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Fourthaxis

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Fourthaxis

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Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum korean drama review
Completed
Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum
4 people found this review helpful
by Fourthaxis
Mar 16, 2022
Completed
Overall 7.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 8.0

An exceptional example of found footage horror done right!

An interesting found footage horror that was peppered with scares. The story behind the asylum was intriguing but took a while to pick up. Great acting by Ji-Hun and Charlotte, who were two of my favourite characters in this movie. So let me share with you why you may or may not wish to watch this film.

Why you should watch Gonjiam?
1. Great set design
2. Creepy effects and audio to support the thrills
3. Wonderful acting of some of the cast
4. Background story of characters with the scripted scares and later the real scares were innovative
5. Fitting ending that leaves us with more questions than answers

Why you shouldn't watch Gojiam?
1. Difficult to comprehend if you cannot understand Korean as I couldn’t figure out where to focus between audio, subtitles, cast & surroundings.
2. Slow first half
3. Mediocre subtitles
4. Not much differentiation between the scripted scares and real scares

Overall:
I found it hard to understand what was happening because there was too much diverting my attention between the subtitles, the cast reactions/gestures and looking for ghosts/background curiosities, and the constant camera switches didn’t help. Not being a fan of found footage I might be overly critical of the movie though as parts of it; mainly second half where the story picks up, were interesting.

So would I recommend this movie for anyone to watch? Only if you understand Korean or are a fan of found footage horror.
A 7.5/10 for me.
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