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HorrorMystery

The Wailing

- Never be tempted.

A stranger arrives in a little village and soon after a mysterious sickness starts spreading. A policeman is drawn into the incident and is forced to solve the mystery in order to save his daughter.

Release Date : 2016-05-12

Language :JapaneseKorean

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Fox International ProductionsIvanhoe PicturesSide Mirror

Production Country : South KoreaUnited States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Kwak Do-won

Character Name : Jong-goo

Original Name : 곽도원

Gender : Male

Hwang Jung-min

Character Name : Il-gwang

Original Name : 황정민

Gender : Male

Chun Woo-hee

Character Name : Moo-myeong

Original Name : 천우희

Gender : Female

Jun Kunimura

Character Name : The Stranger

Original Name : 國村隼

Gender : Male

Kim Hwan-hee

Character Name : Hyo-jin

Original Name : 김환희

Gender : Female

Heo Jin

Character Name : Mother-in-Law

Original Name : 허진

Gender : Female

Jang So-yeon

Character Name : Jong-goo's Wife

Original Name : 장소연

Gender : Female

Kim Do-yoon

Character Name : Yang Yi-sam

Original Name : 김도윤

Gender : Male

Jo Han-chul

Character Name : Detective

Original Name : 조한철

Gender : Male

Son Kang-gook

Character Name : Oh Sung-bok

Original Name : 손강국

Gender : Male

Park Seong-yeon

Character Name : Kwon Myung-joo

Original Name : 박성연

Gender : Female

Bae Yong-geun

Character Name : Police Officer

Original Name : 배용근

Gender : Male

Kim Ki-cheon

Character Name : Police Box Chief

Original Name : 김기천

Gender : Male

Yoo Soon-woong

Character Name : Police Station Chief

Original Name : 유순웅

Gender : Male

Lee Yong-nyeo

Character Name : Jak-boo's Mother

Original Name : 이용녀

Gender : Female

Hwang Seok-jeong

Character Name : Merchant

Original Name : 황석정

Gender : Female

Moon Chang-gil

Character Name : Doctor

Original Name : 문창길

Gender : Male

Lee Jung-eun

Character Name : Deok-gi's Wife

Original Name : 이정은

Gender : Female

Jeon Bae-soo

Character Name : Deok-gi

Original Name : 전배수

Gender : Male

Song Min-seok

Character Name : Paramedic

Original Name : 송민석

Gender : Male

Jo Yeon-hee

Character Name : Bar Woman

Original Name : 조연희

Gender : Female

Lee Sun-hee

Character Name : Byeong-gyoo's Wife

Original Name : 이선희

Gender : Female

Kim Chun-gi

Character Name : Oriental Doctor

Original Name : 김춘기

Gender : Male

Kim Ah-ra

Character Name : Dermatology Nurse

Original Name : Kim Ah-ra

Gender : Female

Reviews

R

Reno

@Rangan

2024-05-16

**A father's struggle to see his daughter to get well.** A new film from the writer, director of 'The Chaser' and 'The Yellow Sea'. This time its a horror-thriller that focused on a rural police officer who witnesses a series of strange events escalating fears among its people. The original title was 'Goksung', which means the name of the village where this story takes place. This film is specially for those who like Korean films. But I'm sure that everyone would enjoy it equally. Very typical Korean film yet an engaging theme and thrilling, particularly towards the final quarter. The opening, and almost the first act were like a black comedy. That does remain same after sometime. Because they wanted to give an impression what kind of person is this story's lead man. He's a cop, but feared of supernatural stuffs. So one day, he gets an early morning call to head where a family was slaughtered by one of its members. In his small village, with a small population, events like this are very rare, but when another similar incident was reported, ruled out what it was considered, but something else beyond humans. After the strange dreams, he comes to know his family too got affected by it, particularly his young daughter. Followed by when it gets serious issue, the family decides to bring in a shaman and so the ceremony begins to free her from whatever possessed. This is where the film turns more aggressive in revealing following event with twists and turns. The rest of the film should be watched to know how it all ends. The first thing was the film length. It was too long, nearly 150 minutes, but the screenplay filled with many enthralling scenes and dialogues. So I don't think sitting for that long would be an issue for most of the people. Surely you will be on your seat edge most of the time on your watch. Good story, but very confusing. I mean not puzzling way, but the events and its characters, especially the conclusion which is not exactly a perfect one with proper detail. So you might look for some clarifications after watching the film. > "If you go fishing, do you know what you'll catch? He's just fishing. Not even he knows what he'll catch." The concept was a little confusing like what kind of horror is this. At one stage there comes a zombie, but it follows right after an exorcism on a girl possessed by a ghost. The writer used the time as long as he wants to develop them. So the narration was slow, but very steady on its direction going deep. If you are good at Korean films, the style they make, you might predict some of the scenes correctly. Like I said the final few minutes might confuse you, but really well done part if you understand that clearly. The film characters wise, I liked how it all connected at the end. But as a story, the solution did not seem right. I think not the fitting one or more convincing. I know who would you root, I mean most of you back what character, so from that perspective, feels it compromised a bit after put up a stern fight with what they had believed. I liked how culturally this story was narrated. I mean as its set in a small village, the ceremonies to fight the evil spirit was conducted traditional way, not the western style, except it opened with a quote from the bible. The actors were perfect, particularly I liked where it was shot. A fine location to mix horror and cop themes. The suspense keeps the film alive, but you won't always looking at that, because the theme expands quite bigger than you expect. There are some unexpected turns, you might find yourself scratching your head for how deep it could go. Don't worry, in the end, it all comes together, or maybe watching it twice could help you with that. As I said the runtime might not favour you for the second viewing. Besides, pay a good attention while watching it for the first time, then you will get everything. Particularly if you are an animal lover, that's a biggest clue you could get in this film. I think it will be one of the best horror you would find around the world this year. It might get remade elsewhere, but the chances are less and it could remain as one of the Korean classics in the line of many others like 'Memories of Murder'. You don't have to be a Korean film fan or this director's, but if you do, surely you will have an advantage in understanding it clearly and like it more than the others. Definitely it is one of the best Korean films, but I don't think so a must see, not according to me. Though I won't conclude my review without recommending it to you. So I say watch it. _7.5/10_

K

Key-Si

@Key-Si

2021-06-23

Watching "The Wailing" is quite an undertaking. With a runtime of almost 3 hours this Korean Horror-Triller is a shear beast. Unfortunately I feel like pretty much more than half the runtime should have been cut. "The Wailing" circles around in a seemingly endless "who done it" or, to be more precise, "who is it" and even though the acting of our lead Do-won Kwak was not too bad, the dialogues bothered me constantly. I find myself repeating this for about every Asian movie and I assume it must be a cultural thing. I mostly find the talk so generic and pointless, that you could reduce some movies to 5-10 important lines and let them be quiet for the entire rest of the runtime. And this movie is no different. The best acting performance was delivered by Jun Kunimura, who not only presented a great play with mimic, but also refused to talk much (I bet he knew I would appreciate that). The cinematography was pretty good and I liked the realistic appearing gore effects. Not so much on the "possessed zombies" but therefore on the crime scenes and such. With that many pro's and con's "The Wailing" ends up somewhere in the middle and can therefore be labeled average.

K

Kai

@etherealtaekibum

2021-06-23

I don't often use the word masterpiece. I've seen 1,040 films in my life, totalling 1,549 hours of filmography. There's maybe 7 I would label a masterpiece with full usage and definition of the word. The Wailing is the eighth film of one thousand and forty films I very willingly, gladly and without hesitation give the title of Masterpiece to. I'm not too big of a fan of Asian supernatural horror. Whilst I very much enjoy it and give most films a pretty decent average rating, I find a lot of them bleed into one another with similar plots and a very safe view on the supernatural. In Japan it tends to be curses that have people die in mysterious ways, South Korea, a cursed object that has people murder each other are the most common ones I come across. When I clicked The Wailing was supernatural, I prepared myself for a 6 or maybe 7 out of 10 movie that was good but wouldn't hold its own too well in the vast expanse of horror. The Wailing gave me some stunning frames. The cinematography in this is beautiful. The gore frames are gruesome, unadulterated and unapologetic. The ritualism and belief of South Korea are shown in their full glory without fear. Na Hong Jin doesn't shy away from racial tension between the Japanese and South Koreans with a slightly historical take with a beautiful twisting story that left me with my mouth gaping open but still feeling just slightly uncomfortable - something I believe Hong Jin did on purpose. I was shown acting that was so well done, no matter what I watch these actors in from now on, I will always know them from The Wailing. The varying supernatural aspects were unique, something that stunned me, unafraid to step out of genre restrictions and lead the way with something new. With a story line that is intriguing, stunning and just raw, this two and a half hour journey was worth watching. This is a film deserving of the hype that numerous other Asian horrors got but turned out to be predictable messed. THIS is the Korean horror of 2016, the one that should have lead the forefront of South Korean, or even Asian, horror into 2017. This is a film that shows prowess, promise and skill. Hong Jin treats us to such wonderful skills from not just himself but his script writer, his cast, his editing team, his make up team, etc, everyone involved. You can feel the passion and love and pure dedication that went into this movie. A full 10/10 is just not enough for this film. A twisting, numbing, horrifying masterpiece.