Over-The-Top Style Ruins The Horror Aspect
My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.
I don’t like the horror genre, but I’ll watch it every once in a while.
Acting/Cast: Easily the best part of this drama – the cast and their acting is great. I especially liked the two older characters played by No Jae Won (노재원) and Jeon So Ni (전소니). No Jae Won’s character quickly became my favorite. This is a very emotionally intensive drama, and everyone excels at portraying those emotions. 9/10
Writing: Initially, the concept of the drama seemed kind of dumb, but the way it was written actually made it pretty interesting and entertaining. The backstory behind the curse made the story much more believable and emotional. Although I did really like all of the characters, unfortunately, I think they weren’t as developed as well as they could have been. For example, I didn’t quite understand the psychology and motives of Kang Ha Jun and Im Na Ri (Two of the friends in the main friend group). Also, I have to mention that there is no subtlety in this drama when it comes to evil ghosts and shaman powers. It is portrayed as being so obviously real, that it’s just idiotic for a character to not believe in it. Since the occult powers were so blatantly on display, it bothered me that characters were acting like it wasn’t real. I chalked that up to a writing issue. Instead of a character being annoyed when another character believes in it, they should be disgusted or ashamed of those practicing it, as it could easily be seen as partnering with demonic powers or something. Anyway, the story progresses very fast and goes from 0 to 100 right away. It definitely kept me from looking away, but it also ruined any opportunities for good suspense building. I’ll elaborate on this more in the next section. 6/10
Direction/SFX/Music: This drama is shot well with a high value of production. It’s just that the style is not really my cup of tea. It reminds me of Evil Dead without the comedic quality. The horror style is very over-the-top with a strong focus on blood in particular. They used so much fake blood in this drama it became ridiculous. The way some scenes were shot, too, made it not very scary—it was either just gross or it felt like they were trying too hard to make us squirm and therefore failed. Throat cutting is a common occurrence, as well, and so much so that it ceases to have any emotional impact for the viewer. Basically, this drama’s style of horror quickly desensitizes the viewer to it, which is definitely not what you want. 3.5/10
Entertainment Value: This drama held my attention pretty well because the characters were likable and the action starts right away. It was only when there was a change of pace to show the backstory of the curse that my attention began to waver. Also, trying too hard to creep the viewers out with all the fake blood and “eye gore” left me rolling my eyes. It got to the point where seeing blood triggered a response in me to mentally check out. But I got through it and wasn’t disappointed in the ending. Although they did set it up for a season 2, which I doubt I would watch. 6/10
Overall, I gave this drama a 6/10 (6 or higher is ‘would recommend’ on my scale). It’s fast paced, action filled, with an interesting concept and cast of characters. The horror style isn’t for me—a little more subtlety would have been nice.
I don’t like the horror genre, but I’ll watch it every once in a while.
Acting/Cast: Easily the best part of this drama – the cast and their acting is great. I especially liked the two older characters played by No Jae Won (노재원) and Jeon So Ni (전소니). No Jae Won’s character quickly became my favorite. This is a very emotionally intensive drama, and everyone excels at portraying those emotions. 9/10
Writing: Initially, the concept of the drama seemed kind of dumb, but the way it was written actually made it pretty interesting and entertaining. The backstory behind the curse made the story much more believable and emotional. Although I did really like all of the characters, unfortunately, I think they weren’t as developed as well as they could have been. For example, I didn’t quite understand the psychology and motives of Kang Ha Jun and Im Na Ri (Two of the friends in the main friend group). Also, I have to mention that there is no subtlety in this drama when it comes to evil ghosts and shaman powers. It is portrayed as being so obviously real, that it’s just idiotic for a character to not believe in it. Since the occult powers were so blatantly on display, it bothered me that characters were acting like it wasn’t real. I chalked that up to a writing issue. Instead of a character being annoyed when another character believes in it, they should be disgusted or ashamed of those practicing it, as it could easily be seen as partnering with demonic powers or something. Anyway, the story progresses very fast and goes from 0 to 100 right away. It definitely kept me from looking away, but it also ruined any opportunities for good suspense building. I’ll elaborate on this more in the next section. 6/10
Direction/SFX/Music: This drama is shot well with a high value of production. It’s just that the style is not really my cup of tea. It reminds me of Evil Dead without the comedic quality. The horror style is very over-the-top with a strong focus on blood in particular. They used so much fake blood in this drama it became ridiculous. The way some scenes were shot, too, made it not very scary—it was either just gross or it felt like they were trying too hard to make us squirm and therefore failed. Throat cutting is a common occurrence, as well, and so much so that it ceases to have any emotional impact for the viewer. Basically, this drama’s style of horror quickly desensitizes the viewer to it, which is definitely not what you want. 3.5/10
Entertainment Value: This drama held my attention pretty well because the characters were likable and the action starts right away. It was only when there was a change of pace to show the backstory of the curse that my attention began to waver. Also, trying too hard to creep the viewers out with all the fake blood and “eye gore” left me rolling my eyes. It got to the point where seeing blood triggered a response in me to mentally check out. But I got through it and wasn’t disappointed in the ending. Although they did set it up for a season 2, which I doubt I would watch. 6/10
Overall, I gave this drama a 6/10 (6 or higher is ‘would recommend’ on my scale). It’s fast paced, action filled, with an interesting concept and cast of characters. The horror style isn’t for me—a little more subtlety would have been nice.
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