Maccabeus

Competently made film, but it completely missed the point of Jin-Roh with that ending.

I don't want to sound elitist or anything, I have no problem with people liking what they like, but sometimes it's just funny how folks heap praises at generic show №10000 and then criticise something like Seven Samurai or this.

This season was mid. The entire cast had a case of sudden dumbness. Gi Hun forgot everything he went through in the first season and just trusted the first stranger he met in the game (with a number 001 no less)? The organisation he tries to fight is borderline omniscient but he thinks a couple of mercs and a gps tracker in a tooth are going to bring them down? Jun Ho didn't get suspicious of the guy who "coincidentally" saves him close to an island no one can find? It was such a poorly written and contrived season of television. And don't get me started on that wet fart of a "cliffhanger", the art of making season finales want you to get more immediately after the season is finished is seemingly lost.

I can't say that everything was bad, it still has plenty of thrills to offer, but it's a significant downgrade compared to season 1

I wouldn't call it a jumpscare, but there's a certain scene with the nurse that some people might find scary. Other than that it mostly builds an eerie atmosphere, the show isn't exactly a horror after all

Song Kang Ho is great, as usual, but the whole ordeal is rather workmanlike. There's a certain category of films produced every year with a sole purpose of grabbing as many awards as possible, sometimes it gets called an "Oscar-bait" (think of films like Spotlight, The Post or infamous Crash), and A Taxi Driver feels like one of those. A solid piece of filmmaking that knows how to use all of the available tools, but doesn't achieve a true greatness.

It's super funny to see some of the of most celebrated and influential films in history have lower scores than run of the mill tv schlock no one will remember in a couple of weeks.

The military is a part of repressive state apparatus. Its function doesn't end on securing borders and going to war with other countries, it also includes "defending" the country from the "enemies within". Curbing protests by using violent means is relatively common even in the West, let alone authoritarian states like South Korea at the time the film takes place in.

This is a pitch perfect police procedural. Very low key film compared to the rest of Kurosawa's filmography, but in some ways it aged better than his more signature works.

There's a lot of inventive action sequences here, but the whole thing is overproduced as hell. Camera never stops, it's always in constant motion even then the scene doesn't justify it. It seems like the director learned all the wrong lessons from the success of The Villainess and decided to turn his entire next project into the opening sequence of that movie which in return trivialised what made it special in a first place.

It's probably the best found footage horror flick outside of original Blair Witch. Just a perfect mix of mystery, supernatural and rare, but pretty good scares. Some of the vfx is not great (understandable considering minuscule budget) but the atmosphere makes up for it.

I thought it was better than Svaha tbh. It sure wears its anti-japanese sentiment on its sleeve (which isn't surprising given the history between the countries) and I wasn't a fan of some more overt nationalist undertones (too much "make Korea great again" for my liking) but imo it was better directed, more intense and simply allowed itself to be weirder.

It has the same problem as the other recent horror stuff from Yeong Sang Ho, it's largely boring. There's just not enough meat on the bones to make the story intriguing or strong enough characters to carry the show. Atmosphere, as always, is great tho.

An okay entry in the found footage horror genre. The genre has been beaten to death since the release of original Blair Witch and arguably peaked with little Japanese movie called Noroi. Incantation, however, does keep things fresh thanks to its folk horror roots (not many people are familiar with Taiwanese cults) and general creepiness, although it still provides it scares through tried and true tactic of jump scares.

6/10

Incredibly shot series with a lot of great acting and a so-so script. An easy recommendation for the fans of action, zombies and period drama.

CW-esque supernatural horror. Outrageously pretty people everywhere, decentish production values and an ok atmosphere. Not scary at all, but it’s a fine show to spend an evening with.

Uneven. First couple of episodes where creators really tried to make it seem like an honest horror show weren’t great to say the least. Fragmented story that was jumping from one pov to another at the drop of a hat didn’t help to make it more compelling at all. Once it switched gears towards being more of a supernatural drama the show’s quality improved a lot.

Overall, I’d say it’s a solid 7/10.