Dumplings (2004)

Dumplings (Chinese: 餃子 Jiǎozi) was one of the films Dell over Dell on Movies picked for his entry of the non-English language themed week of the Thursday Movie Picks series. It sounded interesting great so I decided to check it out. 

The film is set in Hong Kong and follows Mrs. Li (Miriam Yeung), a once-famous TV actress who is losing her good looks and her husband (Tony Leung Ka-Fai) with them as he's having an affair with a much younger and attractive woman (Pauline Lau). In order to rejuvenate, she seeks the help of Aunt Mei (Bai Ling), a retired gynaecologist now famous for her dumplings with a mysterious ingredient that can restore youth.

Wicked City (1987)

As soon as I decided I would do the 31 days of horror thing, I realised I didn't know any horror animated movie. Actually, I did, but I already had reviewed those so I started searching and, list after list, I always came across one movie, the anime Wicked City (Japanese: 妖獣都市 Yōjū Toshi). I figured it oughta be good so I picked it.

The film is set in a world where most humans unknownly co-exist with an alternate dimension populated by supernatural demons. There's between peace between the two worlds for centuries and agents from both sides cooperate to keep it that way. However, as the end of the 20th century approaches, a group of demons wants to destroy the human world and it's up to two agents, a human playboy, Taki (voiced by Yūsaku Yara), and a beautiful demon, Makie (voiced by Toshiko Fujita), to protect a 200-year-old man, Giuseppi Mayart (voiced by Ichirō Nagai), the only one who can keep peace between the worlds.

Shutter (2004)

Many years ago, in my early teens, horror was one of my favourite genres and See No Evil was my favourite movie. That's how I ended up with a girl crush on Rachael Taylor which ended up with me watching another of the terrible horror movies she starred in, Shutter. It's only recently, after I started blogging, that I discovered it was a poor remake of a Thai movie, also named Shutter (Thai: ชัตเตอร์ กดติดวิญญาณ), and I decided I would check it out.

The film tells the story of a young photographer, Tun (Ananda Everingham), and his girlfriend, Jane (Natthaweeranuch Thongmee), who, on their way home after a wedding reception, accidentally run over a young girl (Achita Sikamana). Tun persuades Jane to flee the scene and they drive off. Everything seems to be fine until Tun develops his next roll of film and he finds some mysterious shadows in the photos.

The Wailing (2016)

Original Title

곡성 Gokseoung

Genre

Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Director

Na Hong-jin

Country

South Korea

Cast

Kwak Do-won, Hwang Jung-min, Jun Kunimura, Chun Woo-hee, Kim Hwan-hee, Her Jin, Jang So-yeon, Kim Do-yoon, Son Kang-gook, Park Seong-gyeong, Kil Chang-gyoo, Jean Bae-soo

Storyline

As a Japanese (Jun Kunimura) arrives in a little village, a mystery sickness starts spreading, and a policeman (Kwak Do-won) is forced to solve the mystery in order to save his daughter (Kim Hwan-hee).

Opinion

I haven't seen a lot of Korean movies, but until now I loved them all. This is the first time I felt somewhat disappointed. Why? Koreans are famous for making creepy and scary horrors, and, while it is an enjoyable and entertaining film, I wouldn't suggest The Wailing to someone looking for a good horror because it isn't that scary.

More of a supernatural tale with a little horror and some dark comedy, the story involves ghosts, possessions and other stuff of this kind, but comes off as very original and requires a lot of attention from the viewer. In fact, even a few missed details could "compromise" the understanding of the story and its ambiguous ending.

However, is that complexity of the story and the mystery elements that keep the viewer glued to the screen until the very end, and it's very likely to find yourself trying to solve this sinister case like Jong-goo, the sympathetic main character. And even when you think you have it all sorted out, another twist comes and leads you in a different direction. 

That's what makes this film so interesting, because, like I've mentioned earlier, the film isn't scary. Most of the time, people wailing are supposed to be scary, but unfortunately that didn't work for me. 

Also giving the film an extra kick is the comedy. While it certainly isn't a comedy, The Wailing features a dark, eccentric sense of humour that perfectly fits the film. Even though in the second part it becomes more slapstick and it doesn't really work.

Something I can't complain about is the running time. Honestly, I was scared to death when I saw the film was 2 hours and 36 minutes long, but time flew. And the credits also go to the beautiful scenery and setting, and the cast. For the exception of some overacted scenes, the acting is strong, especially from the child actor. Which isn't much of a child actor actually since she is 14.