South Korean Movie Reviews »
Slave Love (aka 100 Days with Mr. Arrogant, 2004) Movie Review
Actress Ji-won Ha played the straight man in the gross-out comedy “Sex is Zero” and an adult in the horror film “Phone”. And apparently she’s tired of playing it straight, which may explain why...
Read More »The Uninvited (2003) Movie Review
“The Uninvited”, the latest horror film out of South Korea, opens strong, with interior designer Jung-won (Shin-yang Park) being inexplicably haunted by two dead girls he saw in the subway. Forty minutes later, it’s...
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Paradise Villa (2000) Movie Review
A penny pincher who looks like a porn star, a man whose wife may be cheating on him with a fund manager, a woman hawking a water purifier, a nosy old man, a demure...
Read More »Legend of Evil Lake (2003) Movie Review
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: “The Legend of the Evil Lake” (aka “The Thousand Years Old Lake”) is a derivative product buoyed by a large budget and tons and tons of CGI,...
Read More »Memories of Murder (2003) Movie Review
“Memories of Murder” broke box office records in its native South Korea. The film, based on an actual police case that is still unsolved to this day, has achieved international acclaim and might just...
Read More »Acacia (2003) Movie Review
The most entertaining thing about “Acacia” isn’t the movie itself, which is mostly dull, plodding, and not very scary even though it’s billed as a horror film. It’s also not the movie’s Big Reveal,...
Read More »Into the Mirror (2003) Movie Review
“Into the Mirror” isn’t very original, and despite all of its visual wizardry, the story is heavily influenced by the Slow Bore Horror conventions popularized by “The Ring”. Depending on how you feel about...
Read More »My Tutor Friend (2004) Movie Review
If the premise of “My Tutor Friend” sounds suspiciously like a recent South Korean box office success called “My Sassy Girl”, it’s no coincidence. Like all movie industry, the Koreans know that when you’ve...
Read More »The Sweet Sex and Love (2004) Movie Review
Man-dae Bong’s “The Sweet Sex and Love” is filled with sex held together by a flimsy story that may or may not be worth making a feature length film around. It’s not as if...
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Natural City (2003) Movie Review
One obstacle in the way of the new South Korean sci-fi film “Natural City” isn’t the undeniable fact that its every construction is derivative of Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner”, but that the film is,...
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Reptilian (aka Yonggary 2001, 1999) Movie Review
With the resurgence of Godzilla and Gamera in the 1990s, South Korea’s Zero Nine Entertainment threw their hat into the kaiju ring with the return of Yonggary. Back after a 34-year absence in which...
Read More »Whispering Corridors 3: Wishing Stairs (2003) Movie Review
I suppose the producers of the “Whispering Corridors” series figured it was too late to do anything different with the franchise now that they were at part 3. Which may explain why 2003′s ”...
Read More »Whispering Corridors (1998) Movie Review
If South Korean movies set in high school have thought me anything, it’s not to go to high school in South Korea! If the teachers aren’t beating the living hell out of you on...
Read More »Unborn but Forgotten (2002) Movie Review
Oh “Ringu”, what hath thou wrought? Aside from the manic sounds of greedy movie producers all over Asia looking to cash in, that is. I suppose it wouldn’t be entirely fair to blame “Ringu”...
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Elysium (2003) Movie Review
If you approach it correctly, the South Korean animation “Elysium” really isn’t that bad. I mean, it is quite unremarkable, that goes without saying. The whole movie is essentially a 70-minute episode of “The...
Read More »My Wife is a Gangster 2 (2003) Movie Review
It was inevitable that a sequel to the wildly popular “My Wife is a Gangster” would show up sooner or later. Two years after the original, the sequel has arrived, returning star Eun-Kyung Shin...
Read More »Sex is Zero (2002) Movie Review
It’s inevitable that filmmakers around the world would look at the phenomenon of the “American Pie” movies and think, “Eureka! I’ll remake it, only I’ll use gags from my own culture, that way I...
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Wonderful Days (aka Sky Blue, 2003) Movie Review
Visually startling, with a haunting soundtrack that hits you right in the soul, “Wonderful Days” nevertheless falters badly when it comes to story. Narratively speaking, the South Korean animation moves well, and there are...
Read More »Tube (2004) Movie Review
Two things about “Tube”: In the beginning, during a shootout at the airport, just ignore the fact that you never see anyone reload, even though there are enough bullets flying back and forth to...
Read More »Wild Card (2003) Movie Review
It behooves me not to take everything I see in movies at face value, but if police work in South Korea is anything remotely similar to what’s portrayed in their cop movies, then I’m...
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