THE WAILING. (2016) WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY NA HONG-JIN. STARRING KWAK DO-WON, KIM HWAN-HEE, CHUN WOO-HEE AND JUN KUNIMURA. REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©
This is an absolute smasher of a South Korean horror film. It has heart and humour in abundance as well as loads of scares, and the little family at the centre of the action is immensely likeable. Let's take a wee look at the plot and see what's what, shall we? Okay, here we go.
Officer Jong-Goo is a country policeman in a picturesque little village tucked away in the mountains of South Korea. At first glance, he might come across as a copper along the lines of Police Chief Clancy Wiggum from THE SIMPSONS. A big tall rather portly chap, he runs away crying from anything the least bit scary or disgusting.
But when the chips are down and, boy, do the chips come crashing down, Jong-Goo steps up to the plate and shows that there's a real man under the cry-babyish exterior. He's married with one child, an adorable little girl called Hyo-Jin.
As is customary in countries like China, Japan and Korea, his elderly mother lives with them and pitches in around the place. It's a typical family set-up and roots the film firmly in a nice ordinary domestic setting. A nice normal family living in a little country village in the mountains.
The relationship between Daddy and Daughter is crucial to the plot. Daddy adores his little girl, who is sweet and loving and certainly knows how to wrap Daddy around her little finger. There's a lot of humour in their relationship too.
For example, Daddy is horrified one day to discover that his little girl has seen him having sex with his wife in the family car. 'It's no big deal, Dad,' she tells him with a knowing shrug. 'It's not like it's the first time...!' Poor Dad is mortified beyond belief at being caught with his pants down but the kid is completely unfazed. Kids, eh...?
Anyway, it's not all cosy domestic bliss and sex in the car for Officer Jong-Goo. A series of horrible deaths start to occur out of the blue in his peaceful little village. People covered in sores and boils like lepers suddenly start brutally killing their families for no reason.
As the case progresses, more and more villagers suffering severe mental derangement and terrible skin lesions commit horrific murders before themselves dying in absolute agony. What the hell is going on around here? There's an absolutely petrifying scene involving one such zombie-leper biting the face off of one of Jong-Goo's friends that will put the willies up you big-time.
There are two possible sources for the evil contamination that has possessed the quiet little town. There's a strange old Japanese man living in a shack on the outskirts of town whose arrival on the scene heralded the start of all the freaky goings-on. Suspect Numero Uno, you might say.
But there's also a mysterious woman hanging around the place who claims to know the reason for the demonic shenanigans, and 'demonic' is surely the only word you can use to describe what's happening to the villagers. Suspect Numero, um, Two. I'm afraid I don't know the Spanish for 'two.' Anyway, pay no mind to my linguistic shortcomings, people. Where should Officer Jong-Goo start looking for the key to the mystery?
And when his own beloved daughter starts behaving in an out-of-character fashion and sporting a horrible rash on her body, this shit just got personal. Both Daddy and Daughter deserve kudos for turning in absolutely superb performances in this gut-wrenching horror film.
The daughter's 'possession' in particular is brilliantly done. She becomes so foul-mouthed and nasty that you half expect her to tell her dear old Dad that 'his mother sucks cocks in hell,' haha. The camp and colourful exorcism by the rather trendy pony-tailed shaman is terrific fun to watch. But will it be effective enough to counteract the black magic that's taken control of little Hyo-jin...?
This film has already won a ton of awards and been nominated for more. It'll be out on DVD on Jan. 30th, 2017, courtesy of KALEIDESCOPE PICTURES and FETCH PUBLICITY. It's already been a huge commercial smash hit in South Korea and I'd strongly advise that
you don't get left out when it comes out on home entertainment release.
If you're already familiar with the Asian horror genre, you'll know that THE WAILING is pretty much as good as it gets. If you're new to it all, well, where better to start than with this confirmed masterpiece? You've gotta start somewhere and it might as well be at the top...!
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.
Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, film blogger and movie reviewer. She has studied Creative Writing and Film-Making. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, womens' fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can browse or buy any of Sandra's books by following the link below straight to her Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B015GDE5RO
You can contact Sandra at:
http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com
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