Tense, Smart, and Frightening
Muoi is a rarity. It is a smart horror flick.
While I can complain a tiny bit up front that I would have liked to see them spend a bit more on special effects with the ghost's big reveal, the story line, character development, and overall tenseness is right on target.
It follows the story of a young Korean girl who goes to Thailand to visit a one time friend and research a ghost story. Things already seem a bit off kilter in the opening scene, but you put it aside, leaving it niggling about in your head as the main character goes onwards. As the plot unfolds, these niggling doubts start multiplying and you are torn as more and more information is given to you. At the end, the movie earns its horror title in spades as you are horrified on multiple levels. When the last scenes play, the movie bows out with a elegant twist that makes you both smile and cringe.
It is subtitled, but unlike other movies it gives you time to both read the captions as keep an...
It had potential
I think this movie had great potential, but it got too bogged down in attempting to have the viewer guess at everything. The problem, at least for me, is that I guessed it all so early on. There was no real build-up for me be because I knew where it was headed and by who. There was little for me to wonder about and puzzle together. Now, if someone has not seen similar movies before, then likely they would find it quite entertaining and a good mystery.
The story of Muoi and her curse is very good, touching, and frightening in itself, but this film did not make full use of that, in my opinion. I felt that the film-makers wanted to blend the past and the present and the people of the past and the present all together with the curse, but I was unable to care about any of the characters, especially in the present.
I love films that have subtle touches, and "Muoi" has those in abundance. It was pretty well filmed and well acted, but the script left no room for...
A delayed gem... and acid
Generally considered the first horror film in Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon and a joint endeavor by South Korea and Vietnam, the movie is a departure from the usual output of the two countries' tele-novels and romances to the local Asian markets (South Korea's horror output is usually targeted to South Korean, Japan, Philippines, and the United States). Utilizing the local Vietnamese legion of Muoi, an vengeful spirit trapped it a portrait. The movie becomes more complicated than the description would lead you to believe. Turns and twists come at the viewer at a breakneck speed toward the end of the movie which leaves the story open for a sequel that is not currently in development. That is not to say that the viewer cannot see the twist coming a mile away, it is obvious who is calling the spirit from the beginning and the motive for the vengeance is laid out early in the movie. It might seem that the first half is nothing but filler, but the movie takes its time to build up to...
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