Fake documentary horror film? The author only serves Shenwang video and Japanese supernatural VCR.
(The article was first published on the public account "Movie Madhouse", WeChat ID: dianyingfengrenyuan)
I heard before that the film "Kunchiyan" made a counter-attack at the box office when it was released in South Korea and "Ready Player One" at the same time, but I was still puzzled. After that, not only did I think so when I watched the introduction to the story, but I still couldn’t change my opinion after watching the entire film.
Once again, this is really not the author’s prejudice against Korean movies, not to mention the ancient costume war movie "Ming Liang Sea Battle" that many fans know, even "Walking with the Gods" and other Hollywood blockbusters are understandable; even if there is no big production The big scene, "Su Yuan" and "Tunnel", which move people with their plot and acting skills, are also worthy of applause from us outside Korea! But the problem is, no matter how I look at the movie "Kunchiyan", I feel that it is not worth it for "Ready Player One" to be defeated by it.
Fans and friends who have watched a certain amount of movies may find that Korean movies involving horror and violence have a common feature, that is, they will give terrifying scenes a strange beauty through the careful design of photography, art, music, etc., such as Films such as "The Rose and the Red Lotus", "Old Boy", and "The Beginning and End of the Jin Funan Murder Case" will more or less capture the horror and violence scenes with beauty. This is the unique "horror aesthetics" of Korean movies. But this time, the genre requirements of "Kunchiyan" are different. The pseudo-documentary requires "de-design", which can only be accurate, and cannot have an obvious sense of design, even if it is only in form. If the "Kunchiyan" film itself is successful, it may subvert the consistent "horror aesthetics" of Korean films, add new faces to Korean films, and may also bring new inspiration to Chinese films.
But from the perspective of the finished film, as a pseudo-documentary, the audio-visual language of "Kunchiyan" seriously wastes the advantages of the genre. Before the host in the film left the backstage of the live broadcast, the screen display was still normal. After the host "sends people away from thousands of miles", the irrationality of the shots was exposed: no one is in charge of the backstage, why are the shots still being cut? Even if the existence of the ghost's perspective was explained earlier, is the close-up of the host's feet when the host "encountered" the ghost that the ghost had nothing to do? Why don't you just say that this movie was made by a ghost? I feel that the author is nitpicking and went to see the Japanese movie "Spiritual Mantra" about ten years ago. Although the film also has regular editing, it is at least explained at the beginning that it is a "special film".
In addition, the horror scenes in the film seem to be high-energy and continuous, but except for the Korean actress and the evil ghost hide-and-seek, which uses the limitations and interactivity of the pseudo-documentary perspective, almost all of the others are still using conventional movies. Thinking creates fright. The role of the GOPRO camera worn on the actor is more like a regular camera that saves money than regular movies, and the editing still operates according to the operation of regular movies. "Pseudo-documentary" seems to be a false proposition here. And in addition to the form, the content of these bridges is also not new. Even if it is "Hide and Seeker" with the best horror effect, after thinking about it, it will appear in "The Conjuring 2". Even if you haven't seen other horror movies in the remaining paragraphs, even if you don't care whether it's scary or not, you have to admit it They have all been used badly, especially the black eyes on the back of the ghost, which was used in an unfinished chapter horror movie script written by the author before. This section of "Kunchiyan" is not only not better than the author's idea, but also adds a superfluous "how cold in the middle of the winter" style chanting, plus the actors' screaming out of control performance (Korean star actor's acting skills It's more restrained), just like to act the horror movie into "Scream"...
And if there are only these faults, then "Kunchiyan" is still passable as a movie for entertainment. But the most important issue, which made the author think deeply, is the inappropriate attitude of the main creator towards the background of the story. According to the introduction of the film, it is said that the address of the Kunchiyan Mental Hospital was once the place where the Japanese army massacred and buried corpses. Later, it became a mental hospital on the surface, but it was actually a prison for secret torture by the dictatorship. After that, the hospital of patients died on a large scale, and the female dean who had been cordially received by the leaders of the dictatorship committed suicide by hanging herself. So, are the evil spirits in the film the undead of the Japanese butcher, the progressives persecuted by the dictatorial government, or the patients and the dean who died in the hospital inexplicably? The film does not explain, but just blindly arranges the evil spirits to follow the routine to scare people. Fans who haven't watched "The Grudge" and "Midnight Bell" will understand that the ghosts in the movies are based on their previous experiences, so they still have a trace of personality. The evil ghosts in "Kunchiyan" have nothing to do with personalities and grievances at all. They are simply the ones who came from the horror film studio next door to scare the audience. Even with props and actors' explanations, you can hardly believe that they have anything to do with this hospital. What necessary relationship can only be made up by oneself, not to mention whether it can interpret the reflection on history and human nature from it. Some say the content of the film is a satire of self-serving young people who consume undead and historical sites. But isn't this kind of horror film that pretends to explore the mysteries of history and creates an audio-visual impact by demonizing the wronged soul into the audience, isn't it a consumption of the undead and historical sites?
The author knows that some people will say: At least South Korea has made this kind of film, and it has a good reputation at the box office. We finally released a "Zhongxie", and we still don't let it be released. How can we hurt others? Isn't this a version of "you can do it, you can't do it, don't BB"? The author has seen the full version of "Zhongxie", and it is not very good in itself, but at least there is a bottom line. Moreover, there have been many pseudo-documentary horror films in the past ten years, but most of them are not as scary as the deep web videos and Japanese supernatural VCRs that I have watched. Of course, the inspiration brought to us by "Kunchiyan" is not without - why can a movie of this level become a hit in China and South Korea? Is the overall level of the film industry in China and South Korea unsatisfactory, or is the cultural aesthetic level in China and South Korea worsening?
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