Zo's Reviews: Metamorphosis

 



Holy crap...

Metamorphosis (original title Byeonshin) is a South Korean horror film directed by Kim Hong-Sun and is about a family that move to a new house and town after a tragedy befalls their uncle, a Catholic priest named Joong-Soo (played by Bae Sung-Woo) who participated in a failed exorcism. The family was bullied and forced to move. At their new home, however, strange incidents begin to happen and the Devil himself walks among them, disguising himself as members of the family, and attempts to tear them apart. The only thing the father of the family, Gang-Goo (played by Sung Dong-Il) can do, is turn to Joong-Soo to help him save his family. And...I mean...well...I don't want to spoil it, so you're gonna have to find out...

Some parts of this movie did bother me at times. I was treated to a spectacle of slow-burn style horror, which culminated in some of the most disturbing events and visuals I've ever seen from Korean cinema. I cannot describe just how messed up some of these things are, so just take my word for it. There are some things that sort of bothered me about the way some of the events happen and I felt sort of cheated. There were also some twists that I felt like were pretty obvious after the gimmick was shown to us the first time, but please...don't let that deter you from watching this movie because here's why...

It's genuinely scary. The effects were so well done, that this movie got under my skin and kept me awake at night. It was just really messed up, some of the things that were happening to the characters, and I think every actor gave it their all. The music and cinematography gave you this sense of doom throughout; you just knew something bad was about to happen, regardless of where the characters were or what they were doing. Some of the ways the actors portrayed themselves when they were under some kind of influence was just bizarre and unsettling and did the trick.

In terms of extreme Asian cinema, this horror film did exactly what it was meant to do...freak me the f*ck out. It has some really good genuine scares, some great effects, a cast that play their roles to perfection, and it showed us some new tricks that the Devil has up his sleeve. It's streaming now on Shudder exclusively, and I think everyone should go check it out.

Final Score: B

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Zo's Reviews: Antlers

Image
  Antlers was directed by Scott Cooper and is based on a short story written by Nick Antosca ( Channel Zero ). The film stars Keri Russell, Jesse Plemons, Jeremy T. Thomas, where, in an isolated Oregon town, a middle-school teacher (Russell) and her sheriff brother (Plemons) become embroiled with her enigmatic student (Thomas), whose dark secrets lead to terrifying encounters with a legendary ancestral creature who came before them. This movie has seen its fair share of delays due to the COVID crisis that has been plaguing our world, but with cinemas finally opening up to full capacity, I was extremely excited to see that this movie was going to see the light of day. I had seen the trailer I think back in 2018 or 2019, and it was slated for a 2020 release. But, alas, the world had other plans for us. Thankfully, it's out now, and we can all enjoy it for what it is; a thriller with an ancient creature from Native American folklore (one that I actually believe exists...for real). The...
Read more

Zo's Reviews: The Mimic (Jang-san-beom)

Image
  The Mimic is a horror mystery written and directed by South Korean filmmaker Jung Huh and stars Jung-ah Yum, Hyuk-kwon Park, Jin Heo, and is about a mother of a missing child who takes in a lost girl she finds in the woods, but soon begins to wonder if she is even human. I literally just finished watching this film, and even though I shouted it out on my Twitter feed, I just had to come here to write about it right away. I find myself loving Asian horror lately. Between this, Metamorphosis , and Impetigore , I'm finding that there are some very intriguing and intense films coming out of that region that really need to get more eyes on them. So, let's talk about The Mimic ... As per usual, I won't drop any spoilers, but I will talk about the technical aspects of the film, going over what I liked about it, what I didn't like about it, etc. So, what didn't I like? Well...the main character of the mom was pretty damn annoying. But I suppose if I were a mother dealing ...
Read more

Zo's Reviews: Come Play

Image
  Come Play was directed by Jacob Chase and stars John Gallagher Jr. as Marty, Gillian Jacobs as Sarah, a couple of parents with a special needs child named Oliver (played by Azhy Robertson). Oliver is a lonely young boy who feels different from everyone else. Desperate for a friend, he seeks solace and refuge in his ever-present cell phone and tablet. When a mysterious creature uses Oliver's devices against him to break into our world, Oliver's parents must fight to save their son from the monster beyond the screen. All this creature wants is a friend...a friend FOREVER (insert diabolical laughter here). So, what did I think about this movie? It was...I mean...it was there. Stuff happened. But I don't want to trash this movie outright because really, it's not that bad. Speaking of the bad...I didn't like Gillian Jacobs' character in this movie. Sarah was written decently enough, but the entire time I felt like the character was just looking for excuses to not d...
Read more