The 8th Night (2021) User Reviews

A Middling, But Fun Ride

[ryanpersaud-59415 · 6/10 · 5 July 2021]

The Good: I love the incorporation of Buddhist mythology and theology in the plot; maybe it's just me, but given the overwhelming depiction of Christianity in ghost and horror movies (even in South Korea), it's refreshing. The characters are generally very fun, particularly the dynamic between young, naive monk Cheonseok and grizzled veteran Jin Woo.

Also, the visuals are trippy and grotesque enough to be compelling, even if the plot is a bit convoluted at times. I love the "eye" and how it moves and acts.

The Bad: As I said before, the plot can be a bit convoluted and complicated, for no particularly good reason. We're still learning things during the film's final act, which is a bit of a problem.

The Ugly: the music. I don't know why, but the music in this one is really cheesy and took me out of the movie multiple times. For a film that lives and dies by its atmosphere, it's a bigger issue than you'd think.

Story is kind of messy

[Misss25 · 4/10 · 15 March 2022]

I excepted more from Korean movie industry. It's like traditional horror movie with demon's and all. Even the story felt like too complicated and messy. I have to pause it and think about it again and again what's going on..

Great horror even without the frightfest

[rouselleisla · 6/10 · 3 July 2021]

I really liked the origin story-very intriguing and creepy! It successfully set the tone for the entire movie. The countdown made me feel all the tension even if there were no jumpscares. Not a lot of gore, either. But there are very scary people here alright. Good twist at the end, too!

Great story, boring and amateurish

[PedroPires90 · 4/10 · 5 July 2021]

Oh man, such a good story, such a good original material and then...this. The director doesn't look interested in doing something great here, so why should we care? The film is boring, with a vulgar direction, bad editing, bad score (basically the most generic you can find for each situation) and with serious pace issues.

The cinematography is good, at least. The plot...Well it could have been great, but it's confusing and a mess due to they way the story was told. Good acting from most tho.

Some good imagery, the girl was really creepy (much more before any effect), but nothing here will stay with me for long.

Very Korean

[tonytangney · 7/10 · 5 July 2021]

Very Korean supernatural horror. The main character always seems to start out really dour. Gore without being disgusting. Shabby without being dirty. High death rate of course. I feel Asian movies lose a bit of their essence in translation to English but this is still pretty good.

Don't u dare yawn. I love Korean movies but this one is a big disappointment.

[Fella_shibby · 4/10 · 6 July 2021]

Too much time spent on chit chat n mumbo jumbo stuff which made the movie boring except for the finale which has a brutal kill by the branch.

Basically the story is very similar to Denzel Washington's The Fallen.

This movie cud have been better but alas.

I dont mind the religious mumbo jumbo stuff but at least they cud have made it spooky n atmospheric like Conjuring, Annabelle, Insidious, etc.

a flawed but engrossing slow burn thriller

[bananamanaus · 7/10 · 4 July 2021]

Went into this movie completely blind, expected it to be the typical netflix mildew but its suprisingly well known and from a unknown director cast and crew Visually its really interesting and almost has a slight anime look to it, the story its the best part with nice twists and turns along the way.

Soundtrack and score are also very nice its a great sounding movie especially in surround Some of it needed improving some rough editing but overall i really enjoyed it.

Some hammy acting aside the main monks do a great job.

If you want a korean hereditary this is your movie.

My only real slight against it is that the english dub is TERRIBLE much worse then most non english movies, watch the subtitled version in korean.

Unnecessarily convoluted

[Movi3DO · 4/10 · 9 July 2021]

A new South Korean horror on Netflix. With prayer beads in one hand and an ax in the other, a monk hunts down a millennia-old spirit that's possessing humans and unleashing hell on Earth.

Getting straightforward to the point, the plot was incredibly convoluted. A complicated plot doesn't mean a bad thing, but in this movie it was unnecessarily confusing. Even though I was able to wrap my head around it, the twist wasn't surprising or mind-blowing, but only weird and nonsensical.

I might be able to forgive this weird plot if there were good horror, but I was disappointed. Only the design for the eyes were solid in this movie, while the other effects were not scary at all. The movie avoided almost all gore. When someone was about to be attacked, the quick edits came in and we moved on without seeing any blood. That just took away most of the potential scares. There were also twisted-neck effects, but they felt cheap and lame. Lastly, one of the girl in this movie was suppose to be creepy with her smile, but it felt more like a clown face.

With all the slow burn pacing and confusing plot, I could not care much about the characters. The two main characters had an important backstory that was pretty alright, but didn't hit me much.

Overall, a very disappointing South Korean horror. 4/10.

Gotto love a good story drenched in blood

[ohkcomputer · 7/10 · 6 July 2021]

Beautiful cinematography, some really endearing and funny moments, mystery, a supernatural doomsday setting. A lot to love here. The only horror movie that really beats this movie that came out in 2021 is A Quiet Place Part 2. (Sorry The Conjuring 3, you really did miss the magic Wann touch!)

I read some complaints about CGI by other reviewers. I don't share their complaints. Had a really good time with this movie.

It's complicated

[boboceaelena · 4/10 · 26 July 2021]

I don't know exactly what I should feel about this movie. The premise is a interesting, the plot makes sense, the reveal is unexpected but still feels flat because you don't feel the stakes or the pressure building up.

Love it

[caylchinzah05 · 8/10 · 20 July 2021]

Id watch anything with Nam Da Reum. Honestly i didnt see the plot twist coming as a non horror movie fan. The acting was solid. I love the storyline too. Keep you on toes. And the screen presence of the young actors is worth mentioning. And the lead was superb.

A Decent Effort

[siwakeford · 7/10 · 23 February 2022]

Stick with it. The 8th Night gets better as the movie progresses.

It starts out a little pedestrian. At this stage I was thinking that perhaps it would be another uninspiring demon movie; but as the story slowly develops, the atmosphere improves. There are an increasing number of creepy scenes and good uses of cinematography that give rise to some unease.

As with many Asian horror movies, there aren't many jump scares. Well, that's not what Asian horror is about. That's saved for rehashed Hollywood. This movie tries to create an uneasy, tense atmosphere, and partially achieves that. Had it achieved it more, the movie would have been more rewarding.

However, there are many good aspects to this movie. Good cinematography, good acting (that on occasion would come across better with improved editing and/or direction), a story that delivers enough twists and developments to keep the viewer intrigued, and a steadily building pace.

Whilst not being the greatest example of Asian horror, The 8th Night is far from being the worst. Don't expect a masterpiece. Do expect a decent movie.

No such things in Buddhism

[108YearsOld · 3/10 · 18 July 2021]

There is no such legend in Buddhism, let alone in the Diamond sutra. Completely wrong on all counts in terms of Buddhist ideas, very questionable for making such a movie to propagate these false images with which Buddhism has nothing to do.

The 8th Night

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 31 August 2021]

As this Korean film begins we are told that two and a half millennia ago a monster roamed the world intent on unleashing hell on Earth. It was unkillable but Buddha was able to stop it by removing its eyes, one red, one black, and placing them far apart... if they are ever reunited the monster will be back. The red eye is discovered by a disgraced professor who awakens it. It will now possess a series people as it closes in on the black eye. Trying to stop this happening are a young Buddhist monk who must find the banished monk who was tasked with preventing the eyes being reunified. The actions of the Red Eye leave a series of strangely decayed corpses; this inevitably attracts the attention of the police.

I enjoyed this film. It was rather difficult to classify; the set-up is like that of a horror film but for the most part there isn't that much in the way of violence and gore... although the sight of those possessed by the Red Eye was delightfully creepy. The police investigation for the most part feels like that in a typical cop movie; even if one of the cops has a faith that leaves him open to the idea of seeking supernatural help. There are some good tense moments, particularly towards the end and a few enjoyable, unexpected laughs. The cast does a good job and the special effects are pretty good for the most part. Overall I'd recommend this to people looking for something a little different.

These comments are based on watching the film in Korean with English subtitles.

This Sucked

[bgmagic22 · 2/10 · 15 July 2021]

It took me a few tries to finish this because I kept falling asleep. Very boring plot.

Big fat meh

[horrorgasm · 11 July 2021]

The fact that the most helpful review right now describes this as one of the best horror movies of 2021 right between A Quiet Place 2 and The Conjuring 3 should pretty much let you know what you're in for here.

I don't see the appeal myself. Just a lot of filler and drawn out melodrama with characters I don't care about one bit, all set to overdramatic music that does more to tell you how you're supposed to be feeling about each scene than anything actually happening before your eyes does.

Hooray it's on NetFlix for "free" though so 9/10! (Just kidding this is a 4 or 5 at best).

Build up

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 1 August 2021]

It does take its sweet time ... there is a lot of build up ... but if you stick with it ... there is much at the end to "absolve" it. Really well done climax one might add and say.

The acting is good and there is a lot of humor in it too. I liked how it played out, but I reckon I am biased - generally liking Korean movies and all that. The ending was a bit strange story wise, but through all that mayhem, it was still working for what the movie was representing up to that point. Good effects too ...

Disappointing

[sarahcarter-57143 · 3/10 · 5 July 2021]

This film did not really get going until the last forty five minutes up until that point it was so slow I was actually thinking of not watching to the end now I like slow burn I've watched hundreds of Koreans dramas and films and they tell a good story but this did not hold my attention in the beginning I only carried on as I don't like not finishing what I started the ending too felt a bit of a let down this film is not one I would bother watching again koreans do a good horror but this isn't one of them.

good film

[A_Different_Drummer · 7/10 · 8 August 2021]

Simple story -- all about the characters -- acting and direction are first class.

Nothing but a big disappointment

[aastikhimta · 2/10 · 5 July 2021]

The plot was average and wasn't that boring but Cgi of movie was so bad. Plus there were no horror scenes not even one jump scares scene. Ending was lame too.

way better than the rating is portraying it to be

[roels50 · 8/10 · 22 August 2021]

I don't know what movie other people have watched, but this movie is just great and I have seen many many many Korean thrillers. This is up there in the same league with e.g. The Wailing.

Consistently enjoyable despite its flaws

[Sir_AmirSyarif · 6/10 · 12 July 2021]

Despite its flaws in the storytelling department, Kim Tae-hyoung's 'The 8th Night' is consistently enjoyable with some stand out sequences and the atmosphere, as expected in a Korean horror film at this point, works really well for the dread that the story requires. A pretty decent thriller that has some smart ideas but with a middling execution of those very elements.

It could be better than this

[joy-72262 · 2/10 · 3 July 2021]

Actually this movie has a good plot, but other details, the conversation and some actings didn't impress me.

Fine Attempt: Impactful Use of Sanskrit

[dev_m_i · 5/10 · 27 July 2021]

Out of all movies, I have seen till now, this movie is the first one that used Sanskrit as a language for dialogues and through these dialogues, I realised the potential of Sanskrit to be spoken impactfully accompanied by the actors' expression and dialogue delivery.

Engrossing but flawed Korean supernatural horror

[witra_as · 6/10 · 11 July 2021]

Engrossing but flawed Korean supernatural horror. Kim Tae-hyung needed more than few good freaky scares which kinda far in between, mainly a less convoluted narrative. Lee Sung-min & Nam Da-reum made interesting pair on their journey to prevent the triumph of evil.