Silver Pen

24 de mayo de 2013

H

A real thriller, keeps you on your toes, and in your set at the same time. A great horror film to add to your collection. Read more

Ernest Jagger

25 de agosto de 2006

Hypnotic Korean Psychological Thriller

I have never been one of those viewers who are into serial killer films. I find most of them sickening and quite a few have a bit more gore than I like in my films--and not enough suspense. There are the few exceptions: And one of these is the South Korean thriller "H". However, this film does have a high level of gruesome scenes depicted. Therefore, as a word of caution, be warned that this is an extremely violent film. Moreover, the plot is not what you would find in your usual American style of thriller. But it does have an interesting and suspenseful twist that I happened to think worked extremely well in this film. Having written this; I would recommend that viewers rent the film first, as it may not appeal to the majority of viewers out there. The films narrative begins with a recently discovered body of a murder victim in a landfill, while another body has been found on a bus. Moreover, these murders resemble the killings of a sociopath who is awaiting the death penalty for similar killings. Is he the killer? Is the true killer still out there? Or is it a copycat killer? Shin Hyun (Seung-woo Cho) gives a great performance [as usual] as the killer awaiting his death sentence. Shin turned himself into the police ten months ago after murdering six women, and was sentenced to death after being found guilty. However, with these latest killings resembling Shin Hyun's, two detectives are called in to investigate if Shin Hyun is the real killer. He confessed to the killings, and everyone believes he is guilty. Is he? Or is there more to the killings than we are led to believe? These latest detectives brought in are to get to the bottom of things. Kim Mi Yun (Jung-ah Yum) is somewhat aloof and disconnected with those around her. Her latest partner Kang Tae Hyun (Jin-hee Ji) is more hot headed and is ALWAYS late to the crime scenes. With the cool detachment of Detective Kim, and the brash and impatient attitude of Detective Kang, they both set out to find clues and answers to the latest killings: And where it leads them is strange indeed. Since both of the killings are identical to the imprisoned Shin, the detectives try and figure out if Shin has a hand in these latest killings. Maybe he knows who the killer is? The detectives reinterview Shin Hyun to find these answers. In trying to retrace the latest killers motives, which are too much of a coincidence due to the identical nature of the murders, they both believe Shin knows who is responsible for the latest killings. Yet, something in the nature of Shin is not right. Yes, he knows something. But what is it? Not all is what it seems in this Korean thriller. Enter a psychologist by the name of Dr. Chu Kyung-sook (Sun-kyung Kim) who has a major connection to the case. She treated Shin Hyun, yet refuses to allow the police access to the taped interviews with the now condemned Shin Hyun. Why? Eventually, the case becomes even more frustrating as the detectives try to find the killer or killers who are still out on the streets of Seoul killing. Moreover, they believe there is a connection between this latest string of killings and Shin Hyun. But is there? And what is Dr. Chun Kyung-sook's connection to all of this? While "H" does have some intriguing and suspenseful twists in the film that I thought were very good, it also boasts some very bloody and extremely violent scenes. If you do not like gore in your films, then stay away from this film. As I wrote in the beginning, I am not into gory films, or excessively violent films. However, it is necessary in this particular film in order to advance the plot. I thought the film was a very good suspense thriller, with plenty of plot twists, and a most unusual killer. The film also boasts outstanding cinematography that one is now becoming accustomed to with many South Korean films. But once again, this is not a film that will resonate with many viewers, therefore, rent it first. [Stars: 4.5] Read moreVer más

3 personas la encontraron útil

Ash Williams

31 de mayo de 2005

4 1/2 stars

I can see how someone could argue that this is a knock off of movies like silence of the lambs and se7en. but I thought it was still a pretty cool cop movie. The acting is very solid, most of the writing was good too, I geuss I didn't quite buy the ending but still if you like movies like this, you should give it a try. I also enjoyed the little salute to pulp fiction before the end credits and how you didnt know why the movies called "H" until then. essentially this is a cool flick that i really enjoyed, but i can understand the other viewers arguement as well, I geuss I tend to like slow paced movies more than other people. Read moreVer más

7 personas la encontraron útil

Robert Beveridge

3 de mayo de 2013

Worth a rental.

H (Jong-hyuk Lee, 2002) Se7en Meets Silence of the Lambs! crows the cover art, obviously written for an American audience, that adorns this movie at Netflix. I read a review on IMDB from a person who mentions that overseas box art compares the film to Tellmisseomding. All of these comparisons have teeth, but as this movie progressed, I found myself thinking more and more of Kyua, Kiyoshi Kurosawa's immensely entertaining supernatural take on ...Lambs. H is not as good a movie as any of the above, but its problems are relatively minor and if you're looking for a fun locked-room murder mystery, this will fill the bill nicely. Shin-hyun (Marathon's Seung-woo Cho), a serial killer, turns himself in and is locked up. Everything seems great...until a year later, when two recent crimes are uncovered that bear the marks of being Shin-hyun's work. The only problem is that he was in prison when they occurred. So the two detectives who were originally assigned to the case, Mi-yun Kim (Tellmisseomding's Jung-ah Yum) and Tae-hyun Kang (Perhaps Love's Jin-hee Ji in her first screen appearance), hit the bricks to see if they can figure out whether they've got a copycat on their hands, or whether Shin-hyun is masterminding what could be an entire network of serial killers from behind bars. Or whether the answer is something even weirder... It's quite a slick little film that wears its influences on its sleeve maybe a little too much; it tries to make up for this by coming up with a bang-up plot twist, and for what it's worth, they did a good job at it. The Big Reveal(TM) here is an interesting take on a couple of stock plot twists, but I don't think I've ever seen them combined in quite this way before (though I can identify three or four things that might have been direct influences). That's ultimately not enough to balance the weight of the movie's derivative nature, but as long as you're willing to put that to the side, it's a well-acted, well-presented little movie, and you won't feel you've wasted two hours after watching it. *** Read moreVer más

Joseph Campbell

7 de noviembre de 2013

One of the better Asian extreme movies

As a fan of Asian extreme cinema, I had this one marked on my calender for some time. It did not disappoint. The plot for the most part is absurd and wouldn't happen in actual life, but that's why we enjoy the cinema so much, it is disbelief made into reality, at least for 2 hours. Read moreVer más

Mike Gross

8 de febrero de 2019