A thriller from Korea that adds another entry to the ever expanding Asian horror genre. The genre, which first began as an invigorating and fresh addition to the canon of horror, now is becoming rather typical and predictable. However, these titles are generally more successful than horror films being made else where in the world, if only for at least aspiring to be different and original. "Paradise Villa" is an example of one of those films in that it aspires to be unique, but sadly becomes derivative despite the effort.
What makes the film different is the perspectives the movie portrays. The film concentrates on several different characters within a apartment complex and they all have their own story lines that somewhat overlap with others. This intertwining relationships and complex system of focus may have led to a rather refreshing story about how all our lives are interwoven with one another, and how actions we take will not solely effect us but rather impact everyone around us. Sadly, this is not the case.
The story line is essentially an excuse to link characters these characters and nothing more. The focus is not the relationship but the characters themselves which makes the film into a series of vignettes rather than an complexly structured narrative. So ultimately the way is told is unique, but unfortunately the opportunity to take full advantage of that was never materialized.
The characters, however, are strongly written and each are unique. The actors playing them play their parts to the fullest and, as a result, the characters are lively and fresh. However, since no relationships have been established between them, we are simply seeing a series of character studies with no direction.
The violence also seems out of place with this direction the film takes. The movie is told in a rather light tone and the gory violence seems like an abrupt deviation from the overall tone the movie set.
Also, by the end of the film, no progression has been made since throughout the movie we essentially only saw characters going about their day to day lives. When it ends, we learn nothing new and our last impression is that it was all pointless.
It very sad that a film missed such a big opportunity to explore something profound, but instead it is rather flat and aimless. I would recommend this to only fans of the slasher genre since it is different than the typical entry to this sub-genre, but to anyone else I would recommend you skip it since there are better examples of the Asian horror genre out there.
