Story Line:
It started out as a horror movie for me with the weird parents, scary daughter and them eating the red soup, etc. But towards the end, it turned out to be something that is warm and touching, which wasn't exactly expected of. :)
I love what's hidden behind the story too. Like about how the kids are actually yearning for parents and also someone to play with. They didn't wanted to hurt anybody actually, they were just abandoned by their parents and they were lonely.
Cast:
I love the cast too. The kids are perfect, and I came to love Chun Jung Myung after this. He has this baby/playful face that matches really well with the kids. However when he gets serious about something, he becomes such a charming man.
Rewatch Value:
I have watched it a few times as I was doing a review of the movie for my class. But of course after rewatching it continuously, I got bored of it. But I would say everytime I rewatch it, I would get something new out of it. I have just watched it again after one year now, and it was really enjoyable for me :)
Overall:
This is really really worth watching. I love it! :D
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Surprisingly good tale on dealing with trauma and growing up.
I did not expect all the emotional depth and tears. I got in thinking “evil kids with powers”, but I could not be more mistaken.The overly sweet and sugar vibes created this unnerving, uncomfortable atmosphere - everything seemed unreal, over the top and stomachache creating. I would not even classify it as a horror movie, but rather fantasy drama with horror elements. Something along the lines of Pan's Labyrinth. The focus is the story and the characters, not the cheap scares.
The visuals were quite stunning for a movie from 2007. Starting with more bright and light colors, something you could see in an over the top Christmas commercial, slowly turned more dark and grim as more of the mystery started to be revealed.
Performances? Quite good, especially with how young the young actors were. Shim Eun Kyung did the best job and the powerful emotions Yeong Hee was feeling were delivered in a convincing way. Was not as much of a fan of Eun Won Jae performance - the character felt flat.
Overall, I would for sure recommend. Lee Eun Soo was a bit of a mess as a character, but realistically speaking, he was just a tool to tell the children's’ story so I don’t mind it that much.
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Like Wes Anderson meets Guillermo del Torro but darker than Anderson and lighter than Del Torros masterpieces, this one is definitely full of suspense and you'll be hooked by the mystery.
Honestly, Koreans have mastered the art of psychological suspense and drama.
This film is very visual, so it really treats the surroundings like a character, the forest and the house of course. I love fairytale retellings especially when they're done in this way. The colors, the objects, the clothing, everything serves a visual purpose, everything has meaning.
It's definitely sad but it's not too dark and not too much horror so anyone can watch it.
But when the ending rolls out you'll be just surprised. It's done so beautifully .
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The first 10 to 15 minutes of this movie were very intresting and kept a hold of me but then it just went down. The story became messy and boring due to it being extremely slow phased. There are also parts which are confusing because there is not more story telling to it. The last 15/20 minutes were amazing again. I don't know what to think about it. But even tho the story was confusing at times and almost boring the acting was great! For me it's a 1 time movie not really worth rewatching. I also don't think I would really recommend it to friends.
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I have always remembered Hansel and Gretel being a boy and girl who stumble upon a home, but I have never seen one that had three kids as the Hansel and Gretel part... So I'm not .. really sure what went on there? I mean the Hansel and Gretel played a HUGE part of this movie but it wasn't really Hansel and Gretel if you get what I mean? If you don't, that's okay because I hardly know myself! Lol All the more reason to watch this movie!!!
Even though this movie was released in 2007, it gives such old vibes. Lol I'm not even kidding. When I saw "2007" I was like "....lol wut?" I thought it was made in the 90's. MY BAD!!!! That is not a insult by the way. Have you seen movies from the 90s? They are still bad ass to this day! FIGHT ME!!! (I'm kidding. Don't do that.) I'm just saying, 90's movies can hold their own. Lol
Now the conflicting part will be kinda hard to talk about because I don't want to give to much away. But let's just say this movie is different from the other Hansel and Gretel movies. Let's face it, with the other movies, we know who the actual "bad guy" is in those movies. It's the witch. We want the witch dead and we want happy endings for the kids. Maaaaaan they ....I..... That information bomb they dropped near the end legit made me start CRYING! It was unexpected. There was one character in the movie that I really didn't like and it was the little boy but by the end of the movie I seriously just wanted to hug him and put him in a protection bubble.
All of the actors were so freaking talented. Though there was one that I was like "wow... this dude's acting is really really bad and holy crap he is a creepy fuck" Dude, turns out that is how his character was supposed to be. When I actually found out about the character at the end I went from "wow his acting is terrible" to "holy fucking shit the dude is hella talented!!!" and that is a understatement.
This is one movie I'm sure will be remade in a few years because it's one of those that people can't really keep their hands off of. But, I wish they wouldn't. I feel like I would always compare new actors to these actors. Lol which I know is bad, all actors have their own skills and that is great and all, but there was just something about this cast that just meshed so well that you wish all actors worked that well together.
If you get a chance to watch this movie, please do! And let me know what you think!
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