stories. I still
wish that they'd get over the whole ghost girl thing
though as it's been done to death. Worth checking out
for the brilliant cinematography and deep story but
if you're looking for something in the vein of "A Tale
Of Two Sisters" and "Shutter", you're out of luck
with this one. Sorry to have to disappoint you.
None, but the special effects were awesome.
You all ready know what I'm going to say here but in
case you don't, the soundtrack was naturally flawless
and accompanies the movie beautifully, just like with
most South Korean horror flicks.
A stylish and beautiful horror movie with an interesting
and complex story and some brilliant special effects.
Unfortunately, the horror aspect of the movie shines
with its absence and you end up slightly disappointed
that nothing ever really happened. The climax is too
predictable and far-fetched for my taste and I've had
enough of these ghost girls all ready.
|
|
