Turn Back Now ⛔ Or Suffer The Consequences °5.5° °AVG°
Hellbound is a dragged-about-through-the-muck, lackluster attempt at horror. While it is, at times, gory (a little too gory, really) it especially drags between the scenes in which poor souls are dragged about by those oversized, grey gorillas. None of what happens has any meaning. Whether that's classified as existential or nihilistic, either way it's always bleak in an unfulfilling way.
My family bought into the reviews claiming the naysayers don't know what they're talking about. But alas, the naysayers got it right. Korea does put out more consistently good quality entertainment than Hollywood, but they spit out duds as well. Nobody can escape it entirely. HB is watchable, but our opinion is that it's not worth the time nor the effort. This is not Squid Game-8.4, in which there's shocking violence, with some blood and the like, but no gross-out gore. Squid Game, furthermore, has no gratuitous violence: It all reinforces the horror that society creates when it's "Every man for himself." Kingdom-8.3 is another horror offering out of Korea that's done exceptionally well, with nothing feeling out of place.
I'm a fan of writer Yeon Sang-Ho’. He brought us Train to Busan-7.8, Psychokinesis, and the truly excellent The Cursed-8.3, which generated a follow up film, The Cursed: Dead Man's Prey, and there's been talk of a S2. HB's S2 was announced. Just Because I haven't rated all his works at 8 and above doesn't mean I can't see what he's going for. He's an excellent talent working what is probably the most difficult genre. I will watch anything of his.
HB, my least favorite of Yeon's by far, seems to have nothing in place. The plot twists don't pack enough of a wallop. The plot pivot at the halfway mark is strange, with neither half of the show being wrapped up completely. There are some likable characters, but they drift away rather than find any permanent resting place.
HB's worst sin is that it's boring. It did not hold the interest of anybody in my family, and we're Kdrama fans. We stuck with it, as that's our habit, and we also kept hoping something would pull it all together. Abandon hope. Nothing gets pulled together. It could actually be by design, in order to underscore a nihilist theme. By allowing that there is design to HB is as generous as I can be. It's entirely possible that there's none. It's difficult to tell.
Having said all the above, HB is still superior to most of Hollywood's horror offerings which depress the IQ and heighten sadistic indifference in the viewer. HB absolutely will not do that: Your IQ is safe from being dragged down by it, and your sense of empathy will not be preyed upon by it. HB has some truly good elements that were left unreconciled in a string of missed opportunities. That's what fans of the show have likely connected with.
If blood & guts is your jam, HB is gory. In fact, it's uncomfortably so. There's only a half dozen or so such scenes, however, none of the deaths are quick, and all of them are tortuous. As a piece of horror, HB's around a 7/10, but in entertainment value alone, it's in the neighborhood of 5.5 - 5.9, and definitely under a 6. My son was emphatic about that. Unfortunately for HB, after being starved of quality🇺🇲entertainment for too long, Kdramas have shocked our systems with quality overload. Now our standards have shot up heavenward.
We are new enough to K-entertainment that we haven't seen many horror pieces. As previously mentioned, Kingdom and Squid Game are far superior to HB. Tunnel-8.1 is a cop show involving a serial killer, so it isn't far from horror, and Tunnel is excellent. Black-9 is another police/fantasy drama that is quite close to horror, both depicted onscreen, but even more so, it creates horror in the mind (I refer to it as a bit-of-a-mindr@pe). Black is a profound work with no wasted dialogue: Almost every line connects to another element in the show, building a complex work of art. If you aren't sure what to watch next, those should not disappoint.
HB is a big letdown - pun intended. Repent, turn back, and save yourself from the mediocre forces that will definitely drag your evening down, if you give in to them.
Quote🗣
It seems that none of us have the right to make decisions for ourselves.
〰🖍IMHO
🎬7 🤔5 ⚡8 🎭7
Suggested Age 16+
Re📺? I won't rule it out. Maybe I missed something. I like the direction of the 2nd half, so I will probably check out S2.
Originally ✏️🗒 12/2o21
My family bought into the reviews claiming the naysayers don't know what they're talking about. But alas, the naysayers got it right. Korea does put out more consistently good quality entertainment than Hollywood, but they spit out duds as well. Nobody can escape it entirely. HB is watchable, but our opinion is that it's not worth the time nor the effort. This is not Squid Game-8.4, in which there's shocking violence, with some blood and the like, but no gross-out gore. Squid Game, furthermore, has no gratuitous violence: It all reinforces the horror that society creates when it's "Every man for himself." Kingdom-8.3 is another horror offering out of Korea that's done exceptionally well, with nothing feeling out of place.
I'm a fan of writer Yeon Sang-Ho’. He brought us Train to Busan-7.8, Psychokinesis, and the truly excellent The Cursed-8.3, which generated a follow up film, The Cursed: Dead Man's Prey, and there's been talk of a S2. HB's S2 was announced. Just Because I haven't rated all his works at 8 and above doesn't mean I can't see what he's going for. He's an excellent talent working what is probably the most difficult genre. I will watch anything of his.
HB, my least favorite of Yeon's by far, seems to have nothing in place. The plot twists don't pack enough of a wallop. The plot pivot at the halfway mark is strange, with neither half of the show being wrapped up completely. There are some likable characters, but they drift away rather than find any permanent resting place.
HB's worst sin is that it's boring. It did not hold the interest of anybody in my family, and we're Kdrama fans. We stuck with it, as that's our habit, and we also kept hoping something would pull it all together. Abandon hope. Nothing gets pulled together. It could actually be by design, in order to underscore a nihilist theme. By allowing that there is design to HB is as generous as I can be. It's entirely possible that there's none. It's difficult to tell.
Having said all the above, HB is still superior to most of Hollywood's horror offerings which depress the IQ and heighten sadistic indifference in the viewer. HB absolutely will not do that: Your IQ is safe from being dragged down by it, and your sense of empathy will not be preyed upon by it. HB has some truly good elements that were left unreconciled in a string of missed opportunities. That's what fans of the show have likely connected with.
If blood & guts is your jam, HB is gory. In fact, it's uncomfortably so. There's only a half dozen or so such scenes, however, none of the deaths are quick, and all of them are tortuous. As a piece of horror, HB's around a 7/10, but in entertainment value alone, it's in the neighborhood of 5.5 - 5.9, and definitely under a 6. My son was emphatic about that. Unfortunately for HB, after being starved of quality🇺🇲entertainment for too long, Kdramas have shocked our systems with quality overload. Now our standards have shot up heavenward.
We are new enough to K-entertainment that we haven't seen many horror pieces. As previously mentioned, Kingdom and Squid Game are far superior to HB. Tunnel-8.1 is a cop show involving a serial killer, so it isn't far from horror, and Tunnel is excellent. Black-9 is another police/fantasy drama that is quite close to horror, both depicted onscreen, but even more so, it creates horror in the mind (I refer to it as a bit-of-a-mindr@pe). Black is a profound work with no wasted dialogue: Almost every line connects to another element in the show, building a complex work of art. If you aren't sure what to watch next, those should not disappoint.
HB is a big letdown - pun intended. Repent, turn back, and save yourself from the mediocre forces that will definitely drag your evening down, if you give in to them.
Quote🗣
It seems that none of us have the right to make decisions for ourselves.
〰🖍IMHO
🎬7 🤔5 ⚡8 🎭7
Suggested Age 16+
Re📺? I won't rule it out. Maybe I missed something. I like the direction of the 2nd half, so I will probably check out S2.
Originally ✏️🗒 12/2o21
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