Kitted out with cameras of every description — go-pros, cell phones, professional shoulder-mounted cams — the Horror Times crew make their way into the building. After a ritual meant to invoke the spirits of the dead (need I say that this is a terrible, terrible idea) they break into groups of two (again, a terrible, terrible idea) and begin exploring the asylum floor by floor. Amidst the obligatory jump scares, appearances of floating girls with long stringy hair, possessions, episodes of telekinesis, and a host of stock horror movie red herrings, I do have to give the filmmakers props for finding inventive ways of knitting some incisive social commentary into the narrative about our seemingly bottomless addiction for social media appeal – much the same way Olive Stone years before the digital age in Natural Born Killers. Additionally, the film’s art direction is, at moments, quite startling. A scene wherein a character returns to the Horror Times base camp, only to find herself back in the asylum was quite creepy. And the cinematic realization of the aforementioned room 402 was uniquely visualized and genuinely unsettling.
“…incisive social commentary about our seemingly bottomless addiction for social media appeal…”
However, as the film wore on, I found myself mentally pulled out of the action — reflexively thinking about how scene after scene felt wholesale lifted from The Grudge/Ju-On The Curse/Paranormal Activity/etc, etc. Again, there’s a lot to like in Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum. I only wish the director had trusted himself more to take the horror road not taken. The result would have been something new, and fresh in a genre in which unconventional ideas are regularly road tested and rewarded.
Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018) Directed by Beom-sik Jeong. Written by Beom-sik Jeong, Sang-min Park. Starring Seung-Wook Lee, Ye-Won Mun, Ji-Hyun Park, Sung-Hoon Park and Ha-Joon Wi.
2 ½ out of 5 stars
Is the movie true did the 7 person wen there die????
For everyone wondering who is the person on the credit:
“Jung Woo-sik, the movie director, is the
youngest brother of Gongjiam ‘s director, Jung Bum- sik, who seems to have come out with an ambassador called Jung Woo-sik to remember the last movie due to sudden death”.
Source: https://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=wildherb17&logNo=221242467183&proxyReferer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
who is jung woo shik in this film?and isnt there any the making of Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum???? I really really wish to see that!and why lee seung wook stop acting?it doesnt make sense pftt
I really want to know who is Jung woo shik is he dead I donty see him in those film
Will they eventually do a Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum 2? I know #1 was enough but isn’t there more to it than that?
I must admit, it was a frightening, scary (more so when the girls were screaming); it reminded me of the “Blair Witch Project” in the U.S. although I never really watched the whole thing, just the beginning. This film, I watched the whole thing. I could cite numerous mistakes unbeknownst to these new film-makers regarding such a sensitive project as this. Mind you, I’m not a professional or expert, just going with my gut feelings. But I won’t, but feel bad about towards the end they mentioned in the credits about Jung Woo-Shik “in memoriam or memory of” just wondered who was he in the film and how did he pass away? Also further reading about one of the actors who for personal reasons ended his acting career. Why? Is it because of the film/movie, was there more to it than what we saw or didn’t see on the screen that he decided not to pursue his acting future? Just curious. Wish he could return, resume his career, he’s just starting, what made him decide not to. I just saw this movie out of curiosity 6/23/2018.