Skip to Content
Register · Login
About Theme

A Letterboxing Community

Atlas Quest
Search Edit Search

Read Thread: The Wailing~ A South Korean Scary Movie

The Wailing~ A South Korean Scary Movie
Board: Movie Moments
Aug 13, 2018 11:27am
Thread (disabled) Board
After viewing and truly enjoying Train to Busan, a South Korean film, I was willing to try another South Korean scary film. The Wailing, another South Korean film, also came highly recommended.

Now before I begin I feel it is necessary to mention why I have waited for so long to view this film. According to the recommendations, it is noted that this movie is longer than most movies but promises a “stunning” ending. On Sunday I finally decided to check it out.

Set in a small, rural Korean village, a police sergeant, Jong-goo, is called to work because a woman has died/killed. Now before he goes, his mother convinces him to eat before he goes to work. Needless to say, he’s late to the scene of the crime and hears about it from his boss but tensions are already running high as it seems that it was not just one woman but two people murdered by an uncle who seems to be “out of it” and extremely sickly.

Despite the horrors of this grizzly incident, the police are ready to wash their hands of it, citing the tainted/toxic mushrooms found in the uncle’s blood levels. Our easy going Sergeant is not overly convinced, and starts hearing the locals talk about how this terrible deed happened after the arrival of an unknown Japanese man. (There does seems to be racial tension about this, just an FYI.) But again Jong-goo shirks it off as people being racial/superstitious . . . But shortly there after there is another incident of a woman, seemingly out of her mind, slaughtering her family.
At this point, Jong-goo’s failings as a serious police officer is obvious and you aren’t certain if this a comedy or a scary movie. But to be fair, it does not seem like this is something they have to deal with on a regular basis, either.

But our hero does his best to try and figure out what is going, as it clear that this is not just tainted/toxic mushrooms. He then speaks with a witness who claims that the Japanese man is the cause of all this, and having heard enough about the Japanese man, he and his partner takes the witness to the Japanese man’s house. (The Japanese man has no formal name, so I have to refer to him as the Japanese man.)

Once there, things start to get very interesting, including the fact that Jong-goo’s own daughter seems to be afflicted by the same “disease” as the others. And from this point on, we see the evolution of Jong-goo, from a slow, pokey police officer to a man determined to save his daughter.

At the last 30 minutes of the film, we see all the “people” in play in what is a battle of Good VS Evil and even I was startled by the turning of events.

Hong-jin Na directed The Wailing and has won a few awards for it. For it’s ending, I can see why but . . . I really believe that he was put too many themes and morals and a “too long” story here. As I said before, this movie is longer than most movies, and I suspect Na was taking his time to tell this story but he certainly could have done it a shorter amount of time and he could have done it focusing more on one theme and moral. The first 50 minutes, I was not sure why this was a labeled a scary movie, as our “hero” Jong-goo seems to be Barney Fifing it through all the “zombies” scenes and then the movie turns into a battle of Good vs Evil. Again, too many themes.

Aside from this, only three things really irked me about this movie. 1) the lack of communication between people and 2) it’s 2018, people. I don’t care if you live in small Korean village in the jungle, everyone should know what a zombie looks like. (But this second issue is more personal than the first issue.) And 3rd, I really thought the explanation from the "good" as to why “him” was crappy.

Having said enough, on to the Kitty Paws:
One Kitty Paw for our “hero” Jong-goo. We like him. We want him to save his daughter. He is a good husband and father.
One Kitty Paw because you really don’t know who is who until the last few moments. You doubt, double doubt and second yourself.
One Kitty Paw because there is a curious twist that I did not see coming.
One Kitty Paw because Na’s direction seems to get better and more focused as the film goes along.

But for the things that irked me, I take away One Kitty Paw.

So, if you are in the market for an extra long foreign film that does have a decent ending with a curious twist, and you have a free Sunday afternoon, then at 3 Kitty Paws, consider this your next film.

csk

One bit of warning though, this foreign film contains ritual scenes that include animals. Not much is shown but you should know. Also, there’s a scene where a vicious dog goes after our hero for the second time and while you don’t see anything, you know what happens. FYI
Re: The Wailing~ A South Korean Scary Movie
Board: Movie Moments
Reply to: #963815 by Captain Slick Kitty
Aug 13, 2018 7:09pm
Thread (disabled) Board
We watched Train to Busan and were very impressed with it. We'll have to check this one out too. Is it on Netflix?

Thanks,
sun7flour
Re: The Wailing~ A South Korean Scary Movie
Board: Movie Moments
Reply to: #963846 by sun7flour
Aug 13, 2018 10:35pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Yes! Netflix has it.

csk
Re: The Wailing~ A South Korean Scary Movie
Board: Movie Moments
Reply to: #963815 by Captain Slick Kitty
Aug 15, 2018 4:57pm
Thread (disabled) Board
is it captioned? Or in English?
Re: The Wailing~ A South Korean Scary Movie
Board: Movie Moments
Reply to: #963941 by InkTap
Aug 16, 2018 11:39am
Thread (disabled) Board
Captioned in English.