Reviews

In the realm of group-of-people-trapped-with-something-picking-them-off-one-by-one films, there has not been a lot of innovation since Alien and Evil Dead.

Not surprisingly, this film does not offer much you have not seen already (at least if you are like me and watch all the thrillers, splatter and horror films you can). Direction and acting could be better, but are satisfactory in most respects within the given limits.

Surprisingly however, this one hits the nail on the head in every aspect of the story.

The snags in this kind of story has always been these three questions: Why are they in the monster's lair, why don't they leave, and why do they split up? When these questions are not answered to my satisfaction, my suspension of disbelief fails. Then it is obviously just a question of producing a popcorn movie for 15-year-olds to snigger at and forget immediately.

But here, the basic premise works, and each question is answered logically: the ten protagonists are eco-activists who board an oil rig to stop it from being toppled. Farfetched as this may sound, it could happen, and I have no doubt Greenpeace activists entertained a similar thought with Brent Spar in those days. Since they need to find the crew of the rig (but expect no problems beyond being told to bugger off), they search the place, and when they find nobody there, they are in a fix, as their very presence is what prevents the oil company from sinking the rig. So they have to stay. (The "weather closing in" excuse preventing the helicopter from returning is ridiculous though, as all the exterior shots of the rig show calm weather with barely any wind at all).

In addition to this initial premise, the rest of the story (and the twist-in-the-tale in particular) holds water in a way I had not expected. A rare sight these days, when even Stephen King expects us to believe that local police suspecting a divorced husband of murdering his ex-wife and her lover will not even dig up his back yard fifteen feet from the house (not to mention the fact that as he lived in another state, it would become an FBI case with all the additional resources this would entail).

This movie has an original premise, but ultimately winds up a little too confused about where it wanted to go. The storytelling, which starts off with fine, mood-filled, dwelling shots, veers off into a style more reminiscent of standard psycho-thrillers as the conclusion draws near. One scene in particular (*SPOILER*: the death of the father-in-law) jars with the visual style right up to this point and seems to mark a clear break in the narrative. The first hour is absolutely riveting, though, and I'll certainly want to see other films by Ki-Hyung Park.

I was expecting something along the lines of The Ring or Dark Water with this one. The general mood, however, it much lighter and less claustrophobic, and the story focuses more on the plight of the ex-cop and the traumatic experience that cost him his job than on the haunted supermarket in which the film opens.

Certain story points are left dangling (eg. why was Yeong-min released? They still had his prints on the gun, which, as far as evidence went, was harder than anything else in this film).

In my opinion, the potential in the effects was never fully realised. There are no real shocks. Maybe this is because Kim Seong-ho himself expected to make a Ring kind of film, so instead of going straight for the jugular, he went more for the lurching things-that-go-bump-in-the-night approach. I for one would have liked it if they had used more won on the effects and made them really jump at me (and make me jump).

Still, the final scene and the chilling realisation of what has happened to Yeong-min is worth it all.