My first Japanese drama, “Boku dake ga Inai Machi” was something I previously did not want to watch. In fact, Netflix shoved this at me in a highlight merely because of my previously watched Japanese content – they did this 20 different times. Eventually, I caved, watch the trailer and decided to go for it because it seemed pretty interesting.

Oh boy, I absolutely adored this.

This drama took me to the edge, it reeled me back in and then it chucked me in the deep end. Full of wonderful twists and turns, surprises, harrowing moments and as equally sweet moments, it’s hard to summarise this fully. I’ll keep this as spoiler free as possible since there’s a lot going on and each was a wonderful moment on it’s own, spoilers definitely take it away.

First of all, I’m not too much of a fan of crime or time travel. I find often that directors tend to do too much or too little in both genres and it never maps out the way it should – especially in content that is both crime and time travel. Ho boy, we did not have any issues with that here. We stuck with one plot that divided into one or two sub plots, but each had it’s own place within the content, didn’t seem out of place, nor did it come across as being odd in the drama. This is pretty rare from my few encounters with time travel and/or crime dramas.

Secondly, the casting was absolutely superb. I find often with time travel/flashbacks/etc, the children don’t really much look like their adult counterpart. This was not an issue at all with any of the cast of “Boku”. Every cast member looked like their child/adult counterpart and it wasn’t hard to imagine any of the children growing into their adult versions. The cast all also did absolutely stunning. Again, all the personalities of the children and adults matched their character and the children didn’t seem out of place for child counter parts of the adults we’re introduced to. It all felt finessed, and like these children genuinely grew up.

These two points alone are enough for me to give it such a high rating, but I also want to take a moment to speak on the cinematography as well. Cinematographer Kiyokawa Koshi made such beautiful shots in this they absolutely took my breath away, left my jaw hanging open and left me glued to the screen. I definitely want to go on to watch everything this man has choreographed because it was just pure art. There’s no other word for it – the shots that Kiyokawa made are just pure art.

All in all, after watching this, I want to watch the live action movie, watch the anime and read the manga. This is pretty rare for me – usually when I watch one part of a universe’s content, I’m done with it from then on. For me to want to go on and consume every piece of media of this that is available to me… this is probably only the third piece of media to ever do this for me.

Give this drama 6 hours of your life and give it a go. I cannot recommend it more highly enough.

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I said in 2019 that “The Wailing” was the eighth film in my life I was giving the title of masterpiece too. At the time I didn’t expect to think of another film in the same way for at least a good few months – perhaps seven or eight – but here we are. I finished “The Battle of Jangsari” and it took me three hours to be able to sit and write a review.
This film essentially broke me. I rejoiced, I cheered and then I cried – very hard – for half an hour. I was emotionally numb after this film to the point I literally just laid down and cried, it was all I could do.

This film is a masterpiece.

The acting, the cinematography, the editing, everything about this was just stunning. Honestly, it takes me by surprise I’m saying that – war films aren’t my forte, and I think the only one I’ve really seen is “Hacksaw Ridge” after the recognition and attention it received during the awards season.

There are two particular things I can think of that made this film just slightly more stellar and which piqued my interest:
1) The contrasts between the student soldiers and the more advanced, trained soldiers. There are numerous times where we see the student soldiers having a bit of a laugh and not taking things 100% seriously when they have down time – this is contrasted against seeing the more seasoned soldiers having a laugh but still being very on guard, cautious and taking things a little more seriously. This was… painful. It was such a clever trick on the directors’ part to remind us that these are children – the Jangsari soldiers were made up of 15, 16, 17 with reports of even 14 year olds being present on the beach. It’s painful, and it is such a well done small trick of the camera that just made my heart bleed.
2) At a few points in this film, the camera technique makes everything very disorientated during battles. The camera jerks as if it’s dodging a bullet or the butt of a gun, we can’t see through the fog, marring our views and we feel all round a little overwhelmed with the added sound editing of screaming and explosions. Usually, I would complain about a technique like this as they make me feel quite motion sick – “Jangsari” does this in a way that makes us feel like we’re on the field with these soldiers, not just viewing a movie as the scenes play out. I’ve never really seen this trick done in a way that doesn’t make me feel dizzy – with the added reasoning of not getting motion sick during these sequences, these scenes were absolutely stunning.

All of the cast played their roles with such respect and with such grace that it was hard not to see them as the actual people they’re representing. There were times I had to pause to sit and sniff and wipe my tears and remind myself ‘this is just acting’. I have such high respect for all the actors involved that created this stunning piece.
The final ten minutes were so beautifully stressful; I was stressed, I was panicked, but in the safety of my own home with no reason to be stressed or panicked – another brilliant job by Kwak Kyung Taek. The ending on Jangsari – not the full ending of the film – was utterly stunning, beautiful, and found me pausing to sit and cry.

I will say, my rewatch value is rated lower because, personally, I can’t see myself watching this again. It’s so emotional, it really hurt – I cried so hard, my dog had a panic attack trying to figure out what’s wrong – and I think a lot of the scenes would also have less enthusiasm a second time around.

All round, emotional, heart breaking but still so somewhat cheerful that really made me sit and think, “Jangsari” is my second film of 2020, but already I’m not entirely sure that something could beat it. A true masterpiece; half the actors have gained me as a fan and Kyung Taek has got my eyes focused on him and his films for a long while.

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Being the first Korean movie I've watched in my time, Seondal: The Man who Sold the River had a lot to live up to. I had high expectations, told by my friends that Korean movies had a certain charm to them within their storytelling. Of course, being a fan of EXO, I decided to start with Seondal, with the guest star of Kim Minseok [Xiumin], who played Gyeon.

From the start of Seondal, I found myself hypnotised. The storyline played out beautifully, fully capturing your attention from the start. With a harrowing beginning of war and loss, it's hard not to feel for the characters at the start. The first thing I noticed was Seungho Yoo, playing the main character - Kim Inhong aka Kim Seondal. His acting as our main character shows within the first few minutes as his honourable character begins with his protective nature and charm. Seungho really creates a character that is likeable from the beginning - even though we know Inhong is written out and scripted, Seungho brings a truly amazing feeling to the character and truly makes Inhong his own.
Following on from Seungho as Inhong, there is also Kim Minseok as Gyeong. An idol that I have grown to be quite fond of over the past year, Gyeong was a character that I was very much looking forward to meeting in this film, and my expectations were definitely not let down. Kim Minseok brings to Gyeong a side of the character that felt playful, but still serious. Along with his own heroic and honourable actions, it's hard not to fall in love with this misshapen small family of crooks.

The storyline itself of family, loss, and revenge truly shows the spirit of this film. A storyline that's often overdone in a lot of genres and in many countries nowadays, this film truly brings to light how it all connects together. It's been a while since I watched a film about family and it was as connected and well done as Seondal is. There's a connection between all the characters, and as well done as the film has been made, it's obvious that they all had a lot of fun filming it. When you can see this, I believe it truly makes the film even better, showing that the actors truly enjoyed themselves.

Overall, this film truly has a lot of charm to it. With its mix of comedy but yet darker storylines, innocence and the ruining of innocence, and the reminder of war throughout, this touched my heart in ways I never expected this film to do. I found throughout this I felt every emotion that the producers wanted us to, and I found myself in tears numerous times. If you've never watched a Korean film before - I recommend this is your first one. If you are looking for another film to watch, I recommend this. It's a work of art, and I will definitely be watching this plenty more times in the future.

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I don't often use the word masterpiece. I've seen 1,040 films in my life, totalling 1,549 hours of filmography. There's maybe 7 I would label a masterpiece with full usage and definition of the word.

The Wailing is the eighth film of one thousand and forty films I very willingly, gladly and without hesitation give the title of Masterpiece to.

I'm not too big of a fan of Asian supernatural horror. Whilst I very much enjoy it and give most films a pretty decent average rating, I find a lot of them bleed into one another with similar plots and a very safe view on the supernatural. In Japan it tends to be curses that have people die in mysterious ways, South Korea, a cursed object that has people murder each other are the most common ones I come across.

When I clicked The Wailing was supernatural, I prepared myself for a 6 or maybe 7 out of 10 movie that was good but wouldn't hold its own too well in the vast expanse of horror.

The Wailing gave me some stunning frames. The cinematography in this is beautiful. The gore frames are gruesome, unadulterated and unapologetic. The ritualism and belief of South Korea are shown in their full glory without fear. Na Hong Jin doesn't shy away from racial tension between the Japanese and South Koreans with a slightly historical take with a beautiful twisting story that left me with my mouth gaping open but still feeling just slightly uncomfortable - something I believe Hong Jin did on purpose. I was shown acting that was so well done, no matter what I watch these actors in from now on, I will always know them from The Wailing. The varying supernatural aspects were unique, something that stunned me, unafraid to step out of genre restrictions and lead the way with something new. With a story line that is intriguing, stunning and just raw, this two and a half hour journey was worth watching.

This is a film deserving of the hype that numerous other Asian horrors got but turned out to be predictable messed. THIS is the Korean horror of 2016, the one that should have lead the forefront of South Korean, or even Asian, horror into 2017. This is a film that shows prowess, promise and skill. Hong Jin treats us to such wonderful skills from not just himself but his script writer, his cast, his editing team, his make up team, etc, everyone involved. You can feel the passion and love and pure dedication that went into this movie.

A full 10/10 is just not enough for this film.

A twisting, numbing, horrifying masterpiece.

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I'll keep this review pretty short, but honestly this film surprises me. Whilst it's not amazing in any form, coming in for me at a 6 out of 10, I found myself intrigued throughout the film.

Japanese and Korean horror, the two powerhouses of Asian horror, often feed through the same ideas consistently throughout their media but this Filo horror feels very. Different.

This is very regional, almost very proud that it comes from the Phillippines and it catches my attention. I've seen another Filo film (Aurora, Yars Lamaras, 2018) which was also a 6/10, but both movies really caught my eye and made me sit still. They demand my attention in a way that I haven't really experienced before. Their plots are hauntingly and devastatingly beautiful to a degree I have not known in horror.

If you haven't come across Filo horror before, I recommend giving this a try to ease yourself into it (after all, every country has its own format of horror and its something one must get used to as they delve into it to truly appreciate).

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“a function” has very quickly and very easily become one of my top favourite shorts in both the horror genre, in the ‘from South Korea’ category and just all round, one of my top favourites.

The symbolism in this is utterly beautiful; Lee Hyeon Soo has creating such a terrifying and harrowing nine minutes that follows the social pressure forced on students as their SATs come up. The gore in this was absolutely stunning for a short – I’ve seen blockbuster feature-length films struggle to come up with gory shots like “a function” did. The writing was beautiful – almost every single thing shown was a metaphor for something, and each one spoke truly wonderfully and horrifically as everything begins to click into place.

This is a solid favourite and I will be watching this numerous times in the future and I will definitely be waiting for the next film/short/etc of Lee Hyeon Soo.

I’ll keep the review short and sweet for a very bitter short, but absolutely stunning. I definitely recommend giving this one a try.

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Ju-On Origins

Ju-On Origins definitely isn't any form of terrifying in terms of ghosts and ghouls, but to be totally honest in this review — that's what I love this show for.

The entire Ju-On franchise has been based on ghost horror, focusing on how supernatural entities prey on the living but Origins brings us a whole new look around to the legend. Origins does this in a new way, showing us how ghosts can affect the living to bring out the worst in humanity, how easily we can be twisted along with the horrors humans cans do ourselves with little input from the beyond.

This show was brilliant in terms of how it interacted with real life, showing actual cases of what has happened in Japan in the same time frames and areas being shown and really helped immerse us in ways that aren't very well explored (or maybe they are pretty explored and I haven't seen enough media). Either way, it was done really well in this aspect and I have to give a massive shout out to the team for that.

The overall feel of this show felt more like the game Fatal Frame in a way, more than the Ju-On series which was refreshing. The original film series had a lot of the same feelings throughout all the movies so a change was a brave thing to do for the series but also very well played.

There's quite a few plot holes that did annoy me and I'm hoping we get a second season later on that will explain these but past that, this was really well done.

It's understandable a lot of horror lovers might not like this for the way it's been presented, the changes, plot holes, etc but for what the show is, they did it extremely well. Brilliant change of pace and definitely worth the three hours.

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Trigger warnings (and potential spoilers):

Just be warned — there's a lot of triggering content in this series including rape, abuse (both domestic and child) and others I'm forgetting.

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The Sixth Finger is a pretty hard film for me to correlate what I'm feeling into words, so I'll keep it brief.

This wasn't an all round amazing movie 10/10 recommend. This was a high average of 7/10 for a few reasons.
This was unique. It was a really intriguing and more modern look at religion within horror - usually the religion used is Christianity, so seeing Buddhism was a breath of fresh air. This was pretty intriguing. The acting was very good and enjoyable.

But I don't quite think Jang Jae Hyun got away with everything he wanted to do.

Some of this fell pretty flat; it felt more like a horror-comedy at times whilst he was trying to keep this a full horror film which did ruin a few moments for me and I ended up knowing a bit of the rating off, however this is still a very good film for its premise.

Definitely a recommend watch for a late night curled under a blanket.

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A Late Night is one of three short films from director Kwak Sae Mi featuring a young woman walking home late at night after murders have happened in her area.

This short film is a prime example of how to drive tension, using numerous techniques that are so simple to drive the atmosphere of something being wrong. This had me on the edge of my seat for quite a bit of it and the twist at the end was really well done. A very strong contender for one of my favourite thriller shorts and shorts overall.

This short alone has got me keeping an eye on Sae Mi and I can't wait to watch her other two shorts and for what she comes up with next. This is only seven minutes long, thriller/horror enthusiasts, I recommend giving this a try.

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“ThirTEEN Terrors” is a drama I had mild interest in. I’m not a big drama/show fan, in all honesty, so for one to peek my interest is… rare. So I decided to give it a go as my first Thai drama and for a watch challenge I’m participating in.

It’s hard to fully summarise this as it is a compilation piece with each episode following a different story line but I’ll do my best.

Story wise, all but one of these stories captured my attention, made me shiver or grimace, and one or two even made me jump. Bar episode 4, I’d love to see full-length films on all of these stories and follow them in even more depth and detail (probably a bad idea for some of these, 45 minutes definitely suited a lot of these) but it does make me wonder what the directors and writers could do with a longer time frame to play around with.
Acting, some of the kids weren’t amazing in some of their roles. Most did a very good job but one or two let the series down further on and it was a bit unfortunate. I would happily watch 98% of the cast in their other works and it is something I am considering.

Thankfully, in the stories that I didn’t like, the acting was stellar, and the ones where I didn’t like the acting, the story/horror was well done and I still enjoyed them, mostly.

Overall, I’d recommend this to both horror and non-horror fans alike. Whereas they’re scary, they’re not scary enough that someone who’s easily scared or hasn’t had much interaction with the genre would be absolutely terrified. A solid horror favourite of mine, I definitely want to rewatch this in the future when I’ve forgotten the plot twists.

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Welcome to the world of Junji Itou

So, I can see straight away why a lot of people weren't too keen on this on their viewing; it's weird, it's zany, it's grotesque and it's a massive "what the fk is going on here" all at the same time. It's not hard to see why a lot of people didn't like it or got confused (and if you're someone who got confused, I recommend reading Uzumaki by Junji Ito - the source material).

However - holy sht this is one of the best J-horrors I've watched in a long time. This is ultimately everything the manga is; it gave me the same feelings of confusion, the same shocked horror, the unnerving feeling creeping up my spine as I turned pages (or in this case, watched on). There were some really good jump scares in this that I can't even be angry about the cheapness of some; it all worked so well with the general theme that Ito gives throughout his works.

The sound track in this was very original and very out of the mold and I adore it, it adds so much to the film as does the bad acting at times - something I first thought would annoy me, but only goes on to be a defining part of the film as everything else.

All in all, I would say for sure, read the manga and then hop into this - don't mind the reviews and make your own viewing assumptions as you go along. Easily my favourite film of 2020 and I cannot wait to watch the rest of the works from this director and the cast. Brilliant, brilliant film, cannot wait for the eventual rewatch!

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#NoFilter was a short film I stumbled across on YouTube when looking for a good horror short to watch and after looking up what it was, the poster and synopsis caught my eye as something maybe worth watching. It was only six minutes, it wasn't long so I decided to go for it and have a look at it anyway - if it sucked, it's only six minutes of my life.

What I found was a short that started perfectly normally and didn't feel foreboding in any way and then, within two minutes, I was taken to feeling uneasy to pure unnerving content being flashed at me that will definitely be flashing back across my eyelids when I go to sleep tonight.

I admit if this was in a full-length feature film; I wouldn't be rating this scene so highly; I'm rating this short so highly because it's hard to bring all these emotions and such across in just 5 minutes and to do so well - many feature-length films struggle to do so across an entire hour and a half to two hours. What Rosario directed and wrote is well crafted and deserves to be noted for that.

With the message as well to stop worrying so much about how you look, as someone who's a bit narcissistic themselves, this definitely made me glance at my phone and think about how much I edit my photos before posting them. Solid 4/5

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Corpse Party is a franchise that is known throughout almost the entire horror community. When this film was announced, it was definitely a case of either it would be amazing or it would be terrible. Unfortunately, I'm on team terrible.

I've been a fan of Corpse Party for quite a while now, I've gone through nearly all forms of the franchise. The games, the anime series, and now the movies. If you don't know what Corpse Party is; a group of friends who do a small magic ritual to say goodbye to their friend end up trapped in the cursed school of Heavenly Host Elementary, where ghosts haunt the school and kill those who end up there.

Now, my issue with the movie lies within that they kept the exact same plot - but they changed many elements of it. Yet they didn't change enough of it. Instead of it seeming like a fresh new take on the anime and the games, it seems like just a bad market remake for cash in the series. Everything was the same, but nothing was the same if that makes sense - the same plot happened but they weren't separated. Characters died much before their time and it threw the whole timing off. Two specific ghosts instead of three, only one missing item between them both instead of the original three where they should have been two. One of the original villains not showing up (although he makes an appearance in the sequel - which was much better, that's for a review of Book of Shadows).

This entire movie also felt extremely rough paced. They rushed to do in an hour and a half which the anime series did in just under an hour (around 57 minutes) and that was with some of the plot taken out and some of the characters prematurely ended which took time up in the anime in their original deaths. Maybe I am comparing it too much but to change some basic elements and then not enhance anything you've changed just wasn't the best move the scriptwriters and director could have taken.

The casting was really well done - other than Yuka who seemed much younger than her teen years and not in the same way the original lore make her seem - but the reason it's rated low was the acting. Although many characters do their pieces well, some of the scenes were just inherently cringey. It was obvious - for example - where a character is scratching at the floor, the actor was hardly doing it and didn't seem scared at all. It was basic acting in the scenes where it was needed the most. The gore in this was also something that was somewhat atrocious. 2015 had some amazing special effects available to them in makeup and props alone so to see close up, dizzying shots of specific gore scenes where the gore is meant to be the main thing was also just... really eye rolling.

I don't think I could ever rewatch this myself, to be totally honest. The whole thing felt more like a money grab than anything to do with the games or the series or the lore in any sense. Many scenes should have been done better and frankly some of the actors acting ruined crucial scenes of the plot.

This was a live action that was either going to be done amazingly or just terribly and they missed the mark of anywhere near decent by miles. The sequel is a much better movie than this one and I frankly recommend just watching the series with the most basic knowledge of the lore of Corpse Party.

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Around the World in 196 Films
Country 1: South Korea
Film: Derailed
Director: Lee Song Tae
Rating: 4/5 [8/10]

Derailed is a film that follows four runaway teenagers – Jin Il (Choi Min Ho), Ga Young (Jung Da Eun), Bong Gil (Lee Yoo Jin) and Min Kyung (Baek Soo Min) – as they try to survive on the streets. Amidst their stealing for food and money for survival, they end up stealing the car of Hyung Sik (Ma Dong Seok) who doesn’t take too kindly to their actions. Ga Young is taken by Hyun Sik and Jin Il, Bong Gil and Min Kyung – wanted by the police – must do everything they can to get her back.

Derailed is a film that isn’t something I usually watch; crime thriller isn’t a genre set that I regularly enjoy. I purely watched this to write some articles on Choi Min Ho more than anything – and I found myself truly liking this film much, much more than I expected.

This film was dark, it was gritty, it was stressful. With numerous members of the cast giving stunning performances, I was easily swept up into this horrible – and, all too real for some teenagers – world. This had my heart racing, I ended up chewing on my lip and pausing at times to take a break. The pace in this is well done; we go from seeing the teens resting and okay, having fun despite their predicament to their entire world turning upside down.
Watching them struggle to desperately survive the newest issue thrown at them was harrowing. This was dark, bleak and painful. My heart bled for them, I found myself crying at parts and I couldn’t get enough or finish this film quick enough.

The characters in this are extremely interesting – Seong Hoon (Kim Jae Young) took me completely by surprise and even days after finishing this film, I constantly think about him and what made his character the way that he is.

Lee Sung Tae, writer and director, did a splendid job with this film; I definitely want to watch more from most of the actors – this film has solidified me as a fan of them with ease. My eyes are on Sung Tae and what he does next and I’m eager to sit and watch through his other films to see just what else he can get me to enjoy.

All in all, Derailed was a brilliant film and I cannot wait to discover more from those involved in the film.

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Ringu is a classic that most of us will know. Whether we know the American remake, or we sneakily watched the original when we were told not to watch the scary movie everyone's talking about, most horror fans know / have seen it. I'm glad to have finally added this to my completed list.

We all know the storyline etc, so I won't spend time writing about that.

The music within this film was something that was done extremely well. During times where nothing particularly spooky was happening, the music creates such an atmosphere that gives you goosebumps and chills.
The technique of making the film overly dark was something I particularly enjoyed. It allowed for you to lean forward and squint at the screen. It set up times where you felt increasing paranoia waiting for something to jump out when you're least expecting it.

However, despite all of the film's good points and sections that grip the viewer, I don't think I could rewatch this.
The main female lead is one of the most annoying characters I've watched in a movie. Her random mood swings, her inability to do almost anything that makes sense and to aid her family; it all adds up to a character I honestly just want to punch. The actress did an amazing job but the writer(s) definitely could have done much more with her.

After finishing this, I'm not even sure if I want to finish the series and watch the rest of the movies. Ringu finishes very strongly and doesn't have much need for follow ups; they seem very much like a claim for more money rather than a want to continue the actual story – but perhaps I'll find out.

Overall, very cleverly done, but if you like strong smart lead females, then you might wanna watch this just for having watched a classic.

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