Doo gae-eui dal (2012) Reviews

• Unusual and well-crafted ghost story. Worth watching for fans of the genre.

  Christine_Plymouth_Fury19582013-08-12

  Two Moons starts out with Seok Ho (Kim Ji Seok), an unemployed graduate, waking up in a dark room. Soon after, he discovers schoolgirl, Jeong (Park Jin Joo), and horror/mystery writer, So Hee (Park Han Byul), with him. They find out that they're in a shed and nobody has a recollection of how they got there. Going outside, they see a house where they went in hoping to find answers. Instead, all they got were more questions and something more. Looking at the first part of the film, I was not expecting much, especially in terms of originality. But like a couple of Korean horror movies have done before, they left me pleasantly surprised. The movie is like one big puzzle piece where clues are given to you in tidbits throughout. This is not the usual cliché-ridden vengeful ghost story, and the pace, although a bit slow, still has enough bite to keep you interested until the end. There are a few suspenseful moments that helped build up its creepiness factor, and the overall feel was well done, so that when the climax came, you're happy to still be alive. This film would not sit on the throne of any memorable horror film list, but it will probably manage to latch on to the tail end of it, nevertheless. In summary, this is a slow-moving yet well-crafted ghost story with little bloodshed. It makes you think about what will happen next without leaving you too confused. Not recommended for those who likes some action with buckets of blood, but this is something not to be missed for fans of ghost movies.

• A "locked room" mystery with a new twist.

  WisdomsHammer2018-05-23

  This is one of those movies where we witness a small group of people who wake up in a locked room with no memory of how they got there, then watch as they try to figure out a way out and what exactly is going on. In this case, a man, a high school girl, and a woman wake up in a dark shed. They find that they are not locked in, and that there is a house nearby, but that they are surrounded by deep woods in the dark of night with no easy means of escape. To me, this was really a noir mystery movie that is set and surrounded with overtones of horror. I liked that mixture. The story moves at a steady but slow pace, giving the characters and the audience plenty of clues and plenty of red herrings as it progresses. I found myself alternately interested and confused, with brief stretches of boredom as I waited for the movie to "get on with it already." The movie's pace picks up towards the end with what was, to me, an unusual and original take on this kind of story. Unfortunately, I was left with an ending that was only partially explained. I found myself thinking, "Oh! Okay. But wait, what??" For whatever reason, I stuck around through the credits, even though I don't know Korean, and I was pleasantly surprised by a voice added over the credits of an imaginary fellow audience member asking one of the very questions I had! The response gave me a little more satisfaction, which is probably why it was there. I found it kind of hilarious to think that it was probably added because too many people, like me, were confused by the ending I found this movie to be "just okay." It was entertaining enough and is worth watching once. To me, exemplary movies of this kind should leave you more shocked at the reveal, wanting to watch it over again to see all the things you missed now that you know what the real story is. This movie is not something I'm at all interested in seeing again.