Filmbrain on Spider Forest
Submitted by jim on Mon, 09/12/2005 - 11:27
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Filmbrain's review of the Korean movie Spider Forest has me wishing it was Netflixable:
Take the case of Song Il-gon's Spider Forest — a psychological horror film that also happens to be tremendously moving. It's a mix you rarely find (or that rarely succeeds), and as Filmbrain watched it for the second time he couldn't help but imagine a Hollywood studio executive going apoplectic as he hears of a film that begins and ends with a gruesome bloodbath that also makes you cry.
He also gets in a dig at M. Night Shyamalan, which I know will make some folks happy.
Spider Forest may not be Netflixable, but it is Nicheflixable. That's how I saw it. I've also seen cheap copies on Ebay. Another SK psychological horror flick you might wanna check out is A Tale of Two Sisters.
I did manage to catch A Tale of Two Sisters, and I liked it quite a bit. In any case, good recommendation!
See it when you're well-rested. He ain't kidding about the "slow and deliberate pace." Maybe I didn't "get it", but I thought it was overly long and repetitive.
That's good to know, thanks! As much as I enjoy Filmbrain's reviews, I don't always find that our tastes are aligned, particularly where pacing is concerned.
I liked Spider Forest, though perhaps not as much as Filmbrain. It only ranks #46 on my 50 Best S. Korean Films list. It's fairly similar to some other films that have come out in the past couple years. In fact, I would call it the Korean Machinist.
Normally I don't, but I couldn't resist checking out your spoiler. Fortunately, I haven't seen that one yet either. :-)
I'm curious: roughly how many South Korean movies have you seen? I'm just trying to get a sense for how big the field was you picked from.
Also, have you seen Save the Green Planet? I just watched it last night and was quite impressed.
I've probably seen a little over a 100 Korean movies. It feels like I've seen more due to all the hours I've spent watching them though (time well spent, I think).
I've been meaning to see Save the Green Planet. I've heard good (and some bad) things about it. I'll get around to watching it some time; sadly, I don't have the free time that I used to. :\