The Closet

Pretty funny that they mention 'interstellar' but not 'insidious' or 'the conjuring' which basically has the same plot as this movie: let's go find the missing kid to their realm, but of course added with some korean flair.

I would say this is a so-so average korean horror film, I have watched better ones before. But I am definitely IMPRESSED by the child actress Kim Shi-A who portrayed the role of Myung-Jin. Just as I was about to rate this movie a 6/10, I realised it wouldn't do her justice after watching her performance during the 2nd half of the movie. Of course Ha Jung-Woo is already an established actor, but seeing a kid (Kim Shi-A) giving such impressive performance, it's really kudos mann...

Kwang-bin Kim's full length directorial debut, Keullojet (the Closet) 2020, is clearly influenced not only by the Ringu series of films but also well-established themes in Asian horror (eg a vindictive female ghost). However there is a lot more to Keullojet. The atmosphere created beautifully compliments the themes which the film conveys and the acting, esp by Jung-wu Ha and Nam-gil Kim, is excellent. As such Keullojet becomes more than something like the tacky Insidious (yet another movie which clearly influenced the second act) and presents a well-scripted secondary layer to it. 7/10.

South Korean horror movie, The Closet reminds me of the story, Battle Royale. Where parents turn to desperate and inhuman solutions due to hardships of the economy in a sick society that has leeched all compassion and joy out of life... and the innocents who pay the price.

Non-creatively borrowed (to say politely) theme elements done many times before. 1. Family with tragic history go to live in an isolated house with a past. 2. Usual vengeful spirit inhabiting some hidden space (this case a done before closet). 3. A child is the object of the spirit's attention who also happens to be a child. A stuffed toy as prop, of course. 4. Brief appearances by said spirit-child to possess the human child & bring her into the spirit world. 5. A bit of newspaper digging brings up past child disappearances. 6. A spirt hunter cartoonishly shows up & brings the usual electrical magnetic field detectors to locate spirits, but as any high school student will tell you they're only good at telling you that electricity is in the house - duh! 7. Usual circle of candles w/drumming, chants, and ancient textbook showing pictures of nasty spirits.