31 Days of Asian Horror: Goodnight DJ

Today I’m focusing on the Malaysian drama series, Goodnight DJ. I’m a bit unprepared to talk about the drama, as it was scheduled for later on in the month, but when I went to go start watching I saw that dreaded notification that the series would be pulled from Netflix towards the end of the month. I’ve found that no one has been talking about this drama, and wanted to make sure you have at least some time to check it out before it goes away.

And that’s the big problem with this drama, no one is talking about it. It’s not a country MyDramaList keeps in their systems, I haven’t seen any sorts of reviews on it past those “All about this Netflix series” info dump sites. Barely anything. So I wanted to talk about what I did find about the drama. Netflix only has two seasons of the drama up, but as I searched I found that the drama was actually pretty popular. Goodnight DJ is a horror drama that debuted in 2008 and ran for 11 seasons ending in 2011. The show's premise is about a radio program that tried to "bridge the living and the dead, taking on unresolved deaths, ghosts and ghouls as they bring the life to the stories that haunt the night" (source)

Netflix seems to only have the first two seasons of the drama, although it’s unclear if they are the first two of the series as Netflix has their year date based on when it was uploaded on the site. The first season’s premise and pacing is a bit more mild than the later season, the episodes are shorter and the ghost stories are a little less spooky. There’s no real gore and very few instances that are actually creepy - think stories closer to Are You Afraid of the Dark than Tales from the Crypt. The second season ramps up the scares a bit more and doubles the episode length, possibly because they had a bigger budget. The first season’s episodes, while tied in some way to the radio station, stray a bit more. Sometimes it’s because of a letter sent in, sometimes a connection with an employee. All of the stories focus on romantic relationships as their main tie.

The drama isn’t the best, I’m not going to lie to you. It’s campy, the pacing is weird, and the acting isn’t very good. But it has this nice simplicity to the episodes. They are very reminiscent of the mid 90’s shows you’d find on SciFi. Do you remember that show Beyond Belief Fact or Fiction? That’s the level I’m talking about. It reminded me of what I grew up watching in my preteens and I think the nostalgia of that kind of worked more for the show than anything else. The episodes do go by fairly fast, so while it wasn’t the best drama I’ve seen it was any easy binge. It might be a good watch for the family if you have some older kids but I would be warned that it does show it’s age.

Goodnight DJ is available on Netflix till the 26th of this month.

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31 Days of Asian Horror: The Guest (2018)

Today I’m focusing on a drama that I have had on my watchlist for much longer than it needed to be. I tried watching it back when it was airing but had some other things happen that led to not having time for it, and since Netflix picked it up the end of last year it’s been a drama that I knew I needed to rush to the top of my list. That obviously still took till now, but I still finally got around to watching it now, and am really glad that I finally did. While I probably missed a lot waiting this long, it was nice to go into the drama without having to wait for it to air, and binged it in a couple of days.

After a powerful demon is found possessing the weak, a trio consisting of a psychic born to a shaman family (Kim Dong Wook), a Catholic priest (Kim Jae Wook), and police officer (Jung Eun Chae) are forced to join forces to stop the demon. The drama was directed by Kim Hong Seon, who's previous works included the first season of Voice and Black. It premiered on OCN's new Wednesday/Thursday slot on September 12, 2018. There's been some talk of a season two, and back in 2019 a movie was in the process but neither projects have had more momentum.

While the drama is an exorcism story and focuses a good chunk on the possession, demons, and religion, it ends up not living in that world for most of the show. One of the most surprising aspects of the drama was in the investigation storyline. I thought it was going to center more heavily on the exorcisms or dive more into religious topics, and I was taken aback with how much the show was spent on it - almost like I was watching a crime show. Setting the show as more of a crime thriller than a horror really worked well for me. While exorcism stories aren’t something I avoid, they are in a grey area for me. If the plot is too heavily into religion I find myself not caring about the show or the characters and so it’s always a tricky venture for me. With the differences in the characters, and the heavy crime thriller elements I enjoyed it throughout.

Don’t get me wrong - if you are a horror lover, I think you would really enjoy this series, and it does have some truly great scenes that are disturbing and creepy. However, I do think it starts to follow a bit too formulaic pattern for the insertion of the horror. As I talked about above, the story follows much more closer to that of a crime thriller, and a lot of the storyline is based on that. The horror and scares tend to always come at the end of the episodes, and so a lot of the scares are too predictable. Despite this, what we got of the horror is interesting and deep. It’s creepy and dark and focuses much more on the realness of the evil as opposed to the antics. It also helped the reveals to be not only surprising but more devastating. Coming back to the realness of the world and how horrible it is in the viewpoint of demons worked well for the series and the real horrors of the world integrated well.

The dramas shines most in its the focus on characters and their relationships. The trio are interesting and fun together, all being strongly independent from each other in their beliefs and actions. In any other other drama, this might be used as a main conflict point, but the show focuses their relationship as more of a trio of siblings and despite their differences understand that they have to fall on each other because they share the same grief. All have been affected by the demon in some regard, but their differences are vast. The drama doesn’t try to hide that, and develops a real relationship between the three that allows for each of their personal beliefs to shine through and grow, with the understanding that they need each other. Not just to be able to heal, but because what they are fighting can not be fought alone. Each brings something to the table and their differences are interesting to watch. The trio spend a lot of time together and I came to really love the energy all three brought out of each other. It creates some great scenes together that not only lighten the mood, but also ground the horror. It’s a great found family plot.

Because the drama focuses more of the investigation of the trio, we don’t spend too much time with the main group of cops that Gil Young works with, and it adds an interesting dynamic that allows for the drama to not fall into a lot of the stereotypes that are prevalent in other crime dramas. I really enjoyed this aspect, as I was not spending my time annoyed with the investigation and how the cops were handling it, especially since this was in an area that was supernatural and a harder sell to the general population. Gil Young and her partner, Go Bong Sang (played by Park Ho San), have a great relationship together. He has taken her under his wing since her father’s passing and is a constant support to her. Even towards the end of the series when he has to face some developments that would question his faith of her, he trusts her enough to value her decisions.

I’m really happy that I was able to pick up the drama now, and happy that is now easily accessible for a much larger audience. I think the Netflix audience is a good choice for it. The cast and storyline are solid, and it’s hard to stop once you start. If you are looking for a darker show to watch for the season, or anytime, check out the drama.

The Guest is currently streaming on Netflix.

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31 Days of Asian Horror

Happy almost October!

While it’s spooky season year-round here, the Halloween season warrants special posts and this year I’ll be reviewing a different Asian horror every day leading up to Halloween. I tried to pick as much of a variety of movies and shows from different countries as possible, but I also wanted to keep it to things that are attainable and easily accessible. I’ll also be focusing on switching up the reviews from time to time with fun extras and behind the scenes and while most of the reviews will probably be spoiler free some of the movies and dramas will warrant a more in-depth look. As a means for me to narrow down what Asian horror that I was going to pick, each day of the week has a specific theme.

SCHEDULE:

+ Retro Sundays: Retro is a bit loose, as the earliest movie is from 1981, but I wanted to focus on some older Asian horror from before the 90’s.
+ Drama Mondays: To switch things up and not just focus on movies, Mondays I’ll be reviewing horror dramas.
+ Film Maker Tuesdays: Movies that focus on film makers, whether it’s a main character or the movie is documentary style, will be up on Thursdays.
+ Wednesday Pairings: The focus will be on movies that have remakes (like my Ringu post) and maybe a double feature, comparing the two movies.
+ Thirsty Thursdays: While vampires aren’t too common in Asian horror, there are some options and Thursdays are dedicated to the blood suckers.
+ Creature Feature Fridays: One of my favorite genres, Creature Feature Fridays will be devoted to all types of creatures (except the blood-sucking kind).
+ Freebie Saturdays: Saturdays will be a freebie day for me with no set theme.

While I’ll most likely dial back on some of my regular and extra posts for the blog outside of these, I will still be doing Wine and an X-Phile posts on Fridays. I may throw in a special post or two time allowing. If you have any Asian horror movies you think I need to watch, or just want to talk about your favorite, let me know in the comments! I’m still going to be watching movies outside of the reviews, and would love to add to my watchlist.

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October Premieres

October seems like a fairly quiet month in comparison to previous months, which is a good thing so we can all focus on rewatching all of our Halloween favorites and just generally catch up on things. I personally have a lot of things going on in October, and while I will still be watching a lot I won’t be able to get to many new things. However, there is some great content heading to Shudder this month that I’m super excited for.

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TBA/No Date:

-The kdrama Crime Puzzle follows a criminal psychologist who is sent to prison for murdering a political candidate, who is met with a former lover who is a criminal profiler trying to figure out a murder that occurred at the prison he is in.

-Some of the Drama Special Season 12: TV Cinema will be premiering this month. Here is this list of the darker drama offerings for October:

• F20: A psychological thriller about two mothers, one whose son has schizophrenia.

• Landscape of Pain: A thriller that tells the story of three people who are caught up in a bizarre murder case.

Confirmed:

- On the 3rd the jdrama Solomon no Gisho premieres, an adaption of the 2016 Korean drama Solomon’s Perjury and previous Japanese movies from the same source.

-Remember You is a Thai drama remake of the kdrama Hello Monster that premiered back in August, but Netflix will be dropping the subbed episodes on the 5th.

-The Labyrinth finally has an official premiere date on the 6th.

-While V/H/S/94 is not necessarily an Asian horror film, it does feature Indonesian director, Timo Tjahjanto. It’ll be available for streaming on Shudder on the 6th.

-Based on a true story about an incident that happened to a band that went on a trip to Chuncheon, Fearsome premieres in Korean theaters Oct 7th. The teaser looks interesting and has a pretty good cast lineup.

-Taiwanese drama Danger Zone S2 will be airing starting on the 8th following the previous season. iQiyi had the English subs for season one, so I assume it’ll also sub this season.

-The Taiwanese movie, Detention, will be hitting select US theaters on the 8th. The 2019 horror film is based on the horror game with the same name. Set in 1962 during Taiwan's White Terror period the movie is about two students trapped in a high school. There is also a Netflix limited series that is also based on the game that was released end of last year.

-The Medium will be available on Shudder for streaming on the 14th. I’ve talked about this one before, and am super excited for it. I’m glad that Shudder was able to get rights.

-Rasen no Meikyu: DNA Kagaku Sosa follows Detective Genji Ando (Yasuda Ken) who’s wife has been killed by a serial killer, and the DNA expert that he reaches out to help with the investigation. The jdrama starts on the 15th.

-Also on the 15th, Netflix will drop all the episodes of a kdrama I’m personally excited for, My Name, starring Han So Hee who plays Ji Woo, a member of a crime ring who goes undercover as a police officer.

-The Japanese remake of the 1997 Canadian film by the same name, Cube, will premier on the 22nd. 6 people are locked in a mysterious cube-shaped room, if they don’t decipher the code they won’t get out of the cube. No word on International release yet, but I assume this is one of the films that will get one sooner than later.

-Jirisan/Cliffhanger, one of the most anticipated kdramas of the year is finally coming out this month. Starring Jun Ji Hyun and Joo Ji Hoon and written by Kingdom screenwriter, Kim Eun Hee, the action/thriller follows the mystery surrounding the mountain and the rangers trying to rescue the survivors and lost trekkers. It’ll be available Internationally on iQiyi on the 23rd.

-Rounding out the month on the 30th is the OCN drama, Chimera. A present-day case leads to evidence being uncovered that relates to a series of murders from 1984.

Want some more new dramas and movies to watch? Check out what happened in September.

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Squid Game Review

Squid Game came out this past Friday and I, having no will and strength, binged the entire thing on Saturday (save one episode that I watched on Friday, but I had other things to binge on Friday so I had to wait). I was really excited to watch, it being one of the only dramas premiering this month that I had my eyes on, and I generally like these survival game thriller horrors, so it’s not too surprising I would finish basically the drama in one sitting. While the drama was a great binge and I did enjoy a lot of it, after sitting with it for a while there was more that I wanted to talk about than just a quick non-spoiler review and some plots that I had issues with.

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Squid Game follows the contestants in a secret game where they will be given a set amount of money if they win. To win they have to be the last person standing, playing various games to win. The setup for the games is a little more interesting than most in this drama, as they aren’t complicated puzzles that you have to figure out a la an escape room. All the games come from childhood and are easy, familiar games. I liked how the games being played out the way they were relatively adaptable for any of the players. While with some games the player could have a disadvantage being elderly or not as strong, some of the games were based on luck or simple mind games. The game contestants had an age range that was much more skewed the older side (although we had a few main characters who were young), most of the main players being middle age. It was a good set up the reason why they decided to play the game. All were down on their luck and for most the outside world was just as bad as this blood-filled game.

One of the comments I’ve heard from multiple people online is the predictability of the games - not just in who was going to win. And it’s true, it’s pretty clear what’s going on from the beginning and most of the reveals weren’t that shocking. Especially if you’ve watched any of these types of dramas, or even if you are just a general kdrama watcher. I think one of the biggest problems with kdramas is that they follow the same format (no matter the genre) and very few ever fall out of it - there’s very little exception. And for this drama, for all that it does right, it still lives in a kdrama world. Everyone is always tied with everyone. Always. As soon as I realized it was too easy for the cop, Jun Ho, to enter the grounds and become an employee with access to weapons and gear, I knew his brother who he was looking for was the guy behind the mask. How else was he able to infiltrate a highly organized game that has not only cameras but a scanning system. By kdrama trope standards, his brother not being a contestant but the guy behind the man was the only option for those two. I knew that the old guy was more than just a contestant who was magically good at everything, and magically falls completely apart in a matter of minutes (you also don’t see him get shot while the others were shown, so if you didn’t know before, that solidified everything). Kdramas tend to focus on the differences between the rich and poor which I don’t think is much of a factor in Western shows. Because of this, I never assumed that the one controlling could be some crazed psychopath serial killer, it was gonna be a bored rich guy.

While knowing these things made some of the surprises not as enjoyable to my watch, that doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily a bad thing overall. The predictability led me to focus on other characters a little bit more closely without the added view of trying to figure out if they would be the ones to survive. The character arc of Abdul Ali (No. 199) was solid and engaging because we knew the inevitable end of his character. His last moments with Cho Sang Woo (No. 218) were heartbreaking and real, leading to one of the most devastating deaths of the games. Since I was focused on what Jun Ho was going to do, I didn’t spend time focused on who the actor playing his brother could be. I am not kidding, if you heard the shriek that came out of my mouth when Byung Hun appeared. I don’t know if there was a rumor or spoiler floating around that he was going to be in the drama, but for the most part, I steered clear of everything (except for a last minute Gong Yoo appearance spoiler) so I was genuinely shocked it was him.

My main problem with drama fell squarely on a typical kdrama trope that I didn’t think was going to have such an impact on my viewing, nor take me out the games so much: the random English-speaking white guy. We always joke about how terrible they are when they show up in a drama, but I don’t think it’ll ever compare to the detriment they did in this. For them being the VIPs - the people betting on players, and supposed to be key characters - yet given the lines they were given was almost insulting to the script. I was supposed to feel disturbed watching them bet on players, they are part of the villains in this story, and yet all their lines made me cringe. It’s such a shame that it was so far into the drama as well and during key moments with Jun Ho and his escape. I assume their childish retorts were to mirror the childish games they were watching and betting on but the execution lacked any of that depth. This was Netflix produced, you’re telling me you couldn’t find anyone in Korea who could deliver lines better? Or any person who knew English to rewrite the lines and tighten them up? With such stellar acting for the main cast, it was a let down and took me a while to get back into the drama after.

More than anything that I got out of the drama, the visuals won. The set design is outstanding and I could easily watch detailed tours of each room. With its Willy Wonka oddness and the bright pinks, blues, and yellows, the whole design added a layer to the entire drama that really added so much to the overall story. It was also done without CGI, opting for real sets, which always helps out the world immersion not just for the audience, but also the actors and I really think it showed. The design fell into the molded conformity of humans as they grow up, having to enter into the capitalistic society while learning those things at an early age. The familiar location of the sets - key places you would remember from your childhood - the bright colors all added to the dreamlike world they were living in that was oddly familiar and yet skewed like your own memories of things when you were young. Everyone in lines or formations and in the same gym outfit, it was a great contrast and visually appealing aspect. I always love when time is spent on world-building, especially when you can tell that the director and creative team feel that is important.

In the end, Squid Game did have some solidly interesting stories, suspenseful games, and stellar acting but there were a bit too many important unanswered questions that left the end lacking and yet somehow had too much downtime filler to fill the 9 episodes. I understand that some of the unanswered questions were purposely done for the set up of a second season…but I have a problem with a second season. I don’t think it should be done, specifically in how they are setting it up to be. Could they do a second season with different characters and different games and it be good? Absolutely. But the ending of the first season told us that was not the route they were going to take, opting for the potential for him to be back in the games, maybe to infiltrate? It doesn’t seem right that he would go back as a character, especially as he is just getting back to being a human and obviously had fixed things with the relationship with the daughter.

I also wish we had gotten to see more with the employees. The small glimpses you get were intriguing and made me really want to know more about them. Why they were there, what they were promised or told about the games. We see tiny peaks with the cop, but it’s so small and doesn’t accurately portray the greater world they live in that is obviously very different than the players. It would be an interesting look. If I had the pull the second season would focus on them, not the contestants.

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Asian Crime, Thriller, Horror Premieres: August '21

Remember when I tried to do those individual posts on premiere days for dramas and movies? I liked them, but I didn’t really like keeping up with them. I had been incorporating them into my Random Asian News posts, but I thought that it really needed its own dedicated spot and so from now on I’ll try to do a monthly roundup of premieres. Not everything listed is something I’m interested in, nor will it be something that is accessible to everyone, but I still wanted to highlight some of the dramas and movies to look out for.

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-The tvN kdrama The Road: Tragedy of One starring Jin Jin Hee, Yoon Se Ah, and Kim Hye Eun premieres August 4th. Adapted from the novel One Tragedy by Norizuki Rintaro it tells the story of the rich residents who live at Royal the Hill. Jin Jin Hee plays an investigator out to find the truth and secrets revolving the residents. It looks like VIKI has picked it up.

-August 9th is the premiere for the KBS kdrama, Police Academy. Labeled as a ‘coming-of-age comedy melodrama’, the drama is about a student and teacher (Kang Sun Ho and Yoo Dong Man) who meet in the Police University and join forces to investigate a case. It’ll be available on Kocowa and VIKI.

-The 2019 Japanese horror film, Howling Village, will make its North American release on Friday, August the 13th in select theaters and will be available on VOD August 17. Written and directed by Takashi Shimizu (Ju-On), it is the story of Kanadae, a psychologist whose brother goes missing and has to visit his last known location, the haunted site Howling Village to try to find him.

-The Japanese film, Welcome to Toei Slaughterhouse, premieres August 13th. This one is honestly a little harder to find information for, and will most likely be harder to find for the international audience but wanted to add it to the list in case it becomes available.

“The film follows Saki (Momotsuki), Mei (Kudo), and Kaho (Teramoto), the members of the budding idol group called Wish as they are set to appear in the sequel of Toei's hit movie, Yugami. Toei Movie Studios is a place where a lot of popular movies and dramas are filmed, but this studio also has an untold secret.” - source

-Remember You, the Thai remake of the Korean drama Hello Monster will premiere August 16th. It’s currently scheduled to air on Netflix Thailand, and then make its way internationally on the 1st of November.

-The Korean film Hostage: Missing Celebrity will be in Korean theaters August 18. The action-thriller is about the kidnapping of a top film star (Hwang Jung Min) and his attempts at escape. It was scheduled to be released in 2020, but was postponed because of COVID. It is based on the 2015 Chinese film, Saving Mr. Wu.

-Guimoon: The Lightless Door will make it’s theatrical premiere on the 18th. The Korean horror is the first Korean film to be simultaneously created in three different versions: 2D, Screen X, and 4DX. In 1990 a janitor at a training facility murders guests and commits suicide. Since the event, there have been strange occurances at the training facility which led to it being closed down. A psychic (Kim Kang Woo) goes to the center to look for answers.

-Mikkoku wa Utau, is a Japanese drama produced by WOWOW. Masaki Sara (Masahiro Matsuoka) is a detective whose colleague dies during an investigation. After he transfers to a new department h receives a mysterious letter that could help him solve the case of his dead colleague. It will premiere August 22nd.

-The Korean drama D.P. follows the private soldier Jun Ho (Jung Hae In) who becomes a member of the military defector arrest team. It premieres on August 27th on Netflix. It looks like all 6 episodes will drop at the same time.

-I’m Watching You is a Korean drama produced by TVING and follows a crime through the eyes of CCTV. No date besides a reports that it’ll air someime this month.

-The Hong Kong drama produced by ViuTV, Sometimes When We Touch, stars Kent Tsai, a college student who is a fan of the supernatural when an attempt at trying to get his crush to join a club gets out of hand. Think more teen romcom than scary. All the promo I could find on this one says that it’ll be out on the 7th, but MyDramaList has it as a question mark with their airing calendar says it has already started.

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Coma (2006) Review

Not very many horror dramas premiered during the summer, and of the few only a couple were fully horror and didn’t lean into comedy. The short five-episode OCN drama, Coma, is one of them. Premiering July 21, 2006, Coma is about a hospital that is closing and the secrets that are unearthed when an insurance agent comes to check on the hospital’s remaining patient who is in a coma. The drama was co-produced with the production house Sio Film and was shown at the 7th Jeonju International Film Festival in 2006.

I really didn’t know anything about Coma going into the drama, and so when I added it to my list of things to watch and review that premiered during the summer I knew that I was playing a dangerous game that it could very well turn out to not be something I would enjoy. But to my surprise, I was really into Coma and it caught me from the very beginning. The mystery of what happened unfolds well, with each episode focusing on a specific person tied to the events and what part they played. The drama goes much darker and creepier than I was expecting. It had a good grasp of incorporating a creepy tone and well-played scares that were consistent throughout the drama. I really wasn’t expecting it to go as dark as it did. I was pleasantly surprised that not only did it stay that way throughout, but was constantly adding more to the suspense and mystery of the drama throughout each episode.

I did find it hard to keep track of some of the characters, and this is mainly due to it jumping back and forth in time. It used time jumps pretty regularly and in different ways and along with some of the character’s being children during the time of the incident but grown in present day, it added to the confusion when some of the main older characters didn’t also have a defining age or appearance change. There are also jumps to incorporate the storylines of the previous episodes (that occur in the present time) and the characters do “see” what had happened in the viewpoint of the ghosts as well as the actual jumps into the past. But the story’s mysteries were intriguing and the scares kept me engrossed dispute the confusion, and once I finished the drama it had worked itself out. It’s definitely a drama that you need to watch all episodes for it to make sense, and I would suggest watching them as close as possible.

I really did love this drama. I think the episode number length works in its favor, along with it being an OCN production, so that it wasn’t tied to normal viewing regulations. Its director for the first and last episodes, Gong Su Chang, worked on horror films R-Point and the Ring Virus and so the drama really had a good creative team attached to it to make it work. I know that with it being an older drama it will detract people from picking it up, but it’s a great mystery with good scares and atmosphere. One of the darker and creepier revenge tales you can find in a kdrama. Its definitely been added to my list of favorite horror dramas that I’ve watched so far.

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The Staple Gun

If you didn’t know, I like props. I used to make them professionally and I’ve spent most of my life working on them. I tend to focus on them more than most when I’m watching anything and will zero in on specific ones sometimes. I like them enough that I did a post a couple of months ago, where I focused on the suitcase in Sisyphus the Myth. I hadn’t intended this to be a recurring series, but when the opportunity presents itself it makes sense to grab it. And when I saw this specific prop used in three separate dramas that I was watching at around the same time, I knew I had to talk about it.

Today, we are highlighting the Kim Won Hae of the 2021 kdrama season: The Staple Gun.

For some reason, The Staple Gun was THE prop of the spring. I’ve never seen one used in so many dramas at one time, let alone do I even remember it being used in another drama. Like maybe in a construction scene, yes, or a slasher movie - but those don’t count. While the dramas they were used in were more in the darker genres, the use of it was slightly odd. It was never used properly in any of these dramas, too. So for this post we won’t be singing the praises of The Staple Gun much like we did with The Suitcase. Do I love it in real life? Yes. It made a lot of my work life so much easier, but we aren’t here to talk about tools being used as tools. We are here to talk about tools being used as props in weird ways. And then me rating those weird ways.

SELL YOUR HAUNTED HOUSE

I first saw The Staple Gun being used in the teasers for Sell Your Haunted House. And the reason I noticed it was because of the way that the character used it…and how odd that was.

Here’s the insider scoop on how to operate the gun: you can’t just press the trigger and expect the gun to do anything. It just won’t. You have to depress the nozzle of the gun on something (like wood) before the gun will fire (you’ll want to remember this later). So right off the bat, I was judging it hard. I think I even commented on Twitter about it. But we can’t be too harsh on The Staple Gun in Sell Your Haunted House. It is used supernaturally and gets some points for that. During the show it fires out some sort of force field to trap the spirits during the exorcism, so in reality it’s not firing nail or staples so it’s not really doing anything wrong.

They never explain why or how it does this thing in the drama, though. Or even why it was chosen to do the task. I’m assuming it has something to do with her being in real estate so people won’t question her bringing it into a house, but it could have been something else. Like an artifact or something like that, it didn’t need to be a real life item. I do give it bonus points for being battery-operated.

Rating: 4/5 wine glasses for the creativity of the prop, and the way it is used was kind of fun when you see it in action.

DARK HOLE

Like a week after I saw it being used in Sell Your Haunted House, I saw The Staple Gun used again in Dark Hole. This time it was more hefty and pneumatic and was being used to stop the zombie creatures. It’s biggest flaw, that it was the wrong weapon for the job. For the most part, it was just something extra for the character to lug around and had no real purpose. Again, it won’t fire unless depressing on something (which it doesn’t) and while they did pretend that it was hooked up to something for the pneumatics to work, it wouldn’t have lasted that long without having to cycle back with air, and wouldn’t have much pressure behind it anyways. It was more of a nuisance than anything.

2/5 wine glasses. Maybe if all else failed whacking it in the face of the monster would actually do some sort of damage.

TAXI DRIVER

I wasn’t expecting to see The Staple Gun also being used in Taxi Driver. I really wasn’t. It came out of left field and was towards the end of the series. It was the reason I decided this post needed to be, because three dramas back-to-back was just three dramas too many. Again, the safety prevented everything that was being shown, however out of all the uses this one was the most realistic. It was in a shop, and (as you can see in the photo) hooked up to the air supply. Could it fire without being depressed? Again, no. Now, I haven’t mentioned this until this point, but it is possible to rig it to do that (which OSHA definitely does not approve of), but it’s really a waste of time for some random mechanic to do in the first place and it doesn’t really look like that’s the case since we do get some shots of the nose. It’s just out of all the other scenarios, this was the only time that I could actually seethat the safety had been taken off being true, though.

Rating: 3.5/5 wine glasses. A solid use and the most accurate, albeit a tad boring.

EXTRA CREDIT: THE RED SHOES (2005 MOVIE)

Weeks - nay months later - I was hanging out and decided that I wanted to throw on a horror movie. I chose The Red Shoes because it’s been on my list for a while and it had premiered that week (if you haven’t caught on by all of my social media posts I’m doing a Korean Summer Horror thing), and who was to appear but our old trusty The Staple Gun. I won’t tell you how The Staple Gun is used, or in what part, but it was there in all its glory.

Rating: 5/5 wine glasses. Unexpected, a shocker. Old Trusty’s finest performance.

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21 Anticipated Kdramas (Update)

Since it’s somehow already the middle of the year, I thought it would be fun to refer back to my 21 Anticipated Kdramas list that I wrote back in December of last year, and see what has come out and if any of the dramas that I predicted that I’d like were correct. It was fun looking back on this list, but a lot of the dramas on this list have yet to air, and there are no updates as to if and when they will. This list also doesn’t reflect the dramas that were announced after making it that would have been more a priority than the ones below.

I used MyDramaList to find these dramas initially. While they are good, the information is not perfect. I knew that I’d probably also miss listings. Along with new dramas that would be popping up after I created the list, I knew that it would have some flaws. I also have a full list of over 30 dramas that I had made when I was writing the original list that I had used to whittle down to the 21 below, and I know there is at least one drama on that list that I’ve watched and completed (Vincenzo).

Currently Watching:

-Beyond Evil / 괴물

-Voice 4 / 보이스 4 (airing)

-Hospital Playlist 2 / 슬기로운 의사 생활 2 (airing)

Completed:

-Sell Your Haunted House / 대박부동산
I actually love that this drama in particular was a drama that I didn’t think I would like and yet it has ended up being one of my top dramas. I was wary that it was going to be a comedy, and the drama unexpectedly caught me off guard about how good it was. I loved every episode, the characters had great arches and worked well with each other. I highly suggest watching if you haven’t yet.

-Taxi Driver / 모범택시
I suspected this one to be good back at the time I wrote the post, and I was right. Another one of my current top dramas for the year, Taxi Driver was engaging, had a good amount of action and I really respected the direction it took in focusing a lot of the injustices with current laws and how they affect the citizens unnecessarily. Check out my blog post on the true stories behind the stories in the drama here.

-Joseon Exorcist / 조선구마사
Oh the drama that could have been. I really loved the first two episodes of this one, and that’s sadly all we got. I was really into it. I even have a first impression post up that I was working on when the news broke that you can find here. I wasn’t expecting this kind of disappointment.

-Dark Hole / 다크홀
I joked that this one was going to be my X-Files drama, and it started out being that. The first two episodes could have been from The X-Files and I was so into it but the story was lacking a lot. The middle was boring, and there were storylines I just didn’t care about and felt didn’t bring anything to the drama. The first part and the last part would have made a great movie.

On Hold/Undecided:

-Luca / 루카
I haven’t gone back to this one after the first two episodes that I watched, but there was something that intrigued me about it to not fully drop it from my list. I know that the general consensus was that this one fell flat, but I still have a hope that it’s a drama for me. It’ll stay on my on-hold list for now.

-Doom At Your Service / 어느 날 우리 집 현관으로 멸망이 들어왔다
Probably the most talked-about drama right now, and very divisive. I have yet to start it, and don’t plan to for a bit just the way that my watching list falls and what I’ve been prioritizing. I’m still intrigued and have heard that the drama might turn out to be a better binge.

-Times / 타임즈
I ended up not making time (ha) for this one, and I don’t think I will. Maybe if I do something towards the end of the year to come back to some dramas that came out as some sort of thing, maybe. But right now it’s not a priority.

-Busted 3 / 범인은 바로 너! 3
I’ve sadly used this as one of those shows I just kept pushing back to make room for others. I really need to make the time for it soon, I promise I will watch it before the end of the year.

Dropped:

-Sisyphus the Myth / 시지프스: The Myth
While I was entertained by the first bit of this one, I haven’t picked it up since I stopped watching it on episode 4. Or 6. At any rate, while I don’t think it was terrible, I just don’t think I will ever want to come back to this one and ultimately decided to drop it.

-Mouse / 마우스
Oh, this one was such a disappointment. The first episode was phenomenal and I loved loved it…but then it just tanked the following episodes. It switched from a great thriller-horror to a makjang and I just hated the kookiness of it all. I tried, but it wasn’t the same drama from the first episode and it’s probably the greatest letdown on this list.

Hasn’t Aired (good chance for this year):

-Cliffhanger / 지리산
Currently scheduled to start airing end of October, and has already started filming.

-Island 1&2 / 아일랜드
Seo Ye Ji has left the project, and Lee Da Hee is slated to replace her. No word when this will start airing, but they’ve had several cast announcements so I would assume fairly soon, especially since one of the cast - Cha Eun Woo - just left his gig on Master in the House.

-Hellbound / 지옥
No date on this one, but the cast has been solidified. As it’s a Netflix drama (and only 6 episodes), I’d assume this one is probably already in post-production.

-The Silent Sea / 고요의 바다
I just don’t believe in any world that this drama hasn’t been completely done since last year. I really don’t know why there’s a delay on this one for any news. I would have expected at least a date since this was part of the lineup Netflix had shared during their summit they had earlier this year.

-All of Us Are Dead / 지금 우리 학교는
Another drama that we have no word from. Maybe it’ll show up soon? Or maybe Netflix is trying to push this as an October release? Again, it was talked about, so it’s got to come soon, right?

No Update/Delayed (potentially not airing this year):

-Duke City / 공작도시
This is currently scheduled for January 28, 2022.

-Link: Eat, Love, Die / 링크: 먹고 사랑하라, 죽이게
No word on this one. I have no clue if it’s going to end up coming out this year. The only person it had attached to it for the cast, Kim Seon Ho, declined the offer.

-Bloody Finger / 블러디 핑거
Also no word on this one, I’ll be surprised if this ends up being released this year. Again, a drama without a cast as most of the actors given contracts have declined the offer.

If you know any more information on any of the dramas that are scheduled to come out let me know in the comments.

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June Dramas '21

I’ve decided to switch up the way I watch a bit and have been trying it out for the past month and it’s been really helping. Before I would end up watching things on a whim and while its been fine in the past, I haven’t been able to have that kind of dedication if left up to how I’m feeling for the past year or so. I started writing out a list of all the dramas I want to watch at the beginning of the month and then scheduled them. It might seem super weird and a lot of work for what is a hobby, but it’s really helped me out cause I like watching, but my brain betrays me a lot. I also don’t just watch for a hobby now. I have this blog and the podcast that kind of requires me being somewhat on top of things for content. Before I started doing this, I almost wouldn’t allow myself to watch things, now it forces me to put it in perspective of how much time I’m actually watching and not be so overwhelmed.

Look at my completed list and compare it to last month. The difference is huge. I also can do fun things (I like pick dramas to watch because of themes!) and have time to space out things to accommodate for those fun watches that fall in a specific timeline.

Completed

• Sell Your Haunted House - 대박부동산: I loved this. So much. I really wasn’t expecting that I would, but the story was solid. The characters were written well, not only just the main cast but side characters, Jang Na Ra was amazing. It had a good mix of creepy and depth. One of my favorites for the year.

• Youth of May - 오월의 청춘: If you want to cry, this is your drama. While I obviously can’t say for sure, but I felt that the story was written respectfully with it focusing on the Gwangju Uprising. The story has a lot of heartbreak, but the cast and story really make it great.

• Dark Hole - 다크홀: This could have done so much more, and it really started off feeling like it would, but it fell completely flat. Story was laggy and drawn out. Should have been a movie.

• Taxi Driver - 모범택시: I do love a good revenge story, and I think Lee Je Hoon was incredible in the role. I really respected the way that the drama not only used his character to show the injustices, but the drama itself was an advocate. It chose the stories it did specifically, and added a lot of information to show the injustices within the law.

• Voice 2 - 보이스 2: I really didn’t like the main male lead, he was incompetent, clearly not okay mentally to ever be allowed to make decisions and hold a gun, and was generally terrible while making it so the main female lead just kept backseated unecessarily. The big bad was pretty boring. This season really crashed the drama when in comparison with the first season.

• Voice 3 - 보이스 3: The main lead was back for this season, so any part that he was on just drained the drama. The rest of the drama, however, really picked itself back up from the last season and I enjoyed the stories that focused more on other members of the team.

• Vincenzo - 빈센조: While I don’t like all of this drama (really, I didn’t need any of the comedy), there was such solidly written scenes that I can’t not talk about how amazing it was. The cast was stellar, despite it’s flaws it was a pretty solid drama. I picked this to finish the last week of the month in honor of 2PM coming back.

• Confession - 자백: Another drama picked because of 2PM coming back, I finally finished this after having it on my watchlist for a while. I started it when it was airing, but didn’t get back to it until my 2PMathon. And then that didn’t happen. I’m glad I finished it, it was a great crime drama with a lot of mystery and good reveals. It was pretty heavy with courtroom scenes in the last half of the drama, and it wasn’t immune to my dislike of that. But I definitely recommend it if you can get a hold of it.

Currently Watching
I used to only keep what I’m actively watching updated on MDL, but with my new organization have started to put everything I want to get to in the month whether it’s in a day or at the end of the month. Make sure to follow me there to see the full list, I won’t list everything here.

• Voice 4 - 보이스4: 심판의 시간

• Hospital Playlist 2 - 슬기로운 의사생활++

• Beyond Evil - 괴물

• Memorist - 메모리스트

New Dramas/Movies
Apparently I’m a fan of tvN and Netflix this month. I’ve talked about some of these in my latest horror news post, which you can find here if you missed it. I only picked movies to focus on here that I knew could be found on streaming.

Jun 1 The 8th Night (movie) - 제8일의 밤 // Netflix

Jun 3 Devil Judge - 악마판사 // tvN
I’m both intrigued but also wary of this one. I don’t actually prefer anything dealing with law and courts in my crime dramas, but there is some mystery behind this one with it’s alternate universe plot. I’m willing to give it a try.

Jun 5 You Are My Spring - 너는 나의 봄 // tvN (Netflix)
This one is also my other question of the month. It only came on my radar when they dropped the trailer and I found out that it’s not a romcom. Right now it’s a murder/romance/potentially fantasy drama and I’m interested in it.

Jun 16 Deep (movie) - โปรเจกต์ลับ หลับ เป็น ตาย // Netflix
The trailer looks pretty good, and looks like a fun thriller.

Jun 16 Witch’s Diner - 마녀식당으로 오세요 // tvN
So I haven’t really dived deep into what the premise of this drama is, but everything about it reminds me of the Haunted Mansion at Disney. And I’m very much into that. I also really like Song Jihyo, and haven’t been into a lot of her latest dramas so I’m hoping that this will dry that spell.

Jun 23 Kingdom: Ashin of the North - 킹덤 외전: 아신 // Netflix
I may or may not be doing a Kingdom celebration in July for my Korean Summer Horror series :)

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Random Asian Horror News

I wasn’t going to do a post today, but last night a good amount of news dropped in dramaland that I wanted to comment on, and with other news that came out earlier in the month I figured it was time to talk about it all in one post. I used to do a weekly wrapup where I talked about news, and since I don’t do that anymore (sans what we do on the podcast) I kind of miss it. I don’t miss having to find news to talk about when there isn’t a lot dropping or nothing that interests me, but I do find some stories that I want to talk about from time to time and it’s fun to do a roundup of specifically crime/thriller/horror content. Maybe I’ll make this a sporadic regular thing every time I feel like it? Sort of monthly? Or at least when I have enough to talk about. Let me know in the comments if that’s something you’re interested in. Most, if not all, of this list I’ve mentioned on Twitter so some of it might not be so new to you, but at the very least maybe you’ll find something that interests you that you didn’t catch when the news was first released.

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MOVIES

Several movies will be dropping in July, all perfect for the summertime. There’s an upswing on the resurgence of movies getting back onto theater screens, and a lot of the movies that had been held for release from last year are all starting to appear.

Midnight - 미드나이트

Airing in both theaters and on TVing June 30th starring Jin Ki Joo. Kyung Mi (Jin Ki Joo) is hard of hearing. One night after leaving work she meets Do Sik, a serial killer (played by Wi Ha Joon), and tries to escape. The movie was filmed back in 2019, and was set to release in the beginning of 2020 but was pushed back due to Covid. I don’t know yet about the availability of this one, but hoping I’ll be able to catch it somewhere when it is released. It looks like it’s going to be a fun thriller, and I’ve loved Jin Ki Joo since she was in Come and Hug Me.

The 8th Night - 제8일의 밤

There are a lot of movies tied to exorcisms that will be coming out next month, and while exorcism movies aren’t necessarily my go-to in the genre, it doesn’t necessarily mean that I don’t like them. Especially when they are super easy to watch, as this one will be coming to Netflix. Former exorcist Park Jin Soo (Lee Sung Min) is plagued by dreams when he realizes he needs to face a demon that has been freed. Another movie that was shot in 2019 and scheduled for 2020, it drops July 3rd.

The Cursed: Dead Man’s Prey - 방법: 재차의

Starring Uhm Ji Won, Jeong Ji So, and Sung Dong Il, The Cursed: Dead Man’s Prey is a sequel to the 2020 kdrama The Cursed. I haven’t seen the drama yet, but it had been on my list. It came out at a really bad time, I was in the middle of my busiest part of the season at work when it premiered, and it ended mid-March - right when the world was imploding and it’s just stayed in the back of my mind as a drama to pick up one day. In the original drama, a reporter (Uhm Ji Won) uncovers a violent case affiliated with an IT company and a spiritual consulting company. While investigating she meets someone who has been possessed by a spirit. The director, Kim Yong Wan, states that the movie will tell the after story of the drama.

The Medium - ร่างทรง

This movie has a solid lineup of people working on it. Well-known for the horror movie Shutter and the successful romcom Hello Stranger , Banjong Pisanthanakun directs this Thai-Korean joint project. The screenwriter is Ter Chantavit Dhanasevi, who directed the horror anthology ThirTEEN Terrors and previously worked with Pisanthanakun as the main role in Hello Stranger. Korean director/screenwriter, Na Hong Jin (The Wailing), is also attached to the movie as producer. A horrifying story of a shaman's inheritance in the Isan region of Thailand, where the spirit that appears to be possessing a family member might not be the benevolent goddess they believe it to be. The teaser for this looks phenomenal, and I suspect that out of all the movies I’ve listed this is already in the works for a US release soon, as it’s already been picked up for a French release. It is scheduled to be released in the theaters sometime in July. Out of all the movies I’ve listed, this is my top priority.

Kingdom: Ahsin of the North - 킹덤 외전: 아신

Not necessarily a movie, but it is a special and not a full season. If you haven’t seen the series, this will be a side sequel to season two, on the backstory of Ashin. The series is set in the Joseon period when a mysterious virus outbreaks (aka it’s a zombie period piece). Out on Netflix on July 23rd.

NEWS

Takashi Miike and Studio Dragon

Japanese director, Takashi Miike, will be teaming with production company Studio Dragon on what will be the first time a Japanese director has worked on a Korean drama. I can’t find anything on the drama, currently titled Connect, though I’m sure more will be coming out soon and is in the very early stages of production. Takashi Miike has worked on numerous films, but he’s most known (at least to me) for the horror movies Audition and Ichi the Killer, which makes me hope that this project will be a horror project. Because I need a good horror drama.

Oksu Station Ghost

Originally when I saw the news for this, it piqued my interest because of the announcement of Kim Jaehyun’s (N.Flying drummer) casting, and I had not known much about the production. Now that I’ve read more into it, it’s moved up in my interests. The horror movie is based on the webcomic of the same name and will be directed by Jung Yong Gi who previously directed the 2004 horror The Doll Master. He will be joined by Japanese screenwriter Hiroshi Takahashi, known for his work on the Ring series. The story of the film revolves around the mysterious incidents that occur at the Oksu Station. Filming has just started for a 2022 release.

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Korean Egg Ghost

I finished Sell Your Haunted House a couple of weeks ago, and I really enjoyed the drama. I went to do some research on the egg ghost that was used in the drama because I knew there was a good chance that it wasn’t just made up for the show. I found some information on it that I thought would be insightful and wanted to compare it a bit with how the egg ghost in lore was used in comparison to the depiction in the drama. While I won’t be doing a full review in this post, I will be comparing some parts of the drama that will verge or dive deep into spoiler territory, so this is your warning.

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Egg ghosts (dalgyal gwishin/달걀귀신) get their name from their appearance as it resembles an egg and are primarily found in forests. The legend states that once someone sees an egg ghost, they will die. While in the drama the ghost is manifested in the characters being possessed by the ghost, largely still looking like the human it is inhabiting, some variations of it’s description is described differently. In some legends they don’t have a nose and mouth or other facial features like depicted, but also don’t have limbs. Other times it resembles a hunchback, as if it’s carrying a heavy load. However most images of them do depict a female with no face.

They are said to stalk hikers, and their ability to hide well is because of their shape, making them unsuspecting to those who leave the path. Because the ghosts aren’t usually associated with anyone in particular, there is speculation that they are a form of a childless ghosts (mujagwi/무자귀). They have no ancestors to perform death rites and memorial services for them and wander around restless. Most Korean ghosts are female, and most deal with some sort of ‘dying before giving birth’ extension of their existences. The egg shape might also hint towards that, because of the symbolic nature of eggs and fertility.

There is also a ghost in Japanese lore the resembles the egg ghost, the Nopper-bo (のっぺらぼう). It’s a faceless ghost that looks like a human except for the facial characteristics - kind of like what we see in the drama and the picture above - however these ghosts tend to trick people rather than hurt. They’d impersonate someone the person knows to lure them.

A lot of the stories of the egg ghost are specifically tied to hiking and the forest, however they can be found elsewhere, mostly in dark areas. There are other stories that talk of how the egg ghost is unsuspecting, that it can be anyone and once it gains the trust it is easier for them to take over that person. Egg ghosts are also able to attack and target specific prey since they are able to hide well.

There is a riddle connected with the egg ghost, “The more you take away, the bigger I get”. A hole might start small, but the more you take from it the bigger it gets. In the drama In Bum’s father was drowning in the snowball of his actions. He was targeted most by Hak Sung and was used to do a lot of things for him, mostly things that he morally was opposed to. It could be the dramas’ intention that he was being plagued with all the things he was doing for Hak Sung that it snowballed into his son being targeted specifically and taken by the ghost. He was led astray by Hak Sung, and fell off the correct life path into danger.

While I do think that the egg ghost was probably a combination of several ghosts and stretched to fit the narrative of the drama, I do think that it was a good ghost choice. The characteristics of the ghost not having a face is creepy on it’s own, and also adds an element of unpredictability. The drama needed a specific big bad ghost that was a lot more powerful than the other spirits that we were presented with, all of whom were already more powerful than average. Her mother’s downfall and death, as well as the PTSD revolved around it with Ji Ah not remembering most of the horrific events needed to have a lot more impact and reason. The egg ghost is supposed to be one of the most powerful and feared of ghosts, so it would potentially strike a chord with viewers who know of it. It is also the sole reason why Ji Ah and In Bum are left without families, carrying the burden that is left from their family on their backs - much like the hunchbacked variation of the ghost.

I’d love to know more about why the egg ghost is rooted mostly in the forest, specifically. It could be that it’s just an easy fear. More of a cautionary ghost, to not be led off the beaten path and fall off of a slope. Or that the forest is a great unknown for lots and adds to a lot to the relatability of there being so many of these types of beings in folklore. People mysteriously die all the time in the forest all over the world, and it is a consistent source of great fear in many different countries, tribes, and cultures. There is also a great loneliness in the forest. It is where most feel isolated, and it’s where one can really truly grasp that the world has some great unknowns. That humans aren’t the only things out there, and once taken in into a place where humans aren’t in control it’s humbling, mysterious, and potentially dangerous.

Links and Research:

Egg Ghost Wikipedia
Noppera-Bo Wikipedia
Haunted Attractions Online
Demons & Spirits & Zombies Oh My!
Namu Wiki
Obrazee
Culture Content

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Korean Horror Picks: Netflix

While Netflix does have a good catalog of horror films and shows from all over the world, the selection for exclusively Korean horror is a little bit smaller. They do, however, have the added bonus of having several dramas that a lot of other places don’t have. I went through what’s currently on the site and came up with a list of my picks that you should check out. Some of these may be more in the thriller genre, but as it overlaps with horror (and most of the time it’s subjective), I figured that it would work for this list.

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- #Alive (2020) Directed by: Il Cho
Also known as 살아있다
Starring: Yoo Ah In, Park Shin Hye. Additional credits can be found here.

“As a grisly virus rampages a city, a lone man stays locked inside his apartment, digitally cut off from seeking help and desperate to find a way out.”

-Forgotten (2017) Directed by: Jang Hang Jun
Also known as Night of Memory / 기억의 밤
Starring: Kang Ha Neul, Kim Moo Yul, Moon Sung Keun. Additional credits can be found here.

“When the young but extremely anxious student Jin-seok, his parents and his successful older brother Yoo-seok move to a new home, mysterious and frightening events begin to happen around them, unexplained events that threaten to ruin their seemingly happy lives.”

-Goedam (2020) Directed by: Won Ki Hong
Also known as 도시괴담
Starring: Song Chae Yun, Seola. Additional credits can be found here.

“When night falls on this city, shadows and spirits come alive in this horror anthology series focused on urban legends.”

-Kingdom (2019-Present) Directed by: Kim Sung Hoon
Also known as 킹덤
Starring: Joo Ji Hoon, Bae Doo Na. Additional credits can be found here.

“Set in the Joseon Era, no sooner does the King succumb to smallpox, do the rumors of his death begin.”

-Strangers From Hell (2019) Directed by: Lee Chang Hee
Also known as 타인은 지옥이다
Starring: Im Si Wan, Lee Dong Wook. Additional credits can be found here.

“While looking for a place to live, Jong Woo stumbles upon Eden Gosiwon, a cheap hostel that shares the kitchen and bathroom with other residents. However, mysterious events start occurring in the apartment, causing Jong Woo to begin fearing the apartment's residents.”

-Svaha the Sixth Finger (2019) Directed by: Jang Jae Hyun
Also known as 사바하
Starring: Lee Jung Jae, Park Jung Min. Additional credits can be found here.

“While looking into a suspicious new religion called ‘Deer Mount,’ Pastor Clark slowly uncovers clues that connect this cult to a series of mysterious cases of missing teenage girls when a body is found inside a tunnel.”

-Sweet Home (2020) Directed by: Lee Eung Bok
Also known as 스위트홈
Starring: Song Kang, Lee jin Wook, Lee Shi Young, Lee Do Hyun. Additional credits can be found here.

“As people start to turn into monsters, Hyun Soo and the other residents try to survive.”

-The Call (2020) Directed by: Lee Chung Hyun
Also known as 콜
Starring: Park Shin Hye, Jeon Jong Seo. Additional credits can be found here.

“Connected by phone in the same home but 20 years apart, a serial killer puts another woman’s past — and life — on the line to change her own fate.”

-The Guest (2014) Directed by: Kim Hong Seon
Also known as 손: The Guest
Starring: Kim Dong Wook, Kim Jae Wook. Additional credits can be found here.

“Yoon Hwa Pyung, a young psychic born into a shaman family, learns about the powerful demon called "Son" (Guest). The demon has the power to control other demons and allows them to possess weak people.”

-The Witch: The Subversion (2018) Directed by: Park Hoon Jung
Also known as 마녀
Starring: Kim Da Mi, Cho Min Soo. Additional credits can be found here.

“Ja Yoon is a high school student who struggles with memory loss after she endured some unknown trauma during her childhood. While trying to uncover the truth, she is unwittingly dragged into a world of crime and finds herself on a journey that will awaken many secrets hidden deep within.”

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May Dramas '21

I didn’t do one of these for the month of April because I really didn’t have anything to talk about, but I’ve been slowly getting back on track for this month and have been watching a good amount - especially towards the end of May. I’ve been trying to focus on catching up on some of the airing dramas that are nearing the end to get them out of the way for dramas I’ve put on hold. This month I don’t have a lot of airing shows, so my schedule is a bit free - outside of all of my Summer Horror craziness.

It’s been nice to get into the groove of watching again. I’ve talked about this in the past, but when I get into a not-so-great headspace, I don’t keep up with the things I enjoy. Dramas take a back seat. If you want to know what I’m currently watching, I’m fairly good at updating on MyDramaList and Letterboxd. Follow me on one of those places to really get a sense of what I’m doing.

Completed
I know. It’s painfully small.

• Thirteen - サーティーン: It’s been a while since I actually finished this one, but it’s a quick and short binge if you are looking for one. I haven’t watched the show it’s based on, so I can’t tell you if it stays true but I enjoyed it.

• Voice 1 - 보이스: I had planned to finish this months ago, but I failed miserably. But powered through it and finished it over the weekend. I have plans to watch the other two seasons in the next couple of weeks before the premiere. I enjoyed most of it. It had some weird parts in the storyline that I didn’t care for, and would have loved it to be more of a procedural with the overarching storyline, cause it would have been interesting to see the emergency line be an actual emergency line - but the story really didn’t allow for that and I understand.

Currently Watching
A lot of these I may not be prioritizing at the moment, but these will be my priorities to (very hopefully) finish this month. All of the airing dramas on this list end this month, and I really need to get the next seasons of Voice done before Voice 4.

• Sherlock: The Untold Stories - シャーロック アントールドストーリズ: I feel like I always have at least one jdrama on my list that’s just hanging out.

• Dark Hole - 다크홀: The first two episodes were magically straight out of an X-Files episode.

• Sell Your Haunted House - 대박부동산: The surprise favorite of the group.

• Taxi Driver - 모범택시: I haven’t gotten to the writer switch yet, but am enjoying this.

• Youth of May - 오월의 청춘: I’m going to be obsessed with this one.

• Voice 2 - 보이스 2: I’m hopeful that this is as good as the first season.

• Voice 3 - 보이스 3: Same for this one.

• Law School - 로스쿨: I haven’t watched past episode one, hoping that the murder mystery plot stays keeping me interested.

New Dramas/Movies

Jun 17 Hospital Playlist 2 - 슬기로운 의사생활++ // tvN (Netflix)
Not going to lie, I’ve been needing a drama like Hospital Playlist to come out. Glad it’s finally here.

Jun 18 Voice 4 - 보이스4: 심판의 시간 // tvN (seasons 1&2, VIKI has it in coming soon)
I’m not doing these massive Voice binges during the weekends for nothing. Hopefully, by the time this airs I will be caught up with the other seasons and can start this when it drops.

Jun N/A Whispering Corridors 6: The Humming - 여고괴담 여섯번째 이야기: 모교 // movie
I haven’t read too much into the plot of this one (trying to avoid spoilers) but I’m pretty positive that it’s going to be a reboot of the first movie. And it stars Kim Seo Hyung, so I’m already going to want to watch it. This has actually been completed for about a year now, it was scheduled to be released last year but because of Covid it had to suffer delays. I don’t actually think this will be available to watch (pretty sure this is a theatrical release), but figured it was worth mentioning.

Jun N/A Midnight - 미드나이트 // movie
I have a special spot for Jin Ki Joo since Come and Hug Me and she hasn’t really been in anything lately that I’ve wanted to watch. I saw this trailer and knew that I needed to watch it. Will it be available to watch with subs? Probably not, but this is my plea that it somehow lands somewhere I can watch. I’m fairly positive TVing has picked it up.

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March Dramas '21

Despite having a lot to watch, I watched very little. I’ll be happy when this round of airing dramas ends, too many dramas to keep up with and too many dramas to keep dodging spoilers. I am not good with airing dramas, especially with the year I’ve had.

Completed

• Nishiogikubo Mitsuboshi Youshudou - 西荻窪 三ツ星洋酒堂: This was a fine little drama. Nothing special, I found the last half much better than the first. In the end it’s a small little drama that was an easy watch.

• The Silenced - 경성학교: 사라진 소녀들: I have gotten into the habit of watching movies over dramas, and I’ve been going through my list of wanting to watch ones. I had kept seeing this on MDL because their search is absolutely terrible, and when we were doing our Seo Ye Ji episode on the podcast if you searched her name, this movie came up before her. I don’t know why either. She’s not in it. It was …ok. Honestly would have been fine never watching this, but it was a random night watch so what can you do. The twist is weird, and the story is a little funky. Tension doesn’t really work either, and for it being in the horror category it definitely is not.

• Dear Friend - 령: This is an older movie, but I still really enjoyed it. Another on my list for a while, I stumbled upon it and had to watch it.

• Little Big Women - 孤味: This was just recently released on Netflix and I thought it looked interesting and gave it a chance. I really enjoyed it. The story follows a wife and daughters after their father dies and their grief, and how they are dealing with it based on their different relationships they had with the father.

• The Wicked - 마녀: You know that site, Asian Crush? I always think it’s not a legal site, but I guess it is possible that is. I don’t know. I found out that they had an app when I was setting up a new Roku and figured I would try it out since they have things for free with ads. This movie was painfully terrible and slow and boring and I wish I had never watched it.

Currently Watching

• Beyond Evil - 괴물: Currently my favorite drama I’m watching this month. I’m slightly behind, but its been consistently great.

• Mouse - 마우스: I really wish that it kept up the greatness that was its first episode. It’s a fine drama, but pretty big let down after watching what it could be.

• Sisyphus the Myth - 시지프스: The Myth: I honestly don’t know why I’m still watching this drama. I’m behind (like all the other dramas), but I will watch most dramas before this one.

• Vincenzo - 빈센조: The humor is hard to get through, but when it gets dark, it gets dark and I am in love with crazy Taec.

• 13 - サーティーン: I started this randomly yesterday and am halfway through the series. It’s only four episodes, so I should be done with it today/tomorrow. Jdramas will always win me over, and I love to binge. I think I’m honestly watching this more because I was overwhelmed with all the other things I’m watching. This is a remake of the BBC show, Thirteen, but I’ve never seen it so I can’t tell you how it compares.

• Voice 1 - 보이스: I’m sorry Voice. I really, truly, am. It keeps being pushed to the bottom of the watching pile but I am determined to keep it in my currently watching and not move it to on-hold so I will be able to finish the season before Voice 4 premieres (in June).

New Dramas/Movies
I doubt I’ll actually get to these, probably focus on Deluxe Taxi and Dark Hole. Look out for the premiere posts for more information and what I think of the teasers so far.

• Train to Busan: Peninsula - 반도 (1st)

• Deluxe Taxi - 모범택시 (9th)

• Law School - 로스쿨 (14th)

• Real Estate Exorcism - 대박부동산 (14th)

• Ride of Die - 彼女 (15th)

• Dark Hole - 다크홀 (24th)

Missed last month’s wrap-up? Find it here.

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