Korean Creature Features

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I have a true love for creature features, they are fun and just make me happy. My love prompted me to go on a search for some Korean offerings and while there aren’t many Korean ones, so I thought I’d share with you a handful. I haven’t watched all of the below list, but they were the ones that I personally was most interested in. Let me know in the comments below if you know any more that I should add to the list (not just Korean, from anywhere - I’ll take notes for later).

The Host - 괴물 (2006)

Starting the list off with, in my opinion, the best option, The Host has probably everything you can possibly want. A fun creature, a goofy dad just trying his best to save his daughter, and Bae Doona. Seriously, if you haven’t watched this yet, push it up the list. Currently streaming on Hulu, but it’s good enough to own on Blu-Ray if you don’t have access.

Chaw - 차우 (2009)

You’ll probably hear more about this soon (hint, hint), but this 2009 movie has a man-eating boar. What more could you possibly want? Nothing, I say. Nothing.

Monstrum - 물괴 (2018)

I’ve talked briefly about this one in my Current Korean Horror on Shudder post. It’s set in the Joseon era, where a monster emerges. I probably won’t get to this one for a while, but just the fact that there is a plague happening and the result is not a zombie outbreak gets me excited. I love you zombie movies, but I love weird creatures so much more.

Yonggary - 용가리

If Godzilla-like monsters are more your speed, Yonggary might be the answer. It’s also sort of the oddball of the grouping, as even though it is a Korean production, the main cast is made up of American actors. And it’s on Tubi!

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Random Asian Horror News

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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.

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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Taxi Driver Horror Stories

If you haven’t watched the SBS drama, Taxi Driver, that just recently finished airing you might not know that several of the stories featured on the drama are based on true crimes. The drama follows Kim Do Gi (Lee Je Hoon), who helps seek revenge on those that are wronged with the help of an entire team, disguised as a taxi service. Director Park Joon Woo had previously worked on investigative journalism shows and used that experience to focus on real crimes in Korea where there were horrific injustices that the audience could relate to or are well known. I went to go research the cases so that I had a bit more understanding of the references, and why they specifically were important to include in the drama and thought I would share them. I’m not going to go too much into the drama, but a general spoiler warning is needed.

CW: Some of these cases deal with sexual assault, abuse, and other topics that might be triggering.

EPISODE ONE - CHO DOO SOON CASE

The first case that we are introduced to is that of a man being released from prison. Is also our introduction to the Deluxe Taxi.

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In December of 2008, Cho Doo Soon kidnapped and raped an eight-year-old girl. He was only sentenced to 12 years, despite originally being sentenced to life. Despite public outcry, the sentence was reduced because of his age, mental capacity, and that he was drunk. “Though legal analysts pointed out the evidence presented by Cho’s lawyers of his intoxication was flimsy at best, prosecutors did not challenge the theory and thus enabled the reduced sentence” - Korea JoongAng Daily. He was released on December 12, 2020. I don’t want to go into detail about what happened to the girl, because it is too horrific, but I wanted to note how this incident was beyond past a sexual assault case with the girl suffering lasting mental and physical effects, and this case is dubbed Korea’s most horrific rape case.

Since his sentence, the national legislature has amended the law to make it more difficult to use alcohol as a defense yet the provision still remains (and is still used in many cases). The case also prompted more of a focus on the laws involving sexual crimes and minors with the passing of the “Cho Doo-soon Prevention” law which mandates sex offenders’ public information to be released publicly after their release and prohibits them from coming into the vicinity of places like kindergartens.

Sources: Wikipedia, BBC, Korea JoongAng Daily, Dark Side of Seoul, Channel News Asia

EPISODES ONE & TWO - SLAVERY SALT FARMS

Although the drama focuses on one woman, the incident in Sinan Country, Jeollanam Do unearthed the horrific abuse and slavery of the homeless and the mentally or physically handicapped.

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Investigations during 2013 and 2014 uncovered that around 160 salt farm employees were being held and worked under slave-like conditions. Most of the employees being mentally or physically disabled. Brought in by an unregistered employment agency, the trafficked workers were forced to work over fourteen hours a day with no breaks and if they could not perform tasks would be beaten, many not being paid for years. It wasn’t until one man was able to send a letter to his mother and she was able to call the police in Seoul that brought investigators out.

Previous attempts of escape were tried, however. Most stopped with the threat of death and because the residents and police helped the abusers to find the victims so that it wouldn’t bring any attention to them and a system that thrived on the slave labor. The exploration wasn’t brought to attention because most of the police and citizens thought that disabled people didn’t deserve money or human rights.

Most involved were sentenced to a few years. No local police or officials, however, were indicted.

Sources: Wikipedia, CBS News, Business Human Rights, The Smart Local

EPISODE 5 - ARSONIST

These next episodes focus a lot of the story on members of the team and the events that led them to join the Rainbow Taxi Company. During the group therapy session, we learn a bit more about the background of Kyung Koo and Jin Eon. The story they share is a true incident.

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On April 17, 2019, five people were killed, another fourteen injured, as the residents fled the apartment after a fire broke out. The perpetrator set fire to his 4th-floor apartment and waited on the second floor for people to come down. The youngest victim was 12. The 42-year-old male was caught on the scene and admitted to the act. This case was a lot harder to find information on, but it seemed that he had a history of violence and mental issues stating that he committed those acts “to defend himself from those trying to slander him.” and issues with overdue wages. I was not able to find out if he was prosecuted, or what happened with the case. Prime Minister Lee Nak Yeon criticized police for “A failure to properly monitor a person known for past violence and clashes with neighbors”

Sources: BBC News, AP News, YNA

EPISODES SIX & SEVEN - NTH ROOM CASE/HIDDEN CAMERAS

Go Eun’s past is brought up during the investigation of an abusive boss. During the episodes, we find out that her sister was a victim by someone she trusted, and it led to her suicide.

Go Eun Sister.png

Out of all the cases shown in the drama, this case will be the most common and known to the international audience. The case was exposed by an undercover journalist for the Seoul Shinmun, who uncovered a massive amount of sexually exploitative videos sold and shared on the Telegram app between 2018-2020. The operator was revealed as Moon Hyung Wook. A similar crime that was investigated at the same time, known as the Doctor’s Room, was operated by Cho Ju Bin who blackmailed dozens of women forcing them to make the videos, which also involved rape. There are a number of copycat crimes, as well as a general epidemic with molka (small cameras illegally installed to capture voyeuristic images) that the drama also pulled inspiration from.

Three laws had revisions because of the cases. The Sexual Violence Punishment law added regulations that included those who possess, purchase, store, or watch videos involving sexual violence. The Criminal Low raised the standard age of rape of minors from 13 to 16. The Youth Protection Law now identifies the children and adolescents who are subject to prostitution as victims. Moon was sentenced to 34 years in jail and Cho 40 years.

Sources: Wikipedia, Korea Herald, The Interpreter, Aljazeera, BBC America, The Standard

EPISODES FIVE-EIGHT - YANG HIN HO

While Go Eun’s storyline does fall within this one, some of the events that tie the two aren’t close, as I think that its focused crime was the Nth Case.

Boss Video.png

On May 28, 2020, Chairman of WeDisk, Yang Hin Ho, was sentenced to seven years in jail. He was indicted in 2018 after Newstapa revealed the video footage of him abusing a former employee, and making them kill chickens. This video footage, much like in the drama, was purposefully captured. He forced employees to consistent verbal insults and beatings and forced drinking excessive amounts of alcohol at company dinners. He also carried a BB gun around the office to shoot at them (which was not included in the charges because the statute of limitations had run out).

During the investigation, it was revealed that most of his fortune was made from uploading illegal porn videos. An ongoing investigation is still being conducted, and more charges such as embezzlement.

Sources: Korea JoongAng Daily, Next Shark, Channel News Asia

EPISODES 9 & 10 - VOICE PHISHING

While the drama might have a specific story it was referencing, I couldn’t figure it out. However, the subject of the episodes is something that is a major and common problem.

Scam Call.png

Korea has a pretty bad voice phishing issue, and most of the people targeted are older. Callers will either use information about their loved ones to get the victims to wire money, or they will make them say certain words so that they can use their voice to access automated accounts. From January to October 2019, more than 31,000 phone scams were reported in Korea, costing victims about $429 million.

Sources: The Korea Herald, UPI, UPI 2

EPISODE 14 & 15 - HWASEONG SERIAL MURDERS

During these episodes, the drama focused a bit more attention on the murders including actual news clips and a short documentary at the end of the episode.

Ep 15 News.png

The Hwaseong serial murders were a series of rape and murders that sparked the largest criminal case in South Korea. When Lee Choon Jae was convicted of killing his sister-in-law in 1994, he confessed to the 14 deaths between 1986 and 1991. Originally Yoon Sung Yoo was originally convicted for the murders but was finally granted a re-trial in January of 2020.

Lee is currently serving a life sentence for the death of his sister-in-law. The statute of limitations had expired on the other deaths, so he could not be prosecuted for them.

Sources: Wikipedia, CNN, NY Times, SCMP

“Is the statute of limitations more important than people?'“

“Is the statute of limitations more important than people?'“

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First Impression: Voice 4 (Judgement Hour)

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I haven’t done a first impressions post in a while, and it’s fitting that it’s Voice 4. While this first impression will only cover the first two episodes of the season (which is all that is currently out), I will probably be spoiling the previous seasons in some capacity. This is your warning.

Voice.jpg

Native Title: 보이스4: 심판의 시간
Release Date: June 18, 2021 (Fridays/Saturdays)
Episode #: 14
Platform: tvN (Viki)
Director: Shin Yong Hwi (Faith, Tunnel)
Writer: Ma Jin Won (Previous seasons)
Genre: Crime/Thriller
Starring: Lee Ha Na, Song Seung Heon. Rest of the cast can be found here.

Not going to lie to you all, this one was going to have a hard time winning me over. Probably to its detriment, I have just come off of a massive binge of the past three seasons, and let’s just say it didn’t go well. We’ll get to that in a bit, but first a brief run down of the drama and the synopsis.

If you haven’t watched any of the other seasons, I do think you can watch this season without them and still be able to enjoy the series. However, there are spoilers for the previous seasons not only in a recap at the start of the season, but also in some of the dialogue referencing the past. Voice follows Kwon Joo (Ha Na), an emergency operator who has exceptional hearing abilities. Because of her ability, she’s able to help the police find clues to catch serial killers and help investigate higher priority crimes. She is in charge of a dedicated crew, The Golden Time Team, who help with the cases in other aspects. While there are some changes in cast, there are several that are reoccurring - even some that have been on since the first season. The drama follows a close procedural format, much like you’d see in a show like Bones, with each season centering around one central serial killer who’s taunting the team (again, like Bones). In this season she is joined by LAPD officer Derek Jo (Seung Heon), who had been helping with a joint operation. He is added to the team when his sister is killed by a serial killer targeting Kwon Joo. The killer is like Kwon Joo in appearance and also has the same hearing abilities.

The Crew.png

One thing you have to know going into Voice is that it’s one of those dramas that toes the line of going off the rails completely. It very much is influenced by Western crime procedurals in which the main team is out of this world the best (her hearing abilities is almost superhero levels, but it’s never really explained why she has such an ability), they touch and disrupt evidence without gloves 100% of the time, and the serial killers are good at everything. While it wasn’t my favorite in crime dramas, the first season of the drama was pretty solid. The next two seasons were pretty hard for me to get through, as the second season had a terrible big evil, and the main male lead in both seasons 2 & 3 was pretty unbearable. But this isn’t a review of those seasons, this is my first thoughts on these episodes.

I was hoping that this season 4 would mirror God’s Quiz Season 4 in that it would pick itself back up to the same enjoyment equivalent to the first season. While I did like these first two episodes much more than the previous seasons, it had some major flaws that might snowball into a harder watch for me in the future. I think one of the major flaws in general with the Voice series is that it doesn’t trust itself to do different things. It recycles a lot of its content, and these episodes weren’t immune to this. The setup of Derek Jo’s introduction into the team is a mirror of the first season’s detective. The play on the evil potentially being a lead character, that we saw all of last season, is back recycled into Kwon Joo’s character. Now, this doesn’t mean that it’s not entirely enjoyable, but when a crime show doesn’t valuable unpredictability it falls flat. And that’s what could very well happen with this series and has proven to do in the past. But despite all of that, there is only one thing about this drama that is a big red flag for me, and that’s the LAPD officer, Chad.

Chaaad.png

I absolutely can’t stand Chad. Chad is the worst. Not only is his character shaping up to be the overused “friend who actually helps the bad guy” trope, but…the actor is just not good. At all. I really try not to harp on these types of things, because a lot of time it’s not really talent that’s wrong but direction. But it’s kind of past the point of a personal preference and is ruining the watching enjoyment of the drama. His English scenes are terrible - equally as bad as the Korean. I mean, on a whole the English senes are not good for anyone in the cast (except that one LAPD computer guy that confirmed Kwan Joo wasn’t in the video. Shout out to him. He was awesome and in the show like for two lines. Can we have more of him?) Chad’s so bad that you immediately catch on that he may not be a good guy and a red herring because of his cartoonish tells. I guess this is par for the course with this show as it loves to do the makjang-not-makjang thing, but it’s exhausting. I was really hoping that he wasn’t going to be in this past the first scenes, but he hasn’t left…and is in a lot of behind-the-scenes and promo. And an episode number isn’t listed by his name. So we’re stuck with him.

I kind of wish I had held off on this review till I watched four episodes of the drama so that I could really get a sense of what I liked and didn’t. While there was a lot of action and a lot of death, there was also a lot of setup between introducing the new characters and also recapping the other seasons. So there just wasn’t a lot to talk about. I did enjoy a lot of what was happening and found the episodes were mostly enjoyable. I really like the big evil this season. It’s still mysterious, but I love the fact that there is an actual trio doing everything and seeing how they are accomplishing it. I haven’t felt this connection since the first season with Kim Jae Wook’s serial killer. The trio is creepy and unnerving and add a nice level of horror to the drama. The snow falling with the three hooded figures coming upon the already disturbing scene of the son attacking the parents is where this drama actually shines. The drama starting off immediately on the murder was a great setup and was a great way to get me hooked immediately. And the big evil being female? Yes. Sign me up.

Snow Trio.png

We don’t get a case until the second episode, and the way that the episodes are structured the case is always the cliffhanger for the week. While it was intriguing, it’s too early to tell if that portion of the drama will land or keep up in speed. Am I going to continue watching? Yes. I feel like I invested a lot into getting here that I have to stick through it and have a fairly small watching load. I really do want to see how the murder trio evolve and I do like the level of darkness that the drama has.

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A Tale of Two Sisters Review

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This week’s Friday night movie pick was the 2003 classic, A Tale of Two Sisters.

Sisters.png

I actually first watched the movie last year because I had found out about its huge impact on Korean horror. The movie is Korea’s highest-grossing horror film and the first to be screened in America. It is consistently in top lists for one of the best films in Asian horror, and resonated a lot with audiences. It has a 2009 remake, The Uninvited, directed by the Guard Brothers.

Written and directed by Kim Jee Woon (A Quiet Family, I Saw the Devil, The Age of Shadows), the film follows Su Mi (Im Soo Jung), a teenager who has just been released from a mental hospital and sent back home with her sister, dad, and her new stepmother. Tensions rise between the girls and their stepmother, and with the constant nightmares of her dead mother, Su Mi is tormented.

Because of the nature of the movie, there really is no way to do any sort of a review/analysis without spoiling some things, so while I might not go over every plot of the story in this review, there will still be major spoilers. I highly suggest watching the movie before reading this or anything about the movie. Some of the plot is a surprise and really adds to the enjoyment of the movie as a whole. This is your warning.

A Tale of Two Sisters is loosely based on a popular Joseon-era Korean fairy tale The Story of Janghwa and Hongryeon. Following the death of their mother, a father of two girls remarries a woman who does not like the girls and repeatedly abuses them. When the eldest is about to marry, the stepmother sabotages the marriage which exiles the daughter from the family. The mother tells one of her sons to push the daughter into a pond, where she drowns. While she is drowning a tiger comes and attacks the son. The mother gets what she wants with the daughter gone, but at the cost of her son, and becomes violent to the existing stepdaughter and eventually her fate is the same as the other stepdaughter. It isn’t until the girl’s ghosts are able to convince the new mayor of what the stepmother is doing that she is found guilty and sentenced to death. The story ends with the daughter’s spirits being able to rest, and the father remarrying with a new wife, bearing twins.

Still from the 1939 movie based on the fairy tale.

Still from the 1939 movie based on the fairy tale.

A Tale of Two Sisters has everything I love for a horror movie. I love dark, creepy, atmospheric stories that stay with me. There’s a mystery that is slowly being unfolded and you don’t know what’s going to happen. The tension is from the unknown rather than jump scares or gore.

When I’ve come across people talking about the movie, the biggest plot twist in the movie to them is the reveal that the sister, Su Yeon (Moon Geun Young), is dead. While it does add a great layer of surprise to the movie, I think it is intentionally set up to hold more weight to throw you off from what I believe is the greater twist: when you find out the horrific cause of death of the mother and her sister. When you realize why Su Mi is the way she is it makes the whole story so much more horrific because it’s real. The scare is not her dead mother appearing before her, or a ghost hand grabbing hers. It’s real-life horror that has emotionally ruined her life. Su Mi manifested her sister because she was the only comfort she had, the poor girl didn’t have a chance. Her sister is there the minute she returns to the house after coming back from the hospital. Su Yeon represents the only time that Su Mi was happy and becomes the only way to feel safe. Yet she is also her constant reminder of failure.

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When Su Mi is confronted by the realization that her sister is dead, that’s when her mania goes into a tailspin and Su Yeon disappears from her side. The way Su Mi ‘sees’ her stepmother during the scenes of her dragging the bag is the manifestation of her rage and torment and it does such a good job of giving the viewer a greater understanding of what is going on in her head. The movie pulls you around constantly. From believing that the stepmother is really doing everything, to finding out that Su Mi is an unreliable narrator because everything you’ve just seen was her doing, to the realization that the true story is so much worse. It is literally placing you in the torment that Su Mi is actually in. It’s super effective and is probably one of my favorite things about the movie. I was horrified because I was seeing what she was, and it was unsettling.

Another thing that stuck with me from the first time I watched this and again after my rewatch, was the father’s role in everything. In the fairy tale that I talked about above, the father does not have much of a role in the story. He isn’t part of the abuse (the daughters choose not to tell him) but does believe the stepmother over the daughter. In the end, the girl’s spirits come to him to wish him a good life. In the movie, the father does a lot more even when he is shown doing the very least. It’s unsettling to see him interact with Su Mi because he knows that she’s still seeing her dead sister. He refuses to take away the piece of furniture in the house that is the literal cause of everything that happened. He doesn’t acknowledge that he has a greater role in the death of his first wife and his daughter or the mental trauma his eldest has to endure because of it. He has clearly admitted defeat in helping her. It’s a repeat of what he did with his first wife. He left her when she was mentally and physically unwell and moved on. He literally hid her in a closet to die.

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A Tale of Two Sisters is a movie that I would recommend to everyone and is a personal favorite. While there are parts of the story that are classically horror, the real horror is in the events that happened in the house. I think it does a good job in combining real horrors with fake, and keeps you guessing the entire way through with great surprises and turns. The story unfolds in such a great way that it left me thinking for a while.

Let me know if you’ve watched the movie as well and your thoughts on it. This second viewing has really solidified my love for it, and I was able to focus on a lot more things that were going on without having to focus on the subtitles.

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Korean Egg Ghost

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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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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White: Melody of Death (non-spoiler) Review

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Native Title: 화이트: 저주의 멜로디
Release Date: June 9, 2011
Director: Kim Sun
Writer: Kim Gok
Genre: Horror
Starring: Ham Eun Jung, Hwang Woo Seul. Rest of the cast can be found here.

I have a soft spot for teen slasher films. I’ve been into horror and spooky stuff since I can remember, but around middle school/high school is when I started to get into it more, and those teen slasher movies were it. They are fun, exciting, the right level of gore and campiness and I was living through one of the best times for it. Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Faculty…all premiered when I was a teen. While White: Melody of Death didn’t have the same punch as its Western counterpoints (I’m assuming because of the target audience) it did have some of those same fun elements.

I’ve had this on my list to watch for a really long time - actually most of the movies and dramas I’m going to be talking about in the next couple of months have been on my radar for a while - so it was nice to finally have an excuse to pick this one up now. I knew very little going into the film. I knew that it was about kpop. I knew that Junho had a slight cameo and that it starred the girl from T-ara and that it had this mysterious Ring-vibe to it. But that’s it.

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White: Melody of Death is about a kpop group, the Pink Dolls, who are at the brink of dissolving. They are consistently losing on music shows, and only really have one more shot before they will disband. The main leader, Eun Ju (played by T-ara member Ham Eun Jung), finds a video in their new rehearsal space while cleaning up. It’s a grainy recording of a group performing an unfamiliar song. Her manager gets ahold of the tape and decides to use the song for their group, which skyrockets the group into stardom quickly. That’s when the problems start to happen.

One of the parts I liked most about the film was how they used the popularity and the craziness of fans to heighten some of the clips. The horrors and negative aspects of that business were brought up in the film. There were constant portrayals of the fans going nuts, screaming, and trying to grab at the girls - as well as being caught up in their own fandom to not realize the severity of what was going on or to really pick up the danger that the girls were being put in. The juxtaposition of the crazy fans who don’t care about their safety, and the knowledge of what the girls went through to get there was interesting. The constant pressure of the girls to keep going even after things started to go bad added to the real-life horror side of the movie.

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I think that at parts the movie was hazy in its execution of this comparison, though. It would have been nicer if they had leaned into the ugly side of the industry a bit more. A lot of it was rushed or we just didn’t get to see it because the entity had to be present again. Issues they bring up such as jealousy, plastic surgery, and just general deception because of the nature of competition were lightly touched on and kind of glossed over and so it never came across as a good enough conflict, or just entirely unresolved. It created a lot of muddling and confusion to the storyline towards the end. You see where they were going, but those problems and pacing throws it off.

I do like what the movie was trying to do, even if they didn’t necessarily get there. If you are a kpop fan already, these parts tend to be more forgivable since you are already in the know of the problems in that industry and understand why it’s there, but if you go in as just a horror fan the context might get lost. In the end, the general horror audience wasn’t its target audience. With the Eun Jung (an actual well-known kpop idol) starring and cameos from other idols, the audience for it was a young kpop audience.

All-in-all I enjoyed the movie for what it was. It was fun, I enjoyed it as someone who spends a lot of time looking into the kpop world, and it wasn’t a bad way to spend a Friday night.

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Korean Horror Picks: Amazon

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I’m back with another installment of “Jessie recommending horror on popular streaming sites”. This time we are focusing on Amazon! Amazon is a fairly hidden spot for Asian movies to watch on demand that I don’t think enough people are aware of, and that includes horror. While Amazon does have an option to rent/buy titles, for this list I focused on ones that are currently available for streaming with prime, or available free through IMDB with ads.

Be sure to check out my other top picks for Netflix, and Shudder.

-Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018) Directed by: Jung Bum Shik
Also known as 곤지암
Starring: Wi Ha Jun, Park Sung Hun, Lee Seung Wook. Additional credits can be found here.

“An internet broadcaster recruits a handful of people for their ‘experience the horror’ show at Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital, a place selected as one of the ‘7 freakiest places on the planet’. They are to explore the haunted asylum and stream it live on their online show.”

-Insane (2016) Directed by: Lee Cheol Ha
Also known as 날, 보러와요
Starring: Kang Ye Won, Lee San Yoon, Choi Jin Ho. Additional credits can be found here.

“A woman is kidnapped in the middle of the day and tortured in a psychiatric hospital. A Journalist gets on the trace of the case and tries to find out the truth.”

-Mourning Grave (2014) Directed by: Oh In Chun
Also known as 소녀괴담
Starring: Kang Ha Neul, Kim So Eun, Kim Jung Tae. Additional credits can be found here.

“A boy who can see ghosts moves to a small town, where he befriends a female ghost. The two work together to investigate a masked ghost who is murdering students one by one.”

-Possessed (2009) Directed by: Lee Young Ju
Also known as 불신지옥
Starring: Nam Sang Mi, Shin Eun Kyung, Ryu Seung Ryong. Additional credits can be found here.

“When 13-year-old So-Jin disappears, her elder sister Hee-Jin returns to the apartment of their religious-maniac mother. Tae-Hwan, a cop, who reluctantly has to take the case seriously is confronted with more and more suicides that are difficult to explain rationally.”

-The Mimic (2018) Directed by: Jung Huh
Also known as 장산범
Starring: Huh Jin, Yum Jung Ah, Park Hyuk Kwon. Additional credits can be found here.

“The story of the Jangsan Tiger, who mimics human voices to lure them close, and a family affected by the creature.”

-The Piper (2016) Directed by: Kim Kwang Tae
Also known as 손님
Starring: Ryoo Seung Ryong, Goo Seung Hyun, Chun Woo Hee. Additional credits can be found here.

“Shortly after the Korean war, a father and a son are wandering through the country and make a stop in a remote village, where strange and dangerous happenings occur.”

-The Quiet Family (1998) Directed by: Kim Jee Woon
Also known as 조용한 가족
Starring: Choi Min Sik, Na Moon Hee, Song Kang Ho. Additional credits can be found here.

“A family decides to buy a lodge in a remote hiking area. Their first customer commits suicide and the distraught family buries his body to avoid the bad publicity. But their luck gets worse, the bodies start piling up, and the family becomes frantic to rectify the situation.”

-The Uninvited (2003) Directed by: Lee So Youn
Also known as 4인용 식탁
Starring: Park Shin Yang, Gianna Jun, Yoo Sun. Additional credits can be found here.

“Impaired by amnesia, Jeong Won can’t remember his youth – until he meets Yeon, a psychic who may be able to uncover his past. After witnessing the horrific deaths of children, both share dreamlike visions of ghostly forms.”

-The Wailing (2016) Directed by: Na Hong Jin
Also known as 곡성
Starring: Kwak Do Won, Hwang Jung Min, Jun Kunimura. Additional credits can be found here.

“A stranger arrives in a little village and soon after a mysterious sickness starts spreading. A policeman is drawn into the incident and is forced to solve the mystery in order to save his daughter.”

-The Whispering (2018) Directed by: Choi Sang Hun
Also known as 속닥속닥
Starring: Sp Ju Yeon, Kim Min Kyu, Choi Hee Jin. Additional credits can be found here.

“Six high school students, who have finished their college entrance examinations, accidentally discover a haunted house with eerie rumors to it. Inside there, the students start to hear the whispers of death and vanish one by one, as unstoppable, extreme terror engulfs them.”

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Korean Horror Picks: Netflix

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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.

- #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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Current Korean Horror on Shudder

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It is rainy and gloomy and the perfect day to stay in and watch some movies. If you aren’t into horror you might not know of the horror streaming service Shudder. It has a good library of movies, tv shows, and documentaries from all over the world. While they don’t have the biggest international section, they do have some movies to offer. Just like Netflix, their movies do cycle on and off the site and some of the movies are exclusive to Shudder. I decided to round up all of what they have for Korean movies, and list them here so you have a good idea of what they do offer. I’m not affiliated with the site (I mean, if they want me to be I wouldn’t say no…), I just genuinely like the service and have been subscribed for about a year and haven’t regretted it. If you are looking for a streaming platform and are into horror/thriller content I suggest giving it a try, they always have free trials.

-0.0MHz (2019) Directed by: Sun Dong Yoo
Starring: Jung Eun Ji, Lee Sung Yeol. Additional credits can be found here.

“The film centers around a group that are part of a club that analyzes the Supernatural. The group enthusiastically visit a house that is believed to be haunted. Once there they set out to test if ghosts can be contacted once human brain waves reach a frequency of 0.0Mhz.”

-Lingering (2020) Directed by: Yoon Eun Kyoung
Also known as Hotel Lake / 호텔 레이크
Starring: Lee Se Young, Park Ji Young, Park Hyo Joo. Additional credits can be found here.

“When Yoo-mi searches out her mother's friend at a hotel to drop off her younger sister, she falls into unexpected mystery and horror.”

-Metamorphosis (2019) Directed by: Kim Hong Sun
Also known as Transformation / 변신
Starring: Bae Sung Woo, Sung Dong II, Jang Young Nam. Additional credits can be found here.

“An evil spirit that changes faces infiltrates one family placing one brother in danger while the other tries to save him.”

-Monstrum (2018) Directed by: Huh Jong Ho
Also known as Strange Object / 물괴
Starring: Kim Myung Min, Kim In Kwon, Lee Hye Ri. Additional credits can be found here.

“The plague has taken over Joseon, and fear runs rampant in the streets. When rumors of a vicious beast roaming Mount Inwangsan–called “Monstrum” by terrified masses–begin to spread, fear turns into panic.”

-Seoul Station (2016) Directed by: Yeon Sang Ho
Starring: Seung Ryong Ryu, Shim Eun Kyung, Joon Lee. Additional credits can be found here.

“Several groups of people try to survive a zombie pandemic that unleashes itself in downtown Seoul.”

-The Wrath (2018) Directed by: Young Sun Yoo
Also known as Woman’s Wail / 여곡성
Starring: Seo Young Hee, Son Na Eun, Lee Tae Ri. Additional credits can be found here.

“This period thriller pits two Joseon women against each other when a tragedy befalls a family of three sons who all die on their wedding day.”

-Train to Busan (2016) Directed by: Yeon Sang Ho
Also known as 부산행
Starring: Gong Yoo, Jung Yu Mi, Ma Dong Seok. Additional credits can be found here.

“Seok Woo, his estranged daughter Soo An, and other passengers become trapped on a KTX train (high-speed train) heading from Seoul to Busan during a disastrous virus outbreak in South Korea.”

-Peninsula (2020) Directed by: Yeon Sang Ho
Also known as 반도
Starring: Kang Dong Won, Lee Jung Hyun, Lee Re. Additional credits can be found here.

“Peninsula takes place four years after the zombie outbreak in Train to Busan. The Korean peninsula is devastated and Jung Seok, a former soldier who has managed to escape overseas, is given a mission to go back and unexpectedly meets survivors.”

-Warning: Do Not Play (2019) Directed by: Kim Jin Won
Also known as Blackout / 암전
Starring: Seo Ye Ji, Jin Seon Kyu, Ji Yoon Ho. Additional credits can be found here.

“A mystery horror flick about a director wannabe, Mi-jeong, who seeks the movie that is claimed to have been made by a ghost. During her search she meets Jae-hyeon, the real director of the movie.”

-Zombie for Sale (2019) Directed by: Lee Min Jae
Also known as The Odd Family: Zombie on Sale / 기묘한 가족
Starring: Jung Jae Young, Kim Nam Gil. Additional credits can be found here.

“One day, a strange man appears in the country village. Due to him, Man Deok’s family and the entire village is shaken.”

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