2 WOL 29 IL
(FEBRUARY 29)
(Review)
The first of a quartet of HD-shot horror films from first-time feature film directors—alternatively called “Four Horror Tales,” the “All of a Sudden” series, and the “One Day Suddenly” series*—this one starts out promisingly enough, with talk of Mobius strips and truth, but rapidly settles into an unimpressive, run-of-the-mill horror movie that really has nothing new to offer the audience.
Ji-yeon (Park Eun-hye) is a toll booth attendant who receives a bloodstained ticket one evening, an unsettling phenomenon that heralds apparently supernatural events involving a serial killer who may or may not be dead, and a curse that recurs every four years, on the eponymous date in question. Murder victims start to pop up as well.
The monkey wrench here is that the purported ghost is being seen by other individuals, wearing Ji-yeon’s clothes (and soon enough, Ji-yeon herself sees the identically clothed spectre).
The question arises though, is the doppelganger trying to frame Ji-yeon (and why; an interesting premise, in and of itself), or is Ji-yeon just plain nutters and blacking out and killing people?
Sadly, that question is rendered somewhat moot by the fact that there really aren’t any chills or thrills in this (there’s probably one passably creepy moment, then all the rest are carnival funhouse “scares”), and the acting is strictly bush league. The cinematography isn’t anything to write home about, either. (If there’s one thing I can count on with a Korean film, whether I end up loving it or hating it or being indifferent about it, it’s usually rather pretty to look at. Not so here.)
The narrative also isn’t particularly strong. There is no real feeling of tension or dread, or any sense of impending doom. It’s just, Ho! Another bloodstained ticket. Ho! Another dead body!
Given that towards the end, it’s made clear why the cops were acting the way they do over the course of the film (vaguely hostile and ultimately unhelpful) as well as why one of them suddenly has to wear a cast, some may think, “Oooh, sneaky-smart!”. This is just one of those non-linear narrative tricks however (and not really well-executed here), which, ultimately, is really nothing more than a trick, and an inconsequential one at that.
Furthermore, in a feeble attempt to bolster the whole “Is it really a ghost or is it Ji-yeon?” dilemma, director Jeong Jong-hoon brings in a last minute childhood trauma, a curveball out of the narrative’s left field that wasn’t even hinted at prior to its eleventh hour unveiling.
All this points to rather sloppy storytelling.
And perhaps the final damning bit: 2 Wol 29 Il is also the sort of horror movie where people do the strangest, most idiotic things.
People don’t call the cops when they should. The cops don’t call for back-up when they should. The cops handle bloodstained evidence with their bare hands. People (including one cop) talk to themselves at key moments to voice what the audience is already thinking.
These are the sort of annoying shenanigans that you too can enjoy, if you’ve a mind.
* The other 3 “One Day Suddenly” titles: Nebeonjjae Cheung (Hidden Floor, aka Forbidden Floor); D-Day (aka Roommates); and Dark Forest.
(FEBRUARY 29)
(Review)
The first of a quartet of HD-shot horror films from first-time feature film directors—alternatively called “Four Horror Tales,” the “All of a Sudden” series, and the “One Day Suddenly” series*—this one starts out promisingly enough, with talk of Mobius strips and truth, but rapidly settles into an unimpressive, run-of-the-mill horror movie that really has nothing new to offer the audience.
Ji-yeon (Park Eun-hye) is a toll booth attendant who receives a bloodstained ticket one evening, an unsettling phenomenon that heralds apparently supernatural events involving a serial killer who may or may not be dead, and a curse that recurs every four years, on the eponymous date in question. Murder victims start to pop up as well.
The monkey wrench here is that the purported ghost is being seen by other individuals, wearing Ji-yeon’s clothes (and soon enough, Ji-yeon herself sees the identically clothed spectre).
The question arises though, is the doppelganger trying to frame Ji-yeon (and why; an interesting premise, in and of itself), or is Ji-yeon just plain nutters and blacking out and killing people?
Sadly, that question is rendered somewhat moot by the fact that there really aren’t any chills or thrills in this (there’s probably one passably creepy moment, then all the rest are carnival funhouse “scares”), and the acting is strictly bush league. The cinematography isn’t anything to write home about, either. (If there’s one thing I can count on with a Korean film, whether I end up loving it or hating it or being indifferent about it, it’s usually rather pretty to look at. Not so here.)
The narrative also isn’t particularly strong. There is no real feeling of tension or dread, or any sense of impending doom. It’s just, Ho! Another bloodstained ticket. Ho! Another dead body!
Given that towards the end, it’s made clear why the cops were acting the way they do over the course of the film (vaguely hostile and ultimately unhelpful) as well as why one of them suddenly has to wear a cast, some may think, “Oooh, sneaky-smart!”. This is just one of those non-linear narrative tricks however (and not really well-executed here), which, ultimately, is really nothing more than a trick, and an inconsequential one at that.
Furthermore, in a feeble attempt to bolster the whole “Is it really a ghost or is it Ji-yeon?” dilemma, director Jeong Jong-hoon brings in a last minute childhood trauma, a curveball out of the narrative’s left field that wasn’t even hinted at prior to its eleventh hour unveiling.
All this points to rather sloppy storytelling.
And perhaps the final damning bit: 2 Wol 29 Il is also the sort of horror movie where people do the strangest, most idiotic things.
People don’t call the cops when they should. The cops don’t call for back-up when they should. The cops handle bloodstained evidence with their bare hands. People (including one cop) talk to themselves at key moments to voice what the audience is already thinking.
These are the sort of annoying shenanigans that you too can enjoy, if you’ve a mind.
* The other 3 “One Day Suddenly” titles: Nebeonjjae Cheung (Hidden Floor, aka Forbidden Floor); D-Day (aka Roommates); and Dark Forest.
Parting shot: 2 Wol 29 Il‘s director Jeong Jong-hoon was an assistant director on Pon (Phone), thus explaining the presence of the Pon DVD in Ji-yeon’s apartment. (Incidentally, Pon is reportedly up for the English-language Hollywood treatment.)
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