Possessed (2009) User Reviews

...very professionally made and enjoyable movie, personally not to scary

[bcheng93 · 7/10 · 17 March 2014]

i have to say, the koreans know how to make a good movie. i think that for every 10 i watch maybe only 2 are bad and the rest are all very good. this particular movie was no exception. it was a very well made movie with a very good cast. the girl that plays the missing little sister is probably one of the hottest acting commodities in Korea right now. she is a great actress already at such a young age. there's at least 2 other movies that she was the main lead that i can recall and both were even better than this( sunny and hansel&gretel ). she could have won awards for either one of those movies.

hmmm..., what genre to put this movie in? it has got elements of religious fanaticism, supernatural elements, eastern Asian mysticism, a decent detective and mystery story...oh well, who cares...it is just a good movie that is all. the movie was paced fairly well and the story was not too convoluted. it wasn't too scary or creepy to me like some reviewers have said, although i think it will scare some people.

i personally enjoy these types of movies with east-Asian mysticism, Christian fanatics and supernatural elements and it was a fairly entertaining movie and i always wanted to find out what was going to happen next.

Not your typical horror movie but that doesn't automatically make it a good one!

[chrichtonsworld · 4/10 · 17 January 2010]

First off there is one particular nasty scene that served no other purpose than to shock the viewer (And by nasty I mean disgusting not gruesome). While I have no problems with using such methods I do think it has to build up to something. Sadly there is no real climax or wtf moment to speak of. Well,there is one little scene that truly belongs to the genre,only it comes far too late. And when this scene plays out you just don't care anymore. Like many Korean horror movies this one is slow and very confusing. And it is maybe somewhat commendable that this director tries to do something new. But would it have hurt to put in some decent scares. Not once did I jump from my seat. Not that it is always required. But in this case much needed since the suspense is seriously lacking. There is a drama element that could have been used more to provide more impact. The relationship between the mother and the daughter(s) seems to be at the core of the few events that are played out. The background on this relationship is so minimal that it made it real hard for me to care for these persons. (I sense some sort of protest against Religious fanaticism. But on the other hand it also speaks in favor of faith.What do you mean confusing?) Had the director put in more depth into the main characters then maybe all of it would have made much more sense. "Living Death" doesn't offer anything else to redeem itself. So why invest time in this movie.

Edit:People who judge others based on one written review and think to know what kind of person it is because he expressed his dislike for a movie they liked, need to take a look at themselves.Especially when is implied that braincells aren't used.Funny how this always applies to the so called art house titles and festival movies that are pretentious and ambiguous on purpose so that it can be interpreted in many ways.In some cases that surely could be a positive thing since it makes you think.Or it could be perceived as a bad thing since it masks the fact that the director could not decide or be bothered to give a solution.It all comes down to the interpretation of the viewer or the willingness of the viewer for that interpretation.I surely can appreciate subtleness in certain genres.But that does depend on the execution and the style it is presented in.If some of the story or dialogue is lost on the viewer one does have to ask whether this is because of the inability from the viewer to comprehend or that the director fails to tell the story adequately.In my opinion a brilliant film maker is someone who knows how to deliver the message to every man.It's not that difficult to be vague even when they are under the impression it is obvious.People like me who deal with real life as real as it can get don't need to look for that kind of substance in books or movies.For me movies are pure escapism.That doesn't mean I don't appreciate it if a movie makes you think.I applaud it providing it is something I can relate to.But for each person this is different of course.

This is only an excerpt of the million thoughts I have.But for the sake of humanity I will save those for myself.Why bother you with this particular thought then?To make it clear that each opinion is valid and that one's intelligence can't be measured based on this one opinion.

Back to the movie. In my opinion Living Death doesn't offer enough for me to like it wholeheartedly.It did not impress me as it did with others on this board.I saw some elements like the mother daughter relationship that needed exploring.Some people do need more to be convinced especially when it is branded a horror movie.There are some conventions you can't escape from when it comes to horror.In that aspect it doesn't matter if we are talking about Hollywood type horror or Asian Horror.I sometimes favour Asian Horror because it usually knows how to build up tension and suspense in subtle ways.Living Death fails to do that.Here endeth the sermon!

Reboot the franchise. This is Asian Horror version 2.0

[sitenoise · 10/10 · 8 December 2009]

I kept thinking of MOTHER by Bong Joon-ho as I watched this movie. Not because the stories are the same, although one could conjure up a few loose similarities, but because of the mature tone of the direction, how masterfully well executed it is. I feel vindicated in my feeling as I have since discovered that the first time director of this film, Lee Yong-Ju, started working in the industry as assistant director for Bong, on the 2003 masterpiece MEMORIES OF MURDER. Certainly some of Bong's genius and attention to detail rubbed off on Lee.

POSSESSED is more thriller than horror. It's got some scares and a few jolts here and there, but it's really more eerie than frightening. The story concerns a girl who returns home from college when she learns her younger sister has gone missing. She discovers her mother has become a religious fanatic who believes only prayer will bring her sister back. But back from where becomes the big question. People all around her commit suicide. There's a cult, a Shaman, and a handful of freaky people who engage in weird ceremonies with a hope for salvation or cure from disease. It's not a pedantic essay on religious belief but that is the main theme of the film and it serves to give the proceedings some depth. It also situates the film on a terrain of the supernatural which, when you make a film, gives you license to bend realities and play visual tricks from time to time. But nothing is cheap here. The intended audience isn't the summer of fear kids. It's more serious than that and it never gets close to outrageous.

The film has gone through an almost endless number of titles. It started off as Scream but as the religious elements became more important and obvious it ended up with the international English title, POSSESSED. My favorite was DISBELIEF HELL, which is the closest literal translation of the Korean Bool-sin-ji-OK ... 불신지옥 (不信地獄), "hell of the non-believers."

POSSESSED is very well cast. I have the feeling that director Lee was intent on reigning in the two young girls from any tendency to play cute or mug scary for the camera. Again, nothing cheap here. Shim Eun-Kyung, a young Korean phenom known for her playful and cute roles on TV, plays the Possessed little girl and could have phoned in her performance but instead, in a role that doesn't offer a lot of screen time, is remarkably restrained. Nam Sang-Mi, a young starlet in her own right, plays her older sister and the film belongs to her. She's the character in the film who returns to her hometown to investigate all the weirdness going on and she moves through the film like it's all unfolding in front of her just like it is for the audience. She's beautiful to look at and there's a realism to her performance that is truly engaging. There is a scene, which demonstrates the abilities of both Nam and director Lee, where someone clobbers her over the head with a blunt instrument. After she's hit, we see her react, look back and make eye contact with her assailant as if she wasn't told she was going to get hit in the scene and really wants to say "what the hell was that? What are you ..." Clobber again! Her eyes project a real, confused fear, and the director's capturing them make for an awesome moment.

Although I single out the two youngsters for praise here the rest of the cast, all veterans you'd expect good performances from, deliver at equally high levels. Everything about this film is good: the acting, the thoughtful script, the cool cinematography, the eerie score, the skilled direction. I can't recommend Possessed enough, but don't go in hoping for a return to the innocent glory days of RINGU or JU-ON. This is Asian Horror 2.0. Lee Yong-Ju has taken it to another level. It's more mature in his accomplished hands and if you like Asian horror, or, better yet, if you've become bored with Asian horror, see this movie. It will renew your faith.

Oh my, it was so very, very boring...

[paul_haakonsen · 3/10 · 20 April 2019]

Oh dear lord, where to start with this train wreck of a movie?

Well, the reason for me sitting down to watch this 2009 horror movie by directors Yong-Joo Lee and Lee Yong-ju was the fact that it was a horror movie and it was South Korean. Two ingredients when combined usually make for a very great concoction.

"Possessed" (aka "Bulshinjiok") wasn't great. Let me just tell you that flat out. The storyline was a befuddled mess and seemed mostly incoherent at times, and when the movie ended you are left with a massive gaping hole and so many unanswered questions and thinking to yourself "did I just waste that much of my life on watching that?"

The storyline in "Possessed" definitely suffered from having two directors, because it felt like they were working against one another and weren't collaborating. The movie wanted to tell so many different things with different story arcs and subplots, but nothing came to fruition at the end of the movie, and that felt like a massive slap in the face with a cold, dead fish.

It should be said, however, that the acting in the movie was good, despite the actors and actresses had so very little to work with in terms of a proper script and storyline. But there was only so much they could do to try to salvage the train wreck that is "Possessed". And they failed.

There was nothing scary about this movie. Nothing. Zilch. Squat. Nada. And that was very anti-climatic, because I was expecting a lot more, so very much more from the movie, so I was disappointed to the point where I was speechless.

This was a swing and a massive miss in the South Korean cinema. I managed to endure it to the end, but let me tell you it was a struggle to sit through the movie to the very end. I did endure, so take heed and stay well clear of this snoozefest of a movie...

Slow-Burning? YES. Confusing? NO.

[ebossert · 8/10 · 18 April 2010]

The previous reviewer is one of those guys that I disagree with most of the time. "Faithless Hell" (aka "Possessed", aka "Living Death") (2009) is a shining example, because it's difficult to comprehend how someone could bash this as being a "bad" horror movie.

First of all, the acting and camera-work are both top notch, which automatically raises "Faithless Hell" to a respectable level that should disqualify any assertions that it is somehow poorly made. The performance of the lead actress is no less than fantastic, and is most definitely deserving of a "2009 Best Actress In Horror" nomination (if there was one) alongside OK-bin Kim who gave us a blistering performance in "Thirst" (2009). Sang-Mi Nam plays the concerned elder sister in the kind of professional, restrained manner that is sorely lacking in genre films from the west. The supporting cast also does an admirable job. You really can't ask for much more than this in terms of acting quality. It's first rate.

I find that those who dislike South Korean horror tend to go in with the same expectations as when they watch modern Hollywood or European horror movies, which is a major problem considering the massive chasm of differences between the industries. For example, Hollywood horror will frequently resort to jump scares and loud noises in overly repetitive ways, but you're not going to get this kind of talentless hackery in "Faithless Hell." I can remember only one jump scare in the entire film (near the beginning). Consequently, viewers who come out of this aggravated that "Not once did I jump in my seat" really have no idea what to look for in a slow-burning horror film such as this. "Faithless Hell" does an exquisite job at building an interesting, occultish mystery surrounding the disappearance of a young girl while peppering in some cool nightmarish visions along the way.

And that brings us to another issue, the alleged "confusing" nature of this film. Let me tell you this: "Faithless Hell" is a very straight-forward movie because the narrative is shown (and at times even explained) clearly to the viewer with little in terms of ambiguity. BRIEF SPOILER The crane bite, the leg-scratching scene, and the potato sack scene were all nightmarish visions brought about by the Crane Spirit as it attempts to make its transition from the dead girl to her older sister. There are also a number of appearances by crane footprints (talismans, foggy windows, etc.) for emphasis, and the very end where the detective's child becomes miraculously healthy acts as confirmation that the possession is complete. END BRIEF SPOILER Much of this is explained by one the characters at the police station, so there shouldn't be much confusion here at all. Sure, the visions themselves are kinda freaky and incomprehensible, but they only occupy a few minutes of running time and serve a purpose outside of narrative drive – they provide the visuals that communicate the effects of the Crane Spirit on the lead protagonist.

With regards to the relationships between the protagonists, it's underscored and subtly expressed through day-to-day interaction. It's obvious that the friction between the lead protagonist and her mother is due to the mother's fanaticism, and it's obvious that the lead protagonist is open to non-fanatical forms of religion. There's nothing confusing about this relationship, and "Faithless Hell" is under no obligation to offer a "protest against religious fanaticism" or "speak in favor of faith." In fact, I personally find it much more interesting and realistic when such themes are explored but not fully answered or pushed by the filmmakers.

As I've mentioned before in my IMDb comments – especially the one for Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Retribution" (2006) – audiences really need to start using their brain cells while watching Asian horror movies. Almost none of them are as confusing as reviewers make them out to be. If you want a confusing Asian horror film, watch "Spider Forest" (2004) or "Marebito" (2004). I'll give you those, but "Faithless Hell" is not even remotely close to being confusing.

In terms of industry trends, South Korean horror has been solid from 2008-2010. "Missing" (2009) and "Blood Pledge" (2009) were both mediocre, "G.P. 506" (2008) was dreadfully boring, and "Death Bell" (2008) was frankly incompetent. Fortunately, we have "I Saw the Devil" (2010), "Faithless Hell" (2009), "Thirst" (2009), "Midnight F.M." (2010), "Yoga Institute" (2009), "Chaw" (2009), "Bedevilled" (2010), and "Loner" (2008) to enjoy.

Only for the genre devotees

[RogerB-P3RV3 · 4/10 · 20 February 2020]

College student Hee-Jin (Sang-mi Nam) is struggling with her studies with a cold that don't seem to quit as well as coping with a past tragedy. When her troubled younger sister So-jin (Eun-kyung Shim) goes missing, she realizes something is very wrong with the whole situation surrounding the disappearance. Despite the urgency in searching for her sibling with help of Detective Tae-hwan (Seung-Ryong Ryu ), Hee-Jin had to contend with mom's maniacal religious belief and figure out if the sudden mysterious deaths of the neighbors at the apartment complex are somewhat connected to her sister. Either you love the modern Asian horror movies (undoubtedly much creepier than anything Yanks can churn out) or you don't. They also tend to be draggy and overdrawn. Bool-sin-ji-ok has both elements in abundance. Only for the genre devotees.

Creepy mind bending horror

[dbborroughs · 9/10 · 24 April 2010]

I saw this film at the Tribeca film festival and it really knocked my socks off. Its a slowly building film that messes with your head, isn't gory and manages to through in notions of religious faith. It made me and the audience I saw it with jump several times (even when we saw it coming). Its a masterpiece of its kind. And the best of the 8 films I've seen so far at the Tribeca Film Festival.

The plot has a college girl go home because something has happened to her sister. When she gets home she finds her sister missing and her mother possessed by an even stronger Christian belief. As she pleads with the police to help find her sister people in her apartment complex begin dying, all are some how connected to her sister.

I know this film isn't going to please people who need blood and guts and ooze to be scared. There are no axe wielding maniacs or typical things one associates with modern horror. Instead we have a film that shows a world askew and builds menace from that. Sure there are shocks and death, but at the same time they are subtly done, look away and you'll miss an eye that moves exactly the way eyes can't, or a mouth that's a little too wide.

I love that this film has ideas in its head beyond just being scary. This is a film that is very much rooted in the worlds of Christianity, atheism and shamanism. It's a film that relies on the struggles of the three points of view to create a very tense atmosphere. Ultimately the film is not so much a horror film as a meditation on the nature of faith.

For one of the few times since Silence of the Lambs I saw a horror movie with an audience that was wound up tight as a drum. Only one time, after a very strange passage was there any sort of "unintentional laughter" which seemed from what I could hear to come from unease at what some people were experiencing. I don't know when was the last time that I jumped as many times as I did here. to be certain I could see the jumps coming but I still leapt out of my seat.

If there are any flaws its that toward the end there a couple of small moments where things happen that aren't explained, why is the time of death questioned? (I'm guessing an autopsy report but its not spelled out). The very end of the film also doesn't have an ending that is completely satisfying, the tension isn't released but rather dissipates (on the other hand if you see the film as not just a horror film it makes more sense.) Still this film knocked my socks off. I stared at the screen wanting to know what was coming and dreading the possibilities.

This is a must see film for those who don't need the blood and the body parts.

A well made and superb performed movie

[alcoolj · 8/10 · 24 July 2013]

Actually I have problems with adding at least 10 new and meaningful lines to this movie. All important stuff to understand the movie was already written by other reviews: most importantly the role of the crane. So I can't give you a lot of new input, except maybe one thing: *slight spoiler* When Hee-Jin has her vision at the playground, she finds a lost tooth. In Korea the dream of loosing a tooth is said to have the unlucky meaning, that a relative will die.

About the actors/actresses. I really love the performance of leading actress Nam Sang-mi who is a very convincing older sister and doubting disbeliever. She doesn't look too artificially perfect like many other Korean star(let)s, but is a beautiful girl anyway. I felt the shaman and the mother overacted , thats why I subtracted 1 point.

Like in many movies from Korea the police is depicted somehow stupid. I really worry, there might be a grain of truth...

If you don't need the nail-biting thrill of surprise-horror, I really hope you have the chance to watch the movie. You can at least find an interesting story, some details about (superstitious or not) Korea and something to discuss about.

Please excuse my not perfect English.

An enjoyable mystery flick although the ending is not favorable

[daryopeek · 8/10 · 1 March 2019]

Bulshinjiok or Distrust Hell (lit.) follows a girl who back to her hometown after knowing her younger sister is missing. Back with her mother who now a religious fanatics and couple or strange things happened in their apartment block, the girl must uncover the mystery.along with increasing frequency of nightmares.

K-Horror cinemas often plays with big twist that most of the time, making the plots entirely of buildups. It's nice, but I recognized most of them aren't that innovative, stale if I may say, due to prolonged cliches that repeated again and again. Luckily, although this movie suffers the same thing, at least most of the buildups are enjoyable.

Living Death revolves around religion theme in Korean society which quite interesting to discuss due to their increasing numbers of non-theism. This movie portray a case where sometimes, we all just need higher beings so that we can rest our incapability of resolving things that out of our control. The big picture is compressed in the main premise of the disappearance of a strange girl that have supernatural ability.

I like how the movie can play the tension well with many body counts, jumpscares, and the searching. It's like they give a structured buildups with little climax that increasing in the next scene. This method has been used by many similar movies, but the movie also used odd characters that make us uncomfortable and curious. In my opinion, the way this movie build the story is one of my favorite in K-Horror list.

Unluckily, the movie also has bitter taste in the end, that quite huge deal for me. Scenes leading to the end is confusing due to sudden differences of the character (a strong-willed woman suddenly turns slow and soft, a rascal detective turns violent and coward), that is not really necessary since the plot is quite solid to usher the ending without any sudden change in the character. Also, things are quite unexplained, in sense that the plot does end a conflict in one side, but the possessed/supernatural things that has been talked prominently in the movie, suddenly goes off.

I'll love this movie more if they can have better plot for the ending, but the experience during the buildup is good enough so that I can overlook many major things that's not executed nicely. It's a solid story on its own, and offer good story for those who like mystery movie and horror movie at the same time.

Christ and Shaminism, with Echoes of Polanski

[captainpass · 8/10 · 26 February 2021]

As with each of Polanski's three famous films dealing with urban life, the principal events in this film are almost entirely confined to a single building in Korea. However, in contrast to the more obviously satanic and occult connotations in "Rosemary's Baby," for example, this film draws its thematic material from in the contrast between western Christianity (the cross) and native animism/shamanism (the crane spirit).

That said, Korean directors tend to love puzzle pieces: if you do not pay close attention to everything that is taking place, and then place each piece in relation to the whole, you can miss crucial details to the story.

Here is my summary: The film concerns a little girl, So-jin, who has gone missing from her apartment and the subsequent investigation undertaken by her older sister, Hee-jin, and a (mostly) skeptical detective, Tae-hwan, to locate her. To do so, they must also deal with a strange rash of suicides that have occurred in the same building.

The backstory is that So-jin survived a car crash that killed her father, and then miraculously recovered. The mother attributes the recovery to the god of Christianity, and becomes extremely devout as a result. However, the neighbors are not so sure. They witness So-jin prognosticate a death and heal a scalding burn with a hug and decide to enlist the help of the building's resident shaman. The shaman determines that a spirit does indeed reside in the child, and has the child produce some talismans that can be used by the neighbors to cure sickness and restore youth. However, at some point, So-jin ceases producing the talismans, which prompts the shaman to try an ill-fated ceremony to re-possess the child. The child issues a final prognostication and is then gravely injured in the process. What happens after that point forms the true "present tense" context for the film as a whole.

At a thematic level, the movie seems to be indifferent as to the choice between Christ and Shindo/animism, except to show that both systems provide a refuge for those who are desperate: those who are losing a child to illness or have themselves been diagnosed with a grave illness. Both belief systems can also be shown to allow great selfishness, as the mother becomes indifferent to everything but her own Christian religious crusade and the neighbors and shaman also use So-jin for frankly selfish purposes. The Korean title apparently has no direct English equivalent, but "living death" or "unbeliever hell" have been proposed. Here, the believers buy some solace with their belief, but at what cost?

Korean film-makers have produced some remarkably complex psychological horror-thrillers in the past twenty years ("The Piper" and "The Wailing" come to mind). Frankly, they are probably the most direct heirs of the likes of Hitchcock. This one is not as tight as other Korean entries, but it is still a very fine entry. Well worth a watch.