Korean Horror Revival (?) Continues with 외톨이 (Loner)

Posted by X at 2:33am.

Posted in Trailer Alerts , Asia.

Less is more?

That is, will the near total absence of horror films during this season actually end up benefiting the few horror films that do get released? It certainly did for 고死 (Death Bell), whose bloody midterms already sold over 1.6 Million tickets, allowing it to become the fourth most successful Korean horror film of all time. And the same could happen for 외톨이 (Loner) [lit. translation], Park Jae-Shik’s debut horror, which is releasing this September 18. The film certainly treads familiar waters, adding horror thrills to that increasingly significant social problem of the hikikomori (acute social withdrawal), but the cast is good enough. Jung Yoo-Seok mostly made a name for himself as Jeon Do-Yeon’s former husband in 너는 내운명 (You Are My Sunshine), but he’s been doing quite well on TV too, particularly in the original 별순검 (Joseon Police). Rounding up the cast are Chae Min-Seo of 가발 (The Wig) and Go Eun-Ah of 황금사과 (Golden Apple). Teaser trailer banks a little too much on horror cliches, so we’ll have to wait for the full trailer to see if we’re dealing with “just another” korean horror flick or not. But, in the meantime, take a look, you’ll find it below the break in the Twitch Player.

Reader Comments

Kobe 08/30/2008 @ 3:25am

Wow, I haven’t heard about this one yet, and I look out for Korean horror on a near daily basis! I always enjoy K-horror no matter how cliched they are, but this one actually seems very interesting.

Good to see Bloody Mid-terms doing so well. I’m trying to think of which 3 horror films have been more successful? I guess ‘A Tale of Two Sisters’ is a no-brainer, and I’m sure ‘Phone’ is one of them, but I can’t think of the third. Please, please don’t tell me ‘The Host’ is considered a horror film in Korea.
X 08/30/2008 @ 3:34am

1. 장화, 홍련 (A Tale of Two Sisters) - 3.2 Million
2. 폰 (Phone) - 2.2
3. 여우계단 (Wishing Stairs) - 1.8
4. 알포인트 (R-Point) and 고死 (Death Bell) - 1.6