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Drama Marathon Alert: The Guest
ANNYEONG! It's been a while, huh?
This will be the third article written in the past month about this drama.
Why? Because it's just that good. This article is to inform you that as of November 1st all the episodes have aired, so if you haven't watched it yet, then please go check it out!
I'll list the previous articles written about this show at the end of this one if you would like to give them a read.
Warning: This Article May Contain Spoilers and Graphic Images
A powerful demon known as "Sohn" begins this grim tale by possessing a man named "Park Il Do". Park Il Do flees to a small village where he kills himself by stabbing himself in the eye and entering the East Sea where he stays for several days before being assumed to be dead.
Fast forward years later, a relative of a young Yoon Hwa Pyung gets possessed by Park Il Do before attacking their village and ultimately killing himself by stabbing himself in the eye.
Yoon Hwa Pyung is a young psychic who is then believed to be possessed by Park Il Do. People in the village begin dying including several of Yoon Hwa Pyung's family, worried for their safety they call in two exorcist priests. One of these priests becomes possessed and goes home to slaughter his parents, killing an innocent cop (Kil Yeong's Mother) who attempts to stop him from killing his younger brother (Matteo) as well.
AND BOOM, this is the tragedy that causes Yoon Hwa Pyung, Matteo and Kil Yeong the three main characters of this drama, to be connected.
Fast Forward twenty years, and the possessions and killings which had begun in Yoon Hwa Pyung's small village begin again and it is up to Yoon Hwa Pyung, Kil Yeong and Matteo to put a stop to the evil Demon "Sohn" AKA "Park Il Do".
That's it! I won't go into any more detail, that's for you to learn as you watch.
Storyline
One thing that The Guest had was a strong storyline. You learn from very early on that the main goal of the show is figuring out who Park Il Do is (or rather who is the person possessed by him) and to put an end to him.
What I loved was that the path from Point A to B was a looong and twisted maze of trying to figure out who was Park Il Do, because as soon as you thought you had it figured out, NOPE! PLOT TWIST! My God, this show kept me on my toes.
Then, there were all the amazing characters in this show, specifically, the tragic backstory to the three main leads provided the drama with three very strong characters that kept me emotionally invested in them from beginning to end.
OST
The OST for this drama was also great. You can listen to some of it by clicking the above picture.
In addition to the OST, the scarier music and the sound effects they added in really helped add to the effect of the show and the horror.
Characters/ Actors
Yoon Hwa Pyung played by: Kim Dong Wook
Matteo/Choi Yoon played by: Kim Jae Wook
Kang Kil Yeong played by: Jung Eun Chae
Don't get me wrong, I love romance as much as the next person. But I was actually really happy that this drama avoided romance and just left our three main leads as friends. Probably would have cried if they pulled out the dreaded love triangle. BLEH!
That being said, I absolutely loved shipping them with one another, weird? Maybe? But it was still fun! Sometimes I could see Yoon Hwa Pyung and Kil Yeong possibly ending up together, and sometimes I could see Kil Yeong and Matteo together. My favourite though was pairing Matteo and Hwa Pyung with each other. Don't hate me! The bromance was strong with this one!
Needless to say, I absolutely loved the chemistry between these three characters, their tragic past forcing them inevitably together. While the show gives the characters, themselves, time to develop, it also allows for the relationships they create to slowly grow and develop and change, etc.
I've loved Kim Jae Wook for a while now, so to see him get to take on a strong leading role and do such an amazing job made me ecstatic!
I had never seen a drama or movie with either Jung Eun Chae or Kim Dong Wook prior to watching The Guest.
Jung Eun Chae's portrayal of Kil Yeong was great, Kil Yeong was an amazingly strong female detective that never wanted to show her weak side. But when push came to shove, she had to learn to rely on those around her. Gotta love a strong female character.
This drama puts Kim Dong Wook on the map for me. I couldn't believe I had never seen anything with him as a character before. He as Yoon Hwa Pyung was what I call perfect casting. He was able to show such a wounded character that had been through so much heartbreak and despair but was still trying to fight to save the lives of the innocent. Job well done I'd say.
Kim Jae Wook as the exorcist priest who is slowly having his soul eaten away, one exorcist at a time, was fantastic. He plays straight-laced, prim and proper, very well.
Sorry for the long rant of me basically going gaga for these three actors and their characters but seriously, they were amazing. I will definitely be looking out for their future dramas and movies.
This was a drama where all the supporting cast were just as strong as the three leads. Above are only a mere few of the many that stood out to me.
Genre: Horror
I love horror, I'm always looking for the next really good Horror drama. There are quite a few Korean Horror movies now, but dramas not so much.
If you can't stand horror, if it terrifies you and gives you nightmares, then you might want to think twice before watching The Guest.
This is a show that contains many frightening scenes including horrific exorcisms, blood, violence, murder, suicide, death, etc.
The exorcisms were so well done, I applaud all the actors that worked so hard to make it look so real. They actually seemed like fully possessed people and that in itself was terrifying. All of the crew also put in so much work behind the scenes to make sure all of these exorcisms looked real. I'm not sure if they used CGI, practical effects or what, but they did an amazing job. I'm pretty good with horror, and even I found myself getting scared at some scenes.
Post-Drama Depression
Did the post-drama depression hit you hard once you finished The Guest?
Here are a few horror dramas/movies I would recommend you check out to help take the edge off of that need and burning desire for another episode that sadly will not come.
Priest is an upcoming OCN drama about a doctor turned Exorcist Priest. It is due to air on November 24th. |
Remember if you haven't already checked out The Guest then please do, all episodes are now available to watch. I'm sorry if this article was too full of spoilers, I really did try not to ruin any major things that occurred in the drama. Hope you liked reading!
Click Here for a teaser trailer of the show, click Here for another one.
Previous Articles about The Guest:
JAL GA!
Till Next Time! ~Cub
