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Overhyped movie?
This movie is good, one of the overhyped movie this year it considered as one of the top grossing movie this year maybe because of the castibg. I don't understand why it is talked about its not one of the best thrilling movies that I saw its just a typical ritual movie the story is very common.The movie is not that bad its just a common story not that scary at all. The casting is great, they got the best actors in this film and they really did their best. The cinematography is great they got the best shots. It was nicely done.
Kim go Eun did a great job, she really nailed as a shaman, she really did the shaman chant excellently. I really love his acting here.
Lee Do Hyun is really given that his a good actor but he also did his exceptional acting skills in this film. But what caught my attention is that he looks hotter in this film.
Overall the movie is great and common, not worhy for an award.
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Found it boring
I started watching it cause of the cast but couldn't complete it after a hour it was too impossible for me to understand what's happening in the scenes ಠ_ಠ but their acting was sure good.May be i should have waited a bit long for the twists and all but from the first only it was tough for me to understand
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A Haunting and Atmospheric Supernatural Thriller
I aim to keep my reviews short, spoiler-free, and focused on the key points to help you decide if a drama is worth your time. I never fast-forward and always strive to watch the entire movie to give a fair and thorough perspective.Exhuma delivers a high-quality cinematic experience, blending supernatural horror with grounded yet fantastical shamanism. The film boasts a stellar cast, with each actor delivering compelling performances that add depth to the eerie narrative. The OST is perfectly fitting, enhancing the tension and mysticism without feeling intrusive.
While the movie maintains a strong atmosphere and well-crafted suspense, its runtime feels slightly stretched, with certain scenes lingering longer than necessary. However, the detailed approach helps immerse viewers in the ritualistic and supernatural elements, making it a gripping watch for those who appreciate slow-burning horror.
Overall, Exhuma is a well-executed film that balances folklore and fear, offering a chilling yet visually stunning experience.
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‘Mr Vampire’ in Korean version
This is a Korean take on Exorcism…some nostalgia familiarity to the good old Hong Kong movie, Mr Vampire. Watched this because of reviews.I grew up watching Hong Kong horror drama involving exorcism, spirit and zombie. So I was pleasantly surprised by this movie which is based on Korean culture also has some similar elements such as rituals, calling spirit, Feng Shui, ancestors’ grave shifting, exorcism etc. It even had a darker urban legend as the back story about what Japanese Yin-Yang master done to Korean Feng Shui by breaking Korea into two countries. And there was a subtle theme of how a country and people survived this ordeal (war), trauma stays with them.
Brief plot without reviewing much, is about one veteran (a Feng Shui master), a funeral director and two new practitioners (a Sharman and her disciple), these four came together because of their client’s ancestor grave mystery and uncovered a darker past. Facing life danger situation, they will have to use their expertise to fight the unknown.
Brilliant writing, good pacing, good acting.
If you like this type of drama, this is definitely worth the watch.
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a spectacular drag that is less scary and more political than i signed up for
i feel like i just wasted 134 minutes of my life.no, really, what the fuck was that? the pacing was slow as heck. the recent slew of korean shows i've watched have led me to entertain the notion that there's a school of korean directors that conflate drag with artistry. no, a dragged-out, slow motion shot of a woman raising her head is not particularly thought-provoking. look, i know sometimes it's about flair, it's about atmosphere, but there's a chasm between style and extreme boredom. just don't. overdo. it.
and honestly, the visuals were fine (but too dark -- we're approaching GOT season 8 ep 3 levels of dark here), but atmospheric? sure, it was a little eerie, but it was never really scary. i don't know about other regions, but it sure was marketed as chilling/scary/thrilling over here, and frankly, it just wasn't.
i'll give props where it's due: the acting was great. i haven't seen kim go eun disappoint once, and this movie is no exception. lee dohyun feels a little out of his depth as bong-gil here to be honest, but maybe that's more on his character. which brings me to another glaring complaint: where is the characterization? i'm 134 minutes in and out, and none the wiser about who any of these people are. we're limited by runtime, of course, so if there's a good plot here, i'll forgive a plot-centric movie for less-than-satisfactory characterization. but do we?
the plot is... bad. first we have a standalone case that is fairly uninspired, but serves as an introduction to the system, so that's fine. then we go back to the opening scene's baby sickness and dive into our main arc. i'm sorry, but it took forever to get to the brunt of it. it felt like i spent a full hour of nothing to just get to the exhuming, which was, to its credit, the best part of the entire movie. there was some actual anticipation and apprehension as to what might happen. waiting for the consequences to hit consisted of 100% of the entire show's tension. then the show just... derailed from there. look, i'm not going to touch on the ramifications of the atrocities inflicted by imperial japan, but as a member of the international audience, i question the decision to bring all that into this. while we're being political, i'll venture to point out the implications of transplanting the japanese shogun into a vessel that justifies a faceless evil with a complete lack of nuance. i'm not korean, and i don't have to enjoy this. all things considered, it's also a pretty forced patriotic twist and i'm just tired of the nationalist call-to-arms in my shows, boss. outside of the shoehorned historical politics, the film also loses its suspense and drive once the shogun's involvement is revealed. it's just one traditionally korean-themed oni fight.
bottom line: i want my 134 minutes back.
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..
This movie had been on my watchlist for a long time, and once I finally sat down to watch it, it didn’t disappoint. Dark, unsettling, and heavy with atmosphere.Kim Go-Eun and Lee Do-Hyun delivered powerful performances, as expected. Two of my favorite actors, drawing you deeper into the darkness of the story.
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Creepy exorcisms among South Korean graves.
Exhuma recklessly throws a bunch of disjointed horror genres into one pot and somehow manages to cook up a deliciously creepy thriller with a lot to say.Choi Min Sik (Oldboy) leads us down a dark and macabre path through South Korea’s complicated history. A team of paranormal experts accidentally unleash terrifying forces after excavating a sinister grave of a wealthy family. Whoops! What follows is a strange and unpredictable journey about all the ghosts left behind by Korea’s traumatic relationship with Japan.
Director Jang Jae Hyun packs Exhuma with every kind of horror imaginable. It shouldn’t hold together as well as it does, but somehow the film is fresher and more powerful than expected. All the worldbuilding, all the rituals, and all the supernatural mysteries are held together by the cultural and historical context. Trauma is certainly nothing new to horror films, but Exhuma cuts deeper than most.
Choi Min Sik as the leader of the group is, of course, gripping and really sells the suspense when it becomes clear that they have taken on darker and more powerful forces than they thought. But it is still Kim Go Eun who steals the film thanks to a startling sequence early on that loudly proclaims the film’s formal intentions. The rest of the film doesn’t quite manage to reach that level, but comes close several times.
The opening is strong and loaded with eerie atmosphere and mystery, all the conventional genre tropes are in top form. But with a running time of 134 minutes, the film is a bit too long and would have benefited from a stronger middle point. A few more scissors in the editing room would have helped, because once the tension escalates we get a sensational finale where Jae Hyun has once again saved a surprise for the audience. Nothing can prepare you for where Exhuma goes, but no spoilers here!
Exhuma is an ambitious and exciting excavation of Korea’s past. The cinematography is as impressive as it is terrifying, the entire ensemble cast gives it their all, and the script never stops expanding the scope. At the same time, there is a fascinating thematic thread that lifts the film a step above its competitors.
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Boring & overhyped
Bc of the cast and teaser I was so hype for it and has so much expectation but in fact it was so boring. They tried so hard to make a complex nonsense story to be scary but trust me it wasn't. Everything can easily scare me but I watched it in middle of a night and nothing moved in me. The story was not something new so we expect a good storyline to make the audience excited. All the 2hours my face was like 😐. It doesn't worth the hype. The only positive point of tje movie was the acting.Was this review helpful to you?
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very chilling, good story
I enjoyed this!It’s very spiritual which I enjoy. The overall vibe and tone was so chilling. It set the environment well. The last few chapters were a bit confusing as things were getting revealed but that is bc I am a westerner, so I had to do some pausing to look up things for context. Which I found enriching. I actually learned a bit of history bc of this. But I liked the story. Knowing the context behind some of the stuff puts the puzzle pieces together.
Regardless of that still a solid horror/thriller. Not overtly scary per se but had decent jump scares. The vibes were so creepy, that was scary enough. I found myself invested in the mystery and the characters despite there not being a ton of backstory on them. But i found that was okay. Some of the interactions, flashbacks, etc told me everything I needed to know.
Would recommend!
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"Star-Studded Letdown: The Plot Twist"
It was the 1st time watching korean movie in india that to you know the actors like kim go eun and lee do hyun oppa will select good story, so i had a hope.When i was watching the movie in threate, i felt nothing like if you are fan horror genre may be you can guess what is going on but as kdrama fan i can't understand movie properly that to from pre climax i was struggling a lot what is going on!
The good in this movie was BGM and cinematography should get an award and actors did a fantastic job too. The story and plot disappointed me badly .
Special mentions about kim go eun deserves a award for doing a shaman role infront of original shaman 🙌. As usual our lee do hyun oppa did nyc job. But our girl stoles the shows with her unique personality in the movie.
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Confusing and poorly explained, with abrupt transitions and unclear relationships.
Confusing and poorly explained, jumping between different elements of folklore and shamanism without cohesion. Many key relationships and plot points are left unclear, making it hard to follow the story. Despite a promising premise, the film relies too much on audience interpretation, leaving viewers with too many unanswered questions. The transitions between supernatural elements are abrupt and disjointed, leading to a lack of suspense and engagement. Overall, the plot's lack of clarity and coherence made the movie a frustrating watch.Was this review helpful to you?
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Boring
What a waste of time. After Svaha, which was great, I had great expectations of the author, but this was almost as bad as The Priests. I guess Svaha was good by accident.Once again we have some weird syncretism of christian, buddhist and shamanist elements here, except there is no moral.
The camerawork and acting were both good, but what can be done if the story sucks?
The only thing I learned from this movie is that for koreans japanese are the scariest thing ever. For all the haughty nationalist yapping korean cinema has been releasing recently, they really do have inferiority complex, don't they? Here they blame japan for splitting korea into north and south, which was accomplished just by burying one samurai dude near the border. Who knows what would happen if japanese buried two dudes, or three, or three hundred?
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