Welcome to episode 9 of our podcast blog. This week we reviewed Tracey’s 2nd favorite movie genre, South Korean Horror or K-Horror as it is now called. Tracey’s first favorite type of horror is, of course the found footage or filmed in first person horror movie, but K-horror runs a close 2nd!!
It should be noted that she HATED subtitled movies until 5 years ago. By hate, I mean HATE! She was asked to watch Train to Busan (which we will talk about in 2 weeks) and that was all she wrote. She loved it!!!!! It is one of the BEST zombie, no honestly, not just zombie, one of the best horror/action movies ever made! You quickly forget you are even watching something subtitled. It was so good that she and Richard decided to try a few more and have not been disappointed. We have seen too many to list but some of the favorites are The Wailing, The Host, Office, The Tunnel, Flu and Gonjiam-Haunted Asylum.
We decided to try a few we hadn’t seen for this podcast just so we could try a few new ones. Some were okay and, well, some not so much!
We started with Don’t Click.
Don’t Click was released in 2012 is NR. We watched it on Amazon Prime. Imdb rated it a 4.8. Tracey gave it a 4.0 and Richard gave it a solid 3. The tagline says, “You better not click if you want to survive.”
Basic synopsis is a guy and girl break up and the guy goes to her sister for help winning her back. She said she will hep if he gets her a file (usb) of taboo and hidden videos from the dark web. He works for the Cyber Terror Response Team and gets her a usb with a video that you should not click. Spoiler alert…. she does.
This movie is along the lines of The Ring or this type film of you watch something you shouldn’t and a curse ensues. There is a twist in it that is confusing about a possible sexual crime, 2 sisters share a bath (adult sisters at that) and some creepy scenes. There are 2 good disturbing scenes that were well filmed but all in all this movie was sub par. First South Korean horror film that disappointed us.
The next movie we watched was Creepy Hide and Seek.
Creepy Hide & Seek was released in 2009. I did not write down where we watched this one but I believe it was on Amazon Prime. It is actually a Japanese horror movie NOT a South Korean horror movie. Imdb gave it a 5.2. Richard rated it a 3.5 and Tracey gave it a 6.5. Very different ratings but Tracey appreciates a good urban legend related story. This one revolves a pretty cool and creepy ritual. Legend says you are to take a doll (must be soft bodied but can be a baby doll or stuffed animal), you cut it open, remove all the stuffing and replace it with rice. You sew it up with red thread and then bind the doll (neck and torso) with red thread as well. Some of the legends I read about say you should put a personal item inside the doll. You are to name the doll and throw it in water, preferably a bucket, sink or tub. Say, “First tagger is (insert your name)” 3 times, stab the doll with a knife 3 times and leave room. Turn off ALL lights and turn on tv on a white noise channel. Go back to doll and say “Second tagger is (insert doll’s name)” 3 times, get a glass of salt water and go hide. Eventually you will hear the pitter patter of feet and if the doll finds you, you are suppose to spit the salt water on it in order to stop the curse and close it.
So, obviously the movie revolves around this ritual and all the chaos that ensues when you don’t do it correctly. This movie has some very good creepy scenes and a teacher that is into necromancy. There are alot of elements that are left unexplained and it creates way more questions than it resolves, but it was a good movie with some awesome horror moments! Japanese films are not our favorites but out of the handful we have seen, this one was pretty good.
Our last film this podcast was called The Lingering.
The Lingering
The Lingering is a new film just released on Amazon Prime. It is a K-horror film. It was actually released in South Korea in 2018 and is rated TV-14. Imdb rated it a 4.8. Richard rated it a 4.0 and Tracey gave it a 7. I am starting to notice a trend where he rates things much lower than she does. He must be a slight bit more judgmental……. just saying!
The Lingering starts off with a young boy and his mom who are harassed by an evil spirit in their home. May I just take a minute and say this little boy is ADORABLE!! He is one of the cutest kids I have seen in a while. The husband/father has just passed away and this young mom is trying to balance her life with a young son, a evil spirit in her home and a older sitter for her son, possessed toys and fear.
Flash forward 30 years and the mom has died and the son returns to his childhood home to find the papers on the house so he can sell it. It is still haunted and so he and his girlfriend are now harassed by the spirit who remembers him.
This is when the switch happens. This movie quickly transitions from a horror movie to a feel good mother/son movie. It is full of life lessons, regret and remorse and a sweet feel good element we did not expect. If horror is on one end of a spectrum and tear jerker on the other this movie see saws from one end to the other, quickly.
Well worth watching and quite enjoyable. We actually recommend this one and would watch it again!!!!
That wraps up this weeks episode….. up next…. we tackle BIGFOOT!!!
The Reel Couple Podcast 