Last year, South Korea released a suspense thriller that became the year's surprise hit, "The Chaser." The film was not only popular at the box office but also critically acclaimed, won seven awards at the Korean Film Awards 2008, and had concluded agreements with Hollywood's major studio, Warner Bros. for a remake copyright. The idea to the thriller film is actually inspired by a true story of serial killing, a topic that’s quite common in Korean films recently like in "Our Town," "Seven Days", "Rainbow Eyes", "Black House", etc), and then it was made into a film noir with a serious message, but is entertaining despite being ridden with social criticism from beginning to end. How about this year, is there any South Korean thriller which can equal “The Chaser” which came as a pleasant surprise and garnered almost unanimous praise due to the movie's heart-pumping pace and air-tight storytelling? The expectation is come from “Missing” aka “Sil Jong” (literal translation “Disappeared”), and like the previous title it’s also based on a true story. The film is based on a media shocker about a 70 year old South Korean fisherman who killed four women between August & September, 2007 in Bosung, South Jeolla Province, South Korea. Getting fictionalized for the movie, in basic, the storyline of this big screen adaptation is that a girl comes to a small countryside town in a coincidence and meets a 60-year-old man at a restaurant. She is kidnapped and bondage in fear and horror. Now, "The Missing" is become available on home video shelf with its First Press Edition Korean Version DVD, you can purchase it via YesAsia.
Plot: Hyeon-jeong's sister is missing and she fears for the worst. Via her sister's cellphone, Hyeon-jeong learns that her sister stayed in a countryside vaillage. She goes to the village to find her sister and stops at the local police station for help. Because of the little evidence she has, the police refuse to offer help. Hyeong-jeong then finds a witness who thinks she saw her missing sister near the home of an elderly man Pan-kon. When Hyeong-jeong eventually arrives at the elderly man's home, her worst nightmares are to begin.
“The Missing” is helmed by Sung-Hong Kim, the man behind the hard gore thriller “Say Yes” (2001) which bares some similar plot points with 1986's “The Hitcher” but is not a re-make. The film was more of a revision of Robert Harmon's classic film and more reminiscent of the old HK thrillers with exploitational violence and disturbing twist and turn. Other than that, the director has long history of making thrillers, his works also including the nerve-wracking “Black Hole” (1997) and “Deep Scratch” (1994), as well as the comic/horror “The Opening” (1999). After several years, now he’s back with “The Missing.” Mainstay of 90s Korean cinema, actor Moon Seong-geun (Road to the Racetrack, Green Fish), grabs top billing actor in this film. Also appearing are Chu Ja-hyeon (Portrait of Beauty, Bloody Tie) and Jeon Se-hong (Temptation of Eve).
PURCHASE THE DVD AT YESASIA
Plot: Hyeon-jeong's sister is missing and she fears for the worst. Via her sister's cellphone, Hyeon-jeong learns that her sister stayed in a countryside vaillage. She goes to the village to find her sister and stops at the local police station for help. Because of the little evidence she has, the police refuse to offer help. Hyeong-jeong then finds a witness who thinks she saw her missing sister near the home of an elderly man Pan-kon. When Hyeong-jeong eventually arrives at the elderly man's home, her worst nightmares are to begin.
“The Missing” is helmed by Sung-Hong Kim, the man behind the hard gore thriller “Say Yes” (2001) which bares some similar plot points with 1986's “The Hitcher” but is not a re-make. The film was more of a revision of Robert Harmon's classic film and more reminiscent of the old HK thrillers with exploitational violence and disturbing twist and turn. Other than that, the director has long history of making thrillers, his works also including the nerve-wracking “Black Hole” (1997) and “Deep Scratch” (1994), as well as the comic/horror “The Opening” (1999). After several years, now he’s back with “The Missing.” Mainstay of 90s Korean cinema, actor Moon Seong-geun (Road to the Racetrack, Green Fish), grabs top billing actor in this film. Also appearing are Chu Ja-hyeon (Portrait of Beauty, Bloody Tie) and Jeon Se-hong (Temptation of Eve).
PURCHASE THE DVD AT YESASIA
0 Comments: