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Geomeun jip (2007) More at IMDb Pro »

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
A movie keeping you interested but ultimately going nowhere, 15 September 2008

Author: dschmeding from Germany

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

"Black House" (why the hell the title by the way??) is an interesting Korean movie that at first looks like going a different way. I guess you could call this a horror movie but it has a lot of thriller elements and rather sticks to reality than going for the typical Asian ghost mythology. The movie starts out with the main character, an insurance claims agent who gets a new client who especially asks for him after the previous agent seemed to unfriendly. Right after meeting at the clients house the first dead person appears... the son is found hung in is room. Since the client acts pretty strange and tries to collect the money right away the agent looks into the story and considers it a murder... he soon gets drawn deep into the strange clients life and finds out his wife is even stranger. From here on the movie moves slowly like a thriller about a bizarre insurance fraud that is slowly mixed with Slasher elements when the agents dog gets decapitated, his answering machine is filled with silent calls, people lose limbs and disappear while he uncovers the strange history of his client.

Although the movie is really slow paced and like many Asian movies way too long for my taste it kept my attention by building tension that is mainly relying on the excellent main actors and on the great cinematography. Unfortunately the movie takes a dive in the end because suddenly you find yourself in a very well known story about a strange woman killing people and doing that in a way that reminded me more of many Asian ghost horror movies.

Spoiler: When the movie incorporates things like sowing eyes and mouths shut but never explains why and in the end makes the ghost of the dead woman reappear in a girl that paints pictures like the woman did before you feel like the director was not sure if he wanted to make a thriller or a ghost/horror movie. All these elements are pretty fragmented and either I didn't get the connection or there simply is none which I'd suspect. If the director stuck to the real world and the bizarre fraud story and tightened the script this could have been a great movie... like many movies "Black house" takes a dive when it is supposed to deliver meaning to an otherwise suspenseful story.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Nice Twisted Tale of Murder and Thrills, 17 August 2008

Author: Gavin Schmitt (gavin6942@yahoo.com) from Kaukauna, Wisconsin

An insurance agent, still fresh on the job, gets called to a home where he witnesses an apparent suicide. After the initial shock, though, he begins to suspect murder and sets his sights on investigating the boy's father. As the investigation continues, so does the creepy nature of the father. How far will both men go to achieve their ends, and what other secrets is this family hiding?

I'm relatively new to the Korean horror scene, but have liked much of what has come my way. "Black House" is no exception. While it isn't a perfect film, it certainly kept my interest, even during the hours where I would typically be asleep. The flaws are forgivable -- it carries on a bit longer than necessary, expects us to believe a killer capable of some extraordinary feats (considering the killer isn't in peak physical condition). But what horror film doesn't have us believe the unbelievable?

The lead characters/actors were great. Jeon Juno (Jeong-min Hwang) was a decent lead as a courageous everyman, and Park Chung-bae (Shin-il Kang) was a formidable opponent. He played up the "less is more" approach perfectly, allowing his stares to send chills. Park's wife (Seon Yu) was both beautiful and evil at the same time. The secondary characters were alright, too... though I wasn't overly impressed by Jeon's girlfriend Mina (Seo-hyeong Kim).

The visuals were well done. There was a darkness, but at the same time a crisp feel to the film, showing a sizable production. Many foreign films tend to have a lower budget feel, but this was not one of those. The blood and gore were superb, and I even felt they tended to mix violence and sexuality in a way that is sensually magnificent (particularly towards the end). Not least was the soundtrack, with very simple but effective piano melodies (presumably by Seung-hyun Choi). In some scenes they came off as repetitive, but there was one sad tune that was haunting and pulled me emotionally into the picture against my will.

I have no complaints with the writing, directing, acting, cinematography. This film came together nicely and was effective. All too often, Asian (particularly Japanese) films fall back on the "dream" and "ghost" subgenres of horror. This one stayed far away, giving us a mystery-thriller that was right up the alley of Italian giallo (though more horror than mystery). If you're looking for a good foreign flick, this one's worth a shot... see it before someone tries to remake it (again, since this is in itself a remake).

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1 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Good Korean remake, 26 April 2008

Author: movieman_kev from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Insurance agent, Jun-oh (jeong-min Hwang) goes to a house to talk to an insurance client, where he finds the hanging body of the client's son dead of an apparent suicide. But he soon feels that the young lad didn't kill himself, but was killed to get at a sizable insurance payout. When no one else seems to believe him or even care, Jun decides to get to the truth by himself by digging into the past of the troubled family.

Let it be noted that I have yet to see "Kuroi ie" the 1999 Japanese adaptation of the same Yûsuke Kishi novel that this film was also based on, so I can't offer up any comparisons. That being said, I found the South Korean version of the story to be captivating enough to keep my attention throughout and marginally well acted. The film plays it's horror out mostly psychologically until it's last 40 minutes when the film goes all out Slasher and the gore becomes much more visceral. I enjoyed and recommend it.

My grade: B-

Region 1 DVD Extras: A 21 minute Making of; Production design featurette (7 minute); and 10 deleted scenes

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