A keep you on the edge of your seat psychological thriller.
The drama's premise itself is very interesting. Immediately hooks the viewer and you invest in the not so likeable, suspicious main character because he is the only one you can really root for.The cast is incredible, a wide range of actors who all manage to get under your skin with their performances.
The soundtrack is engaging. The cinematography keeps you on the edge the entire time. Its an anxious, get your blood pumping kind of watch.
Overall its deeply unsettling and and delivers on the horror aspect without any cliche tropes.
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This review may contain spoilers
Horror is not just about ghosts but humans can be horrifying too when they do atrocious things
Typically horror series focus on ghosts, demons or other supernatural being. Humans can be horrifying too when they do atrocious things.What I liked:
1) Acting - Standout performances by Im Siwan, Lee Dong Wook and Lee Jung Eun. LDW is the reason I watched this series. Damn he was horrifying = he was great in this role. This is my first time watching Im Siwan's drama and I quite enjoyed his performance.
2) Pacing - I like the 10 episode format. Series would be draggy if it was stretched to 16 episodes and I don't think viewers could cope with any more torturous scenes.
3) Mindf**** - It's not just physical harm, but as a viewer I also could feel the pyschological pain & twists faced by Jong Woo. I felt really bad for him when he was at wits end and could not get out of the hostel situation.
4) Torture - This drama is not for the faint-hearted. Some scenes show physical harm, which can lead to stress/discomfort.
5) Music - The Rose is one of my favourite Korean groups. I was pleasantly surprised to hear their song in this series. Woosung's voice is hauntingly beautiful for this song. The Vane's song is also good. Good that the soundtrack is geared towards rock!
What I disliked:
1) Supporting characters - They were predictably dispensable. Wish the residents were given more screen time so viewers could relate and feel something when they died.
Favourite scene:
When Jong Woo and Moon Jo had the conversation on the rooftop. No violence but the dialogue gave me chills.
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This review may contain spoilers
SI WAN so yes.
I love like any show where si wan it in, almost.But this show was very interesting and keeps the audience on their toes. I'd say i really liked it and i would rec. to a friend, def.
I would say however, that it was very grusome, and i could not imagine having to film that shit, but overall, it was pretty good, yes some room for improvemnt, but good.
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Please watch this quite a good physological genre drama
LIKEWhen Bok Soon offered Jong Woo her marinated "X" - lol dying
I loved it how Jong Woo changed from a normal person to someone who was different after staying at Eden Motel - his encounter with his room mates whether weird or okay just turned out...bbbb
DISLIKE
It's good no complaint
MUSIC
Not to my liking
REWATCH VALUE
Re-watch top-tier list entertaining
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This review may contain spoilers
This is very well written. Every time you think you have something figured out it throws you for a loop but not in a "whhooooaah plot twist" way but in a "oh! I should have seen that coming because they hinted at it ealier! Thats so smart!" kind of way. The characters are interesting and the actors do a great job, especially the main villain . This show really does the unreliable narrator trope justice by having you root for the maim lead all through it, only to leave you wondering if it is a good thing he survived at all. Was this review helpful to you?
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Gruesome
From start to finish, the show was incredibly well pieced together. The main setting at them goshiwon really captured the creepy feeling of someone watching you at every moment. From Lee Dongwook creepily staring through a small hole in the wall to the camera panning over / through walls, you felt like another person peeping into hell. At certain points you pitied the characters, regardless of their "morals" (which it seemed every character was twisted). Some parts of the show are confusing leaving me with unanswered questions, but doesn't that just add to the suspense? The last episode is a long and bumpy ride leaving me wide-eyed and honestly begging for a season 2!Overall, it's a binge-worthy show that will leave you feeling all sorts of different emotions. Dramas like this are a big harder to come by specifically because of how swift-paced the show is. No long and boring introduction to the plot, no gaps between conflict, and nothing unnecessary to the plot. Even the soundtrack was very good!
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disappointed
Well, the drama is very slow pace and it gets quite boring. It has high rating so I was expecting much more from it but I was disappointed. It only has 10 episodes but it felt like never ending story.The only thing I liked is the acting and OST. Its shame as the story was good if they just executed in better way.
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Very underwhelming and boring
First of all let me say Si Wan was the only reason this show was kind of entertaining. If he wasn't here this would've been a DRAG. I truly don't understand why y'all gave this show its flowers when it was in fact not deserved in the slightest. This was only 10 episodes long (I thought it was at least 16 episodes) but somehow went by so slow. 9/10 of the show was very repetitive for literally no reason and just wasn't needed? Like what's the point of being secretive about what's going on when we know damn well?? Like just get to the point please. The last episode is when things finally get going but by then it's way too late. The last couple of scenes were good though. The show wants to be creepy so bad but it only works in the first episode because of its subtleness. After that it just gets tiring. There was just no story here. The actors did the best they could with what they were given which wasn't much. Definitely wouldn't rewatch.Was this review helpful to you?
Not that amazing.
I am torn, the story begins as the synopsis indicates and that a young man - Yoon Jong‑woo - will live in a residence where his neighbors are more than suspicious.The problem is that there are only 10 episodes, and they could have made more use of them.
We practically have to wait for episode 3 to have a first interaction between our two protagonists, and it is neither memorable nor long. The build-up is slow, not much happens except the fact that we know from episode 1 what kind of people are his neighbors, it's a shame that it's not a surprise or a revelation for later, it would have been nice for the audience to wonder who is who.
So basically, until episode 7, the plot is slow - which is not a problem in other series - but here the interactions between our two characters are rare, there are no surprises and major revelations. Seems more like it's the build-up to why Yoon Jong‑woo freaks out and gets violent.
I agree with a review that says the show is all about insanity. The story isn't that amazing and it's really focused on our main protagonist going from normal young man to giving a free ride to his violence, the series has build-up only that.
I would have liked more, more between our characters who have a certain chemistry, that we understand more the motives of these characters since they are not mysterious.
All we have are two twins who giggle and are murderous, an equally murderous perv, the manager who seems just as crazy, and Seo Moon‑jo the creepy dentist. It feels more like these characters are here for the grand finale and when people will inevitably have to die.
I would say otherwise that the atmosphere and the tones of the series are well created, it's more or less scary, dark and horrifying. The overall production is good - but there are plot holes - and the actors, all without exception, fit into their roles perfectly, but none of the characters marked me personally.
Like I said already, the two protagonists interact very little, and suddenly Seo Moon‑jo decides that Yoon Jong‑woo is very special to him, without there being a tangible relationship between the two, except Seo Moon‑jo being creepy since the beginning and stalking Yoon Jong‑woo.
It's really the relationship that pops up, out of the blue, which is why I wish I had more episodes or else had them interact earlier so it doesn't seem so sudden.
The very end - the last ten minutes - is really the exciting part of the show, that ending is open ended, our character is inevitably changed, and there's a last minute twist, which leaves us with a possibility for a season 2 - even if I doubt it - and the return of a character.
But it's a nice crime series overall, it's not the scariest of the lot, nor the best scripted, but it's nice for those who like the genre, not a lot of mysteries though, it's more into the impact of scenes that are made to be scary and made us feel for Yoon Jong‑woo, but hey without suspense, it's hard to keep an interest.
The characters play their roles well even if I would have hoped for more, even coming from our two protagonists whose performance is good but nothing more.
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Too slow paced and boring
I dont even know where to start. So this ML got discharged from the military due to physical violance, and he moved to Seoul to work as an intern with a school friend, who at one point was trying to steal his girlfriend. This broke ML ended up boarding up in a room at a shady looking boarding apartment. His girlfriend isnt much of a personality too, too selfish to even listen to her boyfriend’s worry about his less than ideal mysterious accomodation.The pacing of this series is sooooooo daaaaaaang slow that I took 2 days to finish 1 episode (the fastest) and 3-4 in my lazy days. So yeah the suspense is there, but dang boy cant they make the pace any faster? It takes forever to get over to the next scene. And the ML keep getting gaslighted by people around him when he expressed his suspicion on the shady people living in that boarding house. Just when he was about to discover something dark, bammmm it got covered up. It’s infuriating. So am definitely dropping this. Nothing personal on the actors, everyone did a great job. It’s just the writing that pissed me off. So bye bye - remove from watchlist and continue watching!
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Amazing plot, great actors, awesome soundtracks and a rewatch value of 100%
So this is actually the first time i am writing a review but after watching this drama i just haad to write a review and praise this it. That being said, lets jump straight into the review. The plot of the drama was very well stocked, it started out pretty normally and slow so that you can get into the story step by step and then it adds to the intensity episode by episode. Every and i am saying every character was amazingly acted out by the wonderful actors/actresses and i want to praise one the most, which was the mentally disabled twins. That actor played his character so well i couldn't believe how he can keep up his role that well all the time. The scenery was greatly shot and i loved every moment of it. As soon as he entered the "Eden" Studio, that atmosphere of real creepiness instantly kicked in. The soundtracks backed up everything that was going on in the drama, they were just really filling that plot with creepiness. ONE THING and only this one thing that i missed in this drama was the background stories of every character living there, like i would have liked to know a bit more about them. I mean they tell how it got to that point and stuff but yeah more developed background stories would have been great. But maybe its more developed in the webtoon so yeah. All in all it's rewatchable and i will rewatch it for all the details i missed at the beginning of the drama when i didn't really know where it was going yet. So great work, hope to see more dramas like this!Was this review helpful to you?
Unsettling in all the right ways
This drama seriously messed with my head in the best way. Strangers from Hell is one of the most unsettling things I’ve watched, and I loved every second of it. It’s not horror in the typical jump-scare way—it’s slow, creepy, psychological horror that builds up little by little until you’re completely hooked.The acting is insane. Everyone nailed their roles, especially the more mysterious characters who always keep you guessing. The vibe of the whole show is dark and claustrophobic, and the way it’s filmed and scored makes everything feel just off enough to keep you on edge.
I also really liked that it didn’t rely on gore or action to keep things interesting. The tension comes from the characters and the atmosphere, and honestly, that made it so much more effective. It’s the kind of show where you’ll be thinking about the little details days after finishing it.
If you’re into psychological thrillers with a dark, eerie tone—and you don’t mind things getting a little weird—this one’s 100% worth watching. Easily a 10/10 for me.
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