Goe-gi-maen-syon

As I stumbled upon the 2021 South Korean horror movie, of course I opted to sit down and watch it, on account of it being a horror movie that I hadn't already seen. And given my fascination with both horror and Asian cinema, of course it was a given to have to watch "Goe-Gi-Maen-Syon" (aka "Ghost Mansion").

Writer and director Jo Ba-Reun actually did a good job here with the small stories and segments. Yeah, this was an anthology, which I wasn't aware of. But the stories are nicely connected to one another and while each story is a stand-alone story, the connections to each other story was just nicely constructed and made for a more wholesome viewing experience. Normally I am not overly keen on horror anthologies, but this one was quite good.

The acting performances in the stories were good and they had a good cast ensemble together for fleshing out the characters and bringing the stories to life.

Visually then "Goe-Gi-Maen-Syon" was quite good. This wasn't a shock and awe inspiring horror anthology, but more of a dark, brooding and slow burning kind, where atmosphere was really important. And they pulled it off nicely, because these stories permeated in dark atmosphere.

I was genuinely entertained by writer and director Jo Ba-Reun's "Goe-Gi-Maen-Syon". And if you enjoy Asian horror cinema, then it is quite worth checking out.

My rating of "Goe-Gi-Maen-Syon" lands on a six out of ten stars.

The terrors presented are not all in the form of figures with horrific scary faces, but supernatural phenomena that disturb the mental. The thing that feels most interesting about this film, the selection of terror for terror, is the plot. In five different horror stories there are detailed plots that connect them. The plot is made in such detail that you will see in one story there are pieces of another story.

GHOST MANSION, as a title, is something of a misnomer; this film is instead set in one of those run-down and haunted apartment complexes so beloved of Asian ghost stories. There are shades of DARK WATER in the location and this is a far cry from the quality of that, but it does offer something else in the shape of an anthology with the wraparound segment featuring a young writer researching some stories. As ever, the stories are a mixed bag, the first about ghost kids being quite poor, but it does improve. The mould story is a ghastly delight and the one about a serial killer really zings. This isn't exactly a classic, but it'll do.

The Korean/Chinese/Japanese horror films really have a certain feel to them, this one did not disappoint. There were some jump scares here and there, but most were predictable. Still a pretty decent watch but the run time could have been cut down a little.

A horror story writer did some research into an obsolete apartment building to get a story idea. The apartment building holds a mystery and horror story that has become the fruit of people's lips.

Korean films never give a different and interesting touch in each genre of film. Including horror films that never fail and always give a scary and terrible horror feel. Ghost Mansion provides a unique story in it in one story that is interrelated in it. With the story of a cartoonist who is looking for horror story ideas, Ghost Mansion provides a scary horror story in it as many as five horror stories as a story plot. Each story is able to provide a good horror atmosphere. Although it doesn't bring up many ghosts, the scary impression is still felt. The scary impression refers to the jump scare scene that fits snugly into the storyline. As well as the supportive music of the horror scene. Coupled with the ending of the movie which becomes an unexpected plot twist.