As a big horror fan it can
be very difficult to be pleasantly surprised. Often times you hear
about the good stuff long in advance of seeing it. Worse than that is
when press and critics hype up some godawful hunk of crap as the next
piece of classic cinema. Once in a while though something will come
out of nowhere to provide some of the best scary fun you've had in a
while. This October that special surprise title is a South Korean
found-footage flick, Ginjiam: Haunted Asylum..
And while the film may not win any points for originality, it more
than makes up for that with sheer entertainment value. I'm very eager
to share this one with you all so there will be less spoilers than if
you watched the trailer.
In a set-up similar to
Grave Encounters (2011), Gonjiam revolves around an
online ghost hunting program called Horror Times. The host has put
together a plan to live-stream from the Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital,
reportedly one of the freakiest places on Earth though one that was
sadly demolished shortly after the films release. For this special
broadcast, the host and his two helpers take on four applicants to
explore the spooky old hospital and hopefully rake in some cash
should the stream earn enough viewership.
The movie takes a good
chunk of time letting the characters get to know each other and have
some fun. They drink some beer, play with their cameras, and be
moderately annoying as young people so often are. Thankfully there's
some decent bits of humor to make this all worthwhile. The one male
applicant in particular earns most of the laughs.
Eventually the group
makes their way to the asylum and even here there's a slow and steady
build-up as we learn more about the location, and get a good dose of
atmosphere. While the movie wasn't filmed in the actual building, the
filmmakers made a real effort to recreate the location right down to
the layout. Their effort pays off as the place never feels fake or
too staged. Helping this is the camerawork that feels properly
amateurish , helping to sell the illusion of a webcast.
There are two big shifts
in the narrative, one more character based, and the other is what
finally kicks the scary elements into high-gear. Suddenly this
lighthearted and fun found-footage tale becomes sinister and intense.
The final thirty-five minutes or so are pretty much non-stop scares,
and we're talking sustained sequences of outright terror, not just
simple jump scares. I was amazed how crazy they went. It's great
stuff that's bound to make some of your more cowardly friends leave a
few lights on.
Of course nothing is ever
perfect. There are a few problems here and there, mostly to do with
the general lack of originality. The narrative is very familiar,
especially for those who've seen other haunt show flicks. One issue
is a some characters sort of blend-together as you watch. The girls
don't suffer from this as each of them is different enough to stand
out. A couple of the guys are pretty much interchangeable however and
while not a major problem it can become a little disorienting during
the darker scenes. The threat can be a little vague as well with only
some explanation for what this group is dealing with. I know some
people take issue with subtitles, it's not a problem I understand,
but I can assure you that the freaky later portions of the movie have
less and less dialogue to contend with.
Even with a few
weaknesses, the film benefits greatly from pure simplicity. There's
no attempt to tackle major social issues or make you cry over a
family in distress. Don't worry about some art-house twist, or an
ending that cancels out everything you've seen. What you see is what
you get, a bunch of kids go to a spooky place and are terrorized by
ghosts.
If you're looking for a
good movie to surprise your friends with, absolutely take a look at
Gonjiam. Not only will it likely scare the pants off of some
of them but it won't break the bank. As of this writing you can find
copies at Wal-Mart for fifteen bucks. When was the last time you
could say that about a brand new international release? There's a lot
to like with this movie, it's easily one of the best recent fright
flicks alongside titles like Ghost Stories and A Quiet
Place. It doesn't suffer from the artistic final twist of the
former, and is more breezy than the latter, It's the sort of
surprising treat that doesn't come around very often, so you might as
well dig in and enjoy.
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