1
heartaem
England
Spoilers for the first Teke Teke film here; in the original parent story, we see a typical urban legend horror film that's based around finding out what is going on and how to stop it and can it even be stopped. It's quite a cliche for an urban legend horror film and as much as I didn't enjoy it (I gave the original film 4.0/10), it still made me laugh and have one or two tense moments and jump scares.
I did not want to watch the second film, I only did because leaving a film or drama series unfinished irks my OCD. This was more of a chore for me so maybe I liked it a lot less because I already went into it expecting nothing - but even then I still came out disappointed.
Teketeke 2 is set as a sequel directly onwards from the original Teke Teke film and that is exactly where this film makes its first mistake. This film is only an hour and twelve minutes long, there isn't much time to fit everything in without it being rushed - so they decided that the first 5 minutes of this second film would be a recap of the first. This cut down the film time for the second movie to an hour and 7 minutes.
You would think that this film would be rushed with an overall run time of 67 minutes to fit an entire film into, but, you'd be wrong. The first quarter of this film is so slowly dragged out that I ended up pausing and drinking numerous coffees to keep myself awake watching it. There is so much that is unnecessary for many scenes to include in this for the ultimate movement of the film, that cutting out what isn't necessary at all would bring the film down to maybe 55 minutes in actual length. There is so much you can actually skip when watching this, it is eye-rolling.
After the first quarter of the film, things - thankfully - begin to speed up... and then things just start getting way too rushed. Instead of levelling it out, the directors instead slowed it down as much as possible and then just threw everything in at once instead of cutting out unnecessities and adding in necessities in more detail. You would think after what comes across as quite a rookie director mistake that it would get better but... it doesn't.
The special effects in this are even worse than in the first film. The blood is unbelievably fake that they are using for these death scenes that I think if I had been able to care what was going on, I would have laughed so loudly it would have hurt. Thankfully, the CGI is a little better than the original film (if you haven't seen the ridiculous and infamous Teke Teke jump gif, you're missing out) but it's still not enough to even try and save this film. The good CGI was an attempt to defibrillate someone who's been dead for six years and unburied from their coffin; they literally just tried to give CPR to a skeleton and called it a day.
If the too slow, then way too rushed ridiculous blood spraying wasn't enough to thoroughly ruin any enjoyment I could have gotten from this film, then they turned it into the Ultime Cliche. Ultimate Cliche x Ultimate Cliche. Not only do they still follow some of the (more unliked) cliches of urban legends films, this becomes an over the top Asian high school kids bullying revenge royale. They have managed to take unliked tropes from urban legends and include some of the most well-liked cliches from high school horror films - probably in an attempt to save some of the film with well-liked tropes - and somehow managed to make tropes that don't get old fall flat on their face ridiculously hard.
This entire film was a mess from start to finish.
And I'm sad; Teke-teke was an urban legend that I discovered when I was quite young. It used to give me nightmares and make me wake up chilled and pulsing with adrenaline. It used to haunt me under the covers and whenever I had to walk home at night alone. The film series was always so enticing to me because I wanted to be scared, I wanted it to spark back those childlike feelings of paranoia and terror.
Unfortunately, the overactive imagination of an eleven-year-old built a better plot in a nightmare than a director could do for a renowned film.
Definitely just skip this film; the first film can get away with a lot of stuff if you let it but the second one doesn't have a chance to hide from a lot of its injustices. Skip this series and watch a different urban legend film; you'll thank me for it in the future when you stumble across this on late night television and realise you were going to watch it long again.
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13 Real Asian Horror Stories starts off amazingly. The tense atmosphere and build up had goosebumps rising on my skin and made me somewhat anxious. The starting story seemed amazing even if the acting was pretty bad. I can sit through some bad acting for a good adrenaline rush and I wasn't going to condemn the film for a bit of bad acting before it properly kicked off.
And then I got to 6 minutes into the film where we see our first scary occurrence and at this point, I have regrets within utter split seconds.
This films CGI and special effects are so bad, I honestly thought it looked like it was edited on MS Paint. The first ghost we actually see looks like a superimposed video meme, and that was it. Once the first tense moment is ruined by this MS Paint looking ghost foot, the tension is gone. It struggles to build it back up again and struggles to hold up its premise of a good horror film as everyone so says it is.
There was maybe one story in this I really liked and though the actors held their own in - the music box segment. Even this one, being my favourite easily and maybe even one of my favourite short Asian horror shorts, fell short (no pun intended) in keeping it's special effect up. The ending of the segment itself was cringy and eye rolling.
The rest of the individual stories were just shockingly boring. I understand that these are small occurrences that have happened in people's everyday lives but there was no fear factor to them. To say that these were horror stories, I would even say, is a bit of a reach. These are more slice of life segments or could even be argued as a mock documentary.
I don't want to criticise the actors too much as it was clearly their first proper acting roles for many of them rather than a small cameo or a short guest role in the background of a film or drama, but really the acting just missed the mark completely. The child actors, I understand their issues with being on film a little more than the adult actors, but also a lot of the child actors acted better than some of the adults. I would be interested to watch some of the casts' later roles that they had after this if they did have any, but if they did get anything else after 13 Real Asian Horror Stories, I would be utterly shocked.
Overall, if I go on more about my issues with this, this review is going to end up a short novella - inherently, this has a good premise. This film had a lot going for it but utterly missed the mark completely. There are plenty of other horror story film collaborations that have the exact same issues (small budget, brand new to acting casts, etc.) and have managed to put out utter gems. This took me six hours to watch because I kept struggling to stay awake and find any form of interest in the film after the first 6 minutes. Honestly, skip this, catch a different horror film/story collaboration and enjoy your time watching a film instead.
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The Red Shoes is one of those rare, not quite a hit but definitely not a miss movies.
At first, this movie held me with a lot of intrigues. Based on the original fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson where beautiful red ballet slippers will force the wearer to dance until they die or to cut their own feet/legs off in an attempt at survival, I was highly excited to see where this film took that original line. With the number of remakes and basic plot rip-offs of 'The Red Shoes', I was excited to see a film that took the premise but made it original for once. With some parts, inherently the same as the story and others completely changed around to make it the director's own.
Kim Yong-gyun has definitely succeeded in making something on this. I was whisked away into the whole new world of the red shoes story. I found myself gripped and gasping for a lot of the first half of this film.
The acting was stunning, from all the actors and actresses. I want to give a big shout out to Park Yeon-ah and Kim Hye-soo who play the films prevalent mother-daughter combo. They were convincing, there wasn't a moment I doubted these characters weren't real and weren't living through this on the other side of the world. I cannot fault any of the cast in this film and the main and support role actors, I will definitely be watching more of their filmographies just from their performance in this film.
However, I have a couple of complaints about The Red Shoes as much as I have praise for it.
Firstly - and this sounds nitpicking and petty - but the shoes aren't even red. They're a magenta, some would even argue a pale pink in some of the lightings. Now, I understand that this was a choice based on Kim Yong-gyun's decisions to make the film his own. I'm not against it, I quite liked that choice to take it one further step away from Anderson's story and to make it into Yong-gyun's story. The reason I have an issue with this mainly is that keeping the title and such as it was, as "The Red Shoes", looks to me that they were relying on the name of the original story to fill out theatres a bit more. Again, that's fair and it's a commonly used marketing strategy with some films like this. However, it feels a little to me as though they might have been doubting the film's ability to stand on its own without that basis. This could have easily been named The Pink Shoes and been its own story without the comparison to Anderson's story; it would be similar, but wouldn't have been fully linked.
This is more of a personal grievance and it doesn't really affect much within the movie, but it did make my eye twitch a few times through the film - each to their own pleasures and grievances, I suppose.
My second issue with The Red Shoes was that... this isn't a horror film. Yes, there are parts of it that are genuinely scary. There are parts of this that only fit into the horror genre aspect. However, when it came down to it, it really wasn't so scary. As a horror fanatic, this kind of horror is just "infantile" for a lack of better word. This is the horror that directors make to appeal to NON-horror fans rather than horror fans themselves. Word spreads, people who are easier scared go to see the film, they pass on word of mouth, etc; whilst horror fans find themselves struggling to sit through the entire film. This is much more of a bloody slasher thriller than it is a supernatural horror - and it's painfully obvious that Yong-gyun was aiming for supernatural horror, not a gory thriller. This film used so many cliches that are ripped from successful films before it of it's attempted genre that it's almost laughable.
This all being said - I did enjoy it to a degree. I think the idea and the plot line was refreshing. I think the acting was spot on. I liked the twists in the story much more than I have a lot of horror plot twists. However, I feel like this lacked in just as much as it did well.
If you aren't such a massive horror fan, then this will probably be a terrifying film to you, or will definitely make you quite paranoid about what shoes you're trying on. If you are a die-hard horror fan like myself, I think the only reason you should really watch this is that it has a refreshing new take on a fairy tale that's been used in so many horror mediums before. I appreciate Yong-gyun's efforts with this film, I do, but he missed the mark quite severely on quite a few things. I wish my rating could be higher, but there's too much lag for me to consider an extra half a star or two.
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I am... so happy that I made the choice to sit and watch this through.
Star Road: MONSTA X is one of those shows that is just calm; it's carefree, it's somewhat quiet and you feel relaxed just watching it. Watching this didn't feel like watching an idol group I loved, this felt like I was sat at a table with my friends as I worked on my things and they chatted away. It felt relaxed, it felt calm, it felt like everyone was having a good time. Watching this for the last couple of days has been me destress technique - it's what has been keeping me calm and content. When I felt out of my element I could just sit back, watch a couple of episodes of this and just let everything melt away for a short while.
I wish the episodes had been a little longer - maybe ten minutes per episode rather than an average of five minutes per episode. Each beep signifying the episode had ended made me feel somewhat sad as it meant I was much closer to the end of this roughly 2-hour series. I didn't want it to end, I wanted to pace it out as long as I could but I ended up devouring the second half of it in one night and it's left me wanting yet more of something like this for the boys. I want to see them on Star Road again, or a similar show, in the future. I definitely have been left wanting to watch more content (and it's a good job this is the first of their works I've watched, got plenty to indulge myself in) and I won't be surprised if I rewatch this at least once in the future.
As for being a not so active member of Monbebe, after watching this, I have been more than sucked back in. This was just so pleasant and relaxing, I found myself falling in love with all of MONSTA X once more. This is enticing, it's indulgent in a way that doesn't feel guilty - watching them sit back, rest and just have some time off and to themselves is such a wonderful way to sit and enjoy them without worrying about if they're resting or such. It's somewhat addicting, watching them just relax and be themselves.
If you're a Monbebe who has doubts about watching this, someone who's just stumbled across this review, or someone curious about MONSTA X - or if, you're just anyone reading this - please definitely give this a try. It's only 2-hours in full and the episodes are short enough to end up accidentally binge watching them, and it's more than worth giving MONSTA X some of your time. This was so pure and friendly, I'll definitely be holding other similar shows up to the standard and the impression that this one series has left on me and I'll definitely be using Star Road as a way to discover new groups in the future.
And, the largest definitely of them all, this has definitely reignited my love for MONSTA X, something I thought might not ever happen. This is worth the watch, it's worth the short amount of your time to watch this, I can't recommend it enough.
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Watching Jennie just being herself was just pure and somewhat meaningful. I sat with a smile on my face the entire eight minutes of this special episode and couldn't help but giggle each time Jennie did. This was just refreshing, enticing and a relaxing, calming time. I felt like I was sitting in the same room, just casually chatting with her. This showed an adorable side to Jennie and it makes me excited for the currently running BLACKPINK diaries to see more from her. It makes me excited for potential future shows and vLives from Jennie and the girls.
This was just sweet, short and perfect. I cannot wait for future shows from these girls - definitely check this out if you've not seen it and definitely check out BLACKPINK Diaries and Jennie 'Solo' Diary if you haven't! This special, the original Jennie 'Solo' series and the BLACKPINK Diaries have definitely made me a full time BLINK!
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I felt like there could have been more added to the storyline per se, it was all a bit give and take, I think. There was a lot where EXO could have done more with their acting, there was a lot where Gayoung could have toned down Inchul Gal a lot more as well. I don't know where the line was drawn between being way too much and way too little. This isn't to knock the acting at all, don't get me wrong - I think all actors and actresses did really well with what they were given for the show, I think the script and character writing could have just balanced it out a bit more. I keep saying this does have a bit of a cringe factor, and truth is, if the characters had been toned down a notch or toned up a notch then I think that wouldn't have occurred - this is my own personal opinion, I know quite a few people who love it how it is.
This is a show that definitely has charms. When I say it has a potential rewatch factor, there are some episodes I will definitely watch again, namely the last three. I wouldn't watch the entire season again, it's too much - especially the first few episodes. The storyline was well written, but again, it all came down to the characters themselves on why I wasn't too keen on this. Incheon Gal was way too over the top; I know she was supposed to be but it did quite get on my nerves.
All in all, I think at least every EXO-L should give this a try. My bias list is in tatters, I laughed and cried my way through it and - surprisingly - a member of EXO doesn't die in this one! A rarity!
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Truth be told, I only watched this as I bias Xiumin, and I finally wanted to watch his web drama after watching his movie [Seondal: The Man who Sold the River] and falling in love with his acting. The two roles are very different and far apart from each other, and I wanted to see how well he managed to take that on. Being his first drama, and both his movie and this series being filmed whilst he was a rookie, I have to say, I was blown away. To be a rookie actor and to turn around what he did with Dojeon's character was absolutely wonderful. Dojeon is a character you can really relate to, or I can personally as someone shy and similar to his characteristics.
The acting overall in Falling for Dojeon is brilliant. I felt like all the characters were real people, not just people being played by actors, and they all felt like you could just walk outside and bump into them on the street. The storyline was really sweet, and to see how everyone matured and developed over time was lovely to see.
The only qualm about this I have is that it definitely could have been much longer. Although it was well paced out for how long it was, there was a lot more that could have been done with this show. For the most watched web drama of 2015, it would have been nice to see a follow-up episode/series after the final episode just to close up a few plot holes and such. However, for what they had with the show, the actors really all did wonderfully, the storyline felt pretty solid, and the ending was sweet enough, with a tiny little cliffhanger (with an obvious enough answer) to keep you guessing a little while after finishing the drama. Although a little cringy at times, Falling for Dojeon really grips the viewer enough to entertain throughout the whole six episodes. A shame there wasn't more to this.
I'm definitely going to be watching this much more in the future, and hopefully will be able to get this on DVD. For my first ever K-Drama, I'm definitely impressed and it's made me want to go on to watch plenty more.
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As a fan of the Japanese body horror genre, having read a lot of manga and seeing quite a few movies, I wanted to take a look at some of the more original, more classical side of the genre. That's how I came across Tetsuo, the Iron Man.
Now, I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't what I watched. I both feel entertained and uncomfortable, but also like I came off a bad drug trip. I've just finished it and I have a migraine but you know what? It's actually pretty good.
Now, I genuinely have no idea how to write a review and summarise what I just watched so I'm just going to recommend almost straight away to watch the film, if you're interested.
This is body horror? A definite check.
Does it do its job in making the viewer uncomfortable? 100%
Does it have its ups? Of course
Does it have its down? Definitely.
What's good about this movie is that it does it's job for sure. You're uncomfortable and very on edge throughout the movie. There wasn't much time that part of my body wasn't seized up and uncomfortable from what was happening on screen. The content does incredibly well and I imagine when this first came out, it was truly horrifying.
The soundtrack – if it can be called as such – did an amazing job with causing you to feel uneasy and I even twitched around and fiddled with my ears at times to soften the sounds.
The editing and filming also portray the visuals of this in a way that's unnerving and makes you flicked your eyes away from the screen.
Now, the editing was also something bad. My migraine from finishing the movie was from the constant start stop state of the movie, as thought it were stop motion. It left me feeling quite ill at parts during the movie and made my eyes go cross eyed. Those sensitive to motion sickness, I would definitely advise avoiding this movie.
The soundtrack, although extremely good, is extremely high pitched at times. This went straight through my ears and caused me some severe ringing and discomfort, and irritated the hearing issues I already have. I did have to unfortunately pause it a number of times to take a moment.
Overall, it's very mixed for me. It does it's job and it does it very well, but some choices have left me feeling quite ill when I finished it, and there was definitely no need for it to be taken so far in terms of some aspects. As for rewatch? I highly doubt I ever will, unless it's just to make my friend(s) watch it to see them get uncomfortable.
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Trigger Warnings: attempted suicide, beatings, army/military
Story
So I didn't know anything about the storyline before I got into this, and it starts off pretty hectic. It starts off with a large bang, and it doesn't stop too much. Although some of it is pretty guessable and obvious as the story goes forward, it was still thrilling. It caught my attention, I couldn't turn away from the screen, and I was lost to it. My only qualm is that I feel like it moved a little too fast for my liking, almost as if they were rushing through the editing process to get it released and get all the main information out into the film, but either way, it was solid and enjoyable.
Acting/Casting
I feel like all the casting was well done. I don't know much about Korean actors nor who they really are, but I felt like each character matched their personality look wise. Each actor and actress really did an amazing job and it was hard for me to remember this was pure fantasy. This is a fantasy film and the acting was so well done, I forgot that this doesn't happen. At least not in the world we really know. The standout role for me was Joo Ji Hoon as Haw Won Maek. There was something about him that really caught my attention; he came across as his personality, his character really looked the part, and I found my eyes drawn to him more than anyone else on screen at the same time as him. Also, Kim Soo An as the God of Deceit. A child that can take on such a menacing role with little mercy shows a lot of acting skill and I'm intrigued to see her in other movies and roles.
I said I only watched this for Do Kyung Soo and the truth is, it was a little hard for me to see him as Private Won. Maybe that's because I'm so used to him being the usual goofy D.O I know from live stages and interviews, but the fact he could take on such a role and make it believable was truly incredible. I forgot who he was a few times, just from how he created the character on screen, and I think it was truly a moment for me to realise just how much of an amazing actor he is.
Music
The music throughout the film really worked well with it. It was hard to remember it was just a backing soundtrack as it went on, and the music really blended in with what was happening on screen. The sound editing and music choices overall worked really really well with the film, and it made it much better, in my opinion.
Rewatch Value
As much as I enjoyed this, I don't think I would watch it again. I've seen it once now, and the thrill was there, it was enjoyable, but I think this is more of a one view wonder. When the second film comes out, I might rewatch this then, just to refresh my memory of the plot line, but I wouldn't sit and watch it through again out of enjoyment.
Overall, this was a really good movie, well made, well acted and with an extremely talented cast, and with a stellar soundtrack, but it's more a film you watch once and then only once more in the future before the next film. It was good, but I really don't see myself enjoying it all the way through in the future.
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This review may contain spoilers
Please note: This review comes from an avid horror fan; this film is my first interaction with the School Lives! franchise and my opinion is based off seeing this as it's packaged - a zombie survival action-horror and without any prior knowledge.I knew upon starting this zombie survival horror that it was going to be a little worse for wear around the edges. The cast are a Japanese idol girl group - already I know that this is going to be cliched and a little cringe-worthy. That's nothing on the girls - it's just how they always end up type-cast a majority of the time. Something to take into consideration whenever you watch idol rookie-actor lead films.
I honestly thought this was a horror-comedy, maybe something satirical that was taking the mick of a lot of tropes within horror movies. The surprise when I checked the page to find that this was being pushed forward as a fully serious film was painful.
Every time a zombie shows up, the girls fluster, fall over, freak out, etc and don't seem to have any ability to defend themselves. They way they've survived as long as they have is an utter mystery to me. Not surprising, again, with cute and innocent Japanese idol leads, but disappointing none the less - they could have still done this with grace and professionalism that showed the actresses as cute and sweet, but with some semblance of realism.
Some of the girls deal with mental issues that would be common in an apocalypse - PTSD, being unable to accept reality etc, and this is a really interesting part of the film. Of course, this part of the film they barely developed and had pop up a few times and that was it.
With another cliched goodbye scene nearer the end, this film gets a tick for every possible trope they could have used, and ruined themselves with. Cliches are relatively normal in Japanese horror, don't get me wrong - but this is just taking the mick.
I feel like this is meant to be a feel good horror movie, one that blurs the line between realism and imagination within its parameters. However, even coming to this conclusion mid way through the film, I still feel like it missed the mark on that.
Maybe I would have enjoyed this more if I was a fan of the franchise, if I even knew what the story was about before going into it, or even if I knew how trope ridden it was going to be. Maybe it's meant to be like this in tone, similar to the anime and manga - not something I would know. I've seen a lot of people say this is very true to the source content.
As a horror fan? Someone who was browsing the horror tag and wanted something full of horror to watch?
Definitely one I wish I had skipped and not come across. I swear I've only seen 4 good anime/manga adaptations and there'll all by the same director... It's a massive shock and shame that the director of this was the person who directed The Chasing World.
With a cliche hallway scene, everything suddenly going wrong and another emergency to contend to, this film is honestly the most cliched and trope ridden horror I've seen released this year, worldwide. A film that has left me underwhelmed, bored and knowing I should have sprung for a Korean 2019 horror instead.
Also: one small pet peeve is how do these girls have an unlimited supply of bright white unstained uniforms in their exact sizes every day. It's the middle of the zombie apocalypse. How and where are you washing your clothes? When every other person/zombie in this film has disgustingly grey, ripped, and ruined shirts and pants? (Yes, this is how bored I was.... I was scrutinising their clothes come the ending).
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