I don't often use the word masterpiece. I've seen 1,040 films in my life, totalling 1,549 hours of filmography. There's maybe 7 I would label a masterpiece with full usage and definition of the word.

The Wailing is the eighth film of one thousand and forty films I very willingly, gladly and without hesitation give the title of Masterpiece to.

I'm not too big of a fan of Asian supernatural horror. Whilst I very much enjoy it and give most films a pretty decent average rating, I find a lot of them bleed into one another with similar plots and a very safe view on the supernatural. In Japan it tends to be curses that have people die in mysterious ways, South Korea, a cursed object that has people murder each other are the most common ones I come across.

When I clicked The Wailing was supernatural, I prepared myself for a 6 or maybe 7 out of 10 movie that was good but wouldn't hold its own too well in the vast expanse of horror.

The Wailing gave me some stunning frames. The cinematography in this is beautiful. The gore frames are gruesome, unadulterated and unapologetic. The ritualism and belief of South Korea are shown in their full glory without fear. Na Hong Jin doesn't shy away from racial tension between the Japanese and South Koreans with a slightly historical take with a beautiful twisting story that left me with my mouth gaping open but still feeling just slightly uncomfortable - something I believe Hong Jin did on purpose. I was shown acting that was so well done, no matter what I watch these actors in from now on, I will always know them from The Wailing. The varying supernatural aspects were unique, something that stunned me, unafraid to step out of genre restrictions and lead the way with something new. With a story line that is intriguing, stunning and just raw, this two and a half hour journey was worth watching.

This is a film deserving of the hype that numerous other Asian horrors got but turned out to be predictable messed. THIS is the Korean horror of 2016, the one that should have lead the forefront of South Korean, or even Asian, horror into 2017. This is a film that shows prowess, promise and skill. Hong Jin treats us to such wonderful skills from not just himself but his script writer, his cast, his editing team, his make up team, etc, everyone involved. You can feel the passion and love and pure dedication that went into this movie.

A full 10/10 is just not enough for this film.

A twisting, numbing, horrifying masterpiece.

Some people will find The Wailing terrifying of that I have no doubt. Tonally we start off with gruesome death, although gruesome is mainly in the mind, the actual victims are in shadow, there are blood sprays seen up the walls but for overall grue there really is not as much as you believe there is. Always a good sign when a filmmaker is confident enough of their own storyteller to let the viewer’s imagination do the heavy lifting. But what we start off with is a funny film. I can honestly say the first third of the film is definitely comedic but in a situation way rather than comedy characters. Jong-goo, superbly played by Do-won Kwak, is at best an average cop, bumbling at times, not punctual, the antithesis of the usual protagonists in these types of films that are either heroic or tragic or all parts between. For me this grabbed my attention immediately.

As the film progresses so does the development of Jong-goo whose foolish ideas, bravado and impulsive decisions become less comic and more tragic and serious. There are still flashes of almost slapstick humour as one character is struck by lightning and staggers about, a shaman has more showman and charlatan about him and preens around but the tone is not completely lost. After all, if you are honest, life can be like that, one minute you are in a Charlies Chaplin film, the next it is a murder film. A no point is the murders, violent events, passed off with quirky or clever remark.

It is difficult to describe too much more of the film and story without ruining it for a first-time viewer, suffice to say the ending lays it all on the line and seems to be straight forward and easy to comprehend, although if you think back through the previous two or so hours, maybe not so much. This is the trick of director Na Hong-jin I honestly believe he wants you to interpret what you have seen, what you take away from it is personal to you. Is it a metaphor on religion, tradition, or on the difference between different communities or how you view people, how you trust them, the trust in traditional superstition or logic? It can be and I believe is all of these things but is overall a good horror film.

The cinematography is beautiful with the claustrophobic and chaotic village presented as such then beautiful almost prehistoric forests magnificently portrayed in verdant green crowned in soft white mists.

If anything detracts from this magnificent horror film perhaps the running time could have been snipped back a bit. The middle third was baggy, where the film flips over from comedic to horrific, it felt a bit clunky and the friends traipsing around the forest, getting involved in a fight with…. well I will not reveal it…. was not obviously necessary to the plot and if it had been removed entirely would have made no difference to the story. Some of the acting seemed a bit over the top and hysterical but whether this is a quirk of the genre or origin of the film I am not expert enough to know. These are only small quibbles though and all the actors acquitted themselves favourable.

If you want to watch something different, something that might make you think what the heck you have just seen, then as someone who is definitely not a horror-film aficionado I recommend The Wailing highly.

If this film has done anything it has made me want to seek out Na Hong-jin’s back catalogue, small as it is.

**A father's struggle to see his daughter to get well.**

A new film from the writer, director of 'The Chaser' and 'The Yellow Sea'. This time its a horror-thriller that focused on a rural police officer who witnesses a series of strange events escalating fears among its people. The original title was 'Goksung', which means the name of the village where this story takes place. This film is specially for those who like Korean films. But I'm sure that everyone would enjoy it equally. Very typical Korean film yet an engaging theme and thrilling, particularly towards the final quarter.

The opening, and almost the first act were like a black comedy. That does remain same after sometime. Because they wanted to give an impression what kind of person is this story's lead man. He's a cop, but feared of supernatural stuffs. So one day, he gets an early morning call to head where a family was slaughtered by one of its members. In his small village, with a small population, events like this are very rare, but when another similar incident was reported, ruled out what it was considered, but something else beyond humans.

After the strange dreams, he comes to know his family too got affected by it, particularly his young daughter. Followed by when it gets serious issue, the family decides to bring in a shaman and so the ceremony begins to free her from whatever possessed. This is where the film turns more aggressive in revealing following event with twists and turns. The rest of the film should be watched to know how it all ends.

The first thing was the film length. It was too long, nearly 150 minutes, but the screenplay filled with many enthralling scenes and dialogues. So I don't think sitting for that long would be an issue for most of the people. Surely you will be on your seat edge most of the time on your watch. Good story, but very confusing. I mean not puzzling way, but the events and its characters, especially the conclusion which is not exactly a perfect one with proper detail. So you might look for some clarifications after watching the film.

> "If you go fishing, do you know what you'll catch? He's just fishing. Not even he knows what he'll catch."

The concept was a little confusing like what kind of horror is this. At one stage there comes a zombie, but it follows right after an exorcism on a girl possessed by a ghost. The writer used the time as long as he wants to develop them. So the narration was slow, but very steady on its direction going deep. If you are good at Korean films, the style they make, you might predict some of the scenes correctly. Like I said the final few minutes might confuse you, but really well done part if you understand that clearly.

The film characters wise, I liked how it all connected at the end. But as a story, the solution did not seem right. I think not the fitting one or more convincing. I know who would you root, I mean most of you back what character, so from that perspective, feels it compromised a bit after put up a stern fight with what they had believed. I liked how culturally this story was narrated. I mean as its set in a small village, the ceremonies to fight the evil spirit was conducted traditional way, not the western style, except it opened with a quote from the bible.

The actors were perfect, particularly I liked where it was shot. A fine location to mix horror and cop themes. The suspense keeps the film alive, but you won't always looking at that, because the theme expands quite bigger than you expect. There are some unexpected turns, you might find yourself scratching your head for how deep it could go.

Don't worry, in the end, it all comes together, or maybe watching it twice could help you with that. As I said the runtime might not favour you for the second viewing. Besides, pay a good attention while watching it for the first time, then you will get everything. Particularly if you are an animal lover, that's a biggest clue you could get in this film.

I think it will be one of the best horror you would find around the world this year. It might get remade elsewhere, but the chances are less and it could remain as one of the Korean classics in the line of many others like 'Memories of Murder'. You don't have to be a Korean film fan or this director's, but if you do, surely you will have an advantage in understanding it clearly and like it more than the others. Definitely it is one of the best Korean films, but I don't think so a must see, not according to me. Though I won't conclude my review without recommending it to you. So I say watch it.

_7.5/10_

Watching "The Wailing" is quite an undertaking. With a runtime of almost 3 hours this Korean Horror-Triller is a shear beast. Unfortunately I feel like pretty much more than half the runtime should have been cut. "The Wailing" circles around in a seemingly endless "who done it" or, to be more precise, "who is it" and even though the acting of our lead Do-won Kwak was not too bad, the dialogues bothered me constantly. I find myself repeating this for about every Asian movie and I assume it must be a cultural thing. I mostly find the talk so generic and pointless, that you could reduce some movies to 5-10 important lines and let them be quiet for the entire rest of the runtime. And this movie is no different. The best acting performance was delivered by Jun Kunimura, who not only presented a great play with mimic, but also refused to talk much (I bet he knew I would appreciate that). The cinematography was pretty good and I liked the realistic appearing gore effects. Not so much on the "possessed zombies" but therefore on the crime scenes and such. With that many pro's and con's "The Wailing" ends up somewhere in the middle and can therefore be labeled average.