Geo-rok-han: de-mun heon-teo-seu

This film attempts to blend gritty supernatural action with a character-driven drama, but the result is a convoluted and ultimately unmemorable cinematic experience. The film suffers from a severe lack of narrative focus, meandering aimlessly between its demon-hunting premise and an underdeveloped personal tragedy without ever truly committing to either. The supposed "intense" interactions between the characters feel forced and contrived, lacking the genuine spark necessary to engage the audience.

The dialogue, often laden with clichéd pronouncements about faith and destiny, feels painfully artificial. It's as if the writers simply strung together a series of tired genre tropes without any regard for natural conversation. While the film boasts some stylish action sequences, they are too few and far between, and are ultimately undercut by a confusing plot and thin character development. "Holy Night: Demon Hunters" is a film that looks and sounds the part of a thrilling supernatural action movie, but its lack of originality and hollow emotional core prevent it from ever being a compelling journey.

Is it worth watching? No. It's a messy and forgettable film that promises a thrill but delivers a chore.

It's quite clear that Ma Dong Seok, known for his commanding screen presence and action-packed roles, was brought into this film to attract viewers. Unfortunately, this particular film doesn't make good use of his strengths. Almost any generic muscle-bound actor could've filled the part with the same result.

The film is essentially a possession story, and not a very original one at that. What makes this attempt especially disappointing is its identity crisis. The movie seems torn between being a horror film and an action thriller. To justify Ma Dong Seok's inclusion, several action scenes are thrown in, but they feel disjointed and out of place. They don't add depth or excitement; instead, they disrupt the pacing and tone, making the film feel uneven and confused about what it wants to be.

It lacks tension, suspense, or the kind of creeping dread that defines a good horror movie. At the same time, it doesn't deliver enough high-stakes action to satisfy fans of that genre either. Instead, it drifts somewhere in the middle - bland, forgettable, and uninspired. Even the visuals and sound design, which are usually reliable tools in horror, do little to elevate the experience. It's a film that plays it too safe on both fronts and ends up leaving no lasting impression.

If you're a fan of Ma Dong Seok, you're better off watching some of his earlier films like Train to Busan, The Outlaws, or The Roundup. Those roles played to his strengths and gave him much more to work with, both in terms of character and action.

Personally, I found it difficult to stay engaged. I actually fell asleep halfway through and only pushed myself to finish it for the sake of closure - and even then, the ending offered little payoff.

In the end, this film is a missed opportunity. It's not scary enough to satisfy horror fans and not exciting enough for action lovers. It tries to straddle both genres and ends up falling flat.

After a series of strange encounters, a team of paranormal experts is brought together to investigate claims of a pact made with a Satanic demon to acquire superhuman strength to carry out their orders on Earth, and must put their skills to the test to stop the deadly forces.

This was a rather fun one-sided genre effort. Most of the fun here stems from the enormously entertaining and over-the-top set pieces in play that try to infuse an action film aesthetic into a supernatural demon possession film. With the setup establishing the use of high-energy exploits to determine the cause of possession affecting the various individuals in their care as the full extent of the cult comes to fruition, the series of encounters that come about here, letting that play out, have a dynamic quality to them. From hard-hitting brawls knocking out nameless cultists, to the actual exorcism tactics that are employed to try releasing the demonic figures holding the victim captive, these scenes work incredibly well at letting the hard-hitting choreography shine in the way it should. As the narrative builds toward its second half, the action reaches a fever pitch. Scenes of Eun-seo unleashing her demonic powers-flipping cars into explosions or launching people across rooms-amp up the stakes. The team's chemistry, developed through earlier missions, is brought into sharp focus during the climactic confrontation. With traditional exorcism tropes, including grotesque makeup and violent transformations, intercut with cultists attempting to sabotage the ritual, the finale becomes a breathless combination of horror and spectacle. The scale of destruction and the special effects used to portray the escalating chaos lend the story a surprisingly grand, even global, scope as the cult's ultimate goals are revealed. When this is mixed together with more traditional genre elements showing the supernatural and inhuman powers of the possessed, trying to prevent their rescue attempts in grand stunt-filled setpieces, there's quite a lot of fun to be had here. Beyond that, the film stumbles somewhat in terms of its story. A lot of this is due to the frantic pacing that renders this with little time necessary to delve into matters more fully, so that there's a greater understanding of what's at stake. The entire purpose of the society and how the team operates, even who most of them are, are just flat-out ignored to the point of getting their names and points of being involved with each other being casually dropped at random intervals if they're not inferred from the interactions they have with the possessed or their minions. That leaves the film to feel as though it's missing a prequel that sets everything in motion, or highlights why the cult is starting the process, but it is so that all goes by so quickly for the sake of a rushed and cramped storyline. That would also explain how the over-the-top finale works with the high-concept demon slaying, body-hopping, and general confusion generated here seems to provide no answers, even though it relies on fervent demonic imagery to carry itself out, which is the main issue to be had with this one.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence and Language.

I just watched it, and so far it's a really good movie, fun to watch, full of suspense, and a bit scary🤣. I really liked it, all the roles were done very well. All the actors tried new genres in their films, and I think their acting was very good. Epic movie, hope there will be a second season. With a more complex story and more complete exorcisms. Eradicate evil people and exorcise demons. Oh, this movie is really amazing. Appreciation to all the actors, thanks to your amazing acting, this film is truly captivating. Oh come on, I'm talking too much 😅. The point is, don't forget to watch it, I highly recommend it.

Don Lee, you are an amazing actor-not just for your powerful fighting style, but also for the emotion you bring to your roles. That's why you're recognized not only in Korea but all around the world as an international star.

I just watched Holy Night: Demon Hunters, and honestly, it didn't feel like the right project for you. The script was weak, there wasn't much backstory behind the exorcism, and the main highlight ended up being only your punch. Please don't take on weak stories just because they're easy money. If this keeps happening, your star value could eventually dip. I know for some actors it's all about the money, but I hope you're not one of them. You're capable of much more than roles that only showcase your punch.