20131023: Horror Review--Bedevilled

Bedevilled (Kim Bok-Nam Salinsageonui Jeonmal)

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. South Korean live action feature length film, 2010, NR, 116 minutes, horror, drama, crime, aspect 2.35.
2. IMDB: 7.1/10.0 from 5,302 users.  Spoken word in Korean, subtitles in English. Estimated budget: $700,000
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 'No Score Yet,' and 82% of 410 audience ratings liked it.
4. Netflix: 3.6/5.0 from 53,266 users.
5. Directed by: Cheol-su Jang.
6. Starring: Yeong-hie Seo as Kim Bok-nam, Sung-won Ji as Hae-won, Min-ho Wang as Dodger, Je-eun Lee as Kim Yeon-hee.


2. Setup and Plot
1. Self-involved bank officer Hae-won (makes decisions about loans) witnessed an attempted rape, and does not want to identify the perpetrators for the police to support the victim's case.


2. She gets people irritated with her at work, and her boss decides she should take a vacation.  She goes to Moo-do Island, which is currently rather sparsely populated, where her old friend Bok-nam lives and also where she grew up.


3. Oi, what a primitive island.  Bok-nam's husband is a real control freak, and imports a prostitute from the mainland.  He seduces Bok-nam's daughter, who is putatively his.


4. Hae-won gets fired by e-mail.  Nice touch.  She's about to go home when Bok-nam tells her about the daughter.  The matriarch of the island invites her directly to leave, or stay forever.


5. Bok-nam tries to escape to Seoul with her daughter, early in the morning, before Hae-won wakes up. The husband beats her up instead, badly, and kills the daughter.  Explaining this to the police officer who visited was amazing in the depth of the lying.  The locals encourage the policeman to leave before Hae-won can go with him.  He does.


6. What could possibly go wrong at this point?  That is basically the heart of the movie.  Will Hae-won survive with these terrible people, who used to be her people?  If so, what will she do when she gets back?


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: Island woman returns home from Seoul to visit a friend; terror ensues.
2. Three stars of five.


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 10/10 No problems.


2. Sound: 10/10 Just fine.


3. Acting: 5/10 Yeong-hie Seo and Sung-won Ji were just terrible.  The fellow who played the violent husband was even worse.  The supporting players were OK.


4. Screenplay: 5/10 Should have been a 30 or 40 minute short, part of an anthology.  Stretched way too long.