Show Me the Ghost

Honestly one of my favourites, watched it twice, not a typical thing for me.

For a light hearted comedy there were a few genuine scares and the comic moments were generally well planned. A well structured plot that doesn't try to be too ambitious (this can absolutely ruin an otherwise good story). Also, for such a young cast I found the acting was excellent, especially the male lead (Hoodoo?). They made their charaters genuinely believable and so i wanted to engage with the story. They were also likeable, lost count of the movies/dramas i've had to stop watching due to an overly annoying character. This one was great and i'm hoping for a follow up.

The 2021 South Korean movie "Show Me the Ghost" is listed as a horror comedy, so as I sat down to watch it here in 2022, that was exactly what I was expecting.

And let me just say that this being a comedy might be somewhat of a stretch. There was nothing in the movie that made me laugh, so writer and director Eun-Kyoung Kim certainly failed to deliver something wholehearted. And truth be told, then the script and storyline was so bland and generic that the movie wasn't really worth the effort.

The storyline told in "Show Me the Ghost" offered nothing new to the audience, and it felt like a watered down cash-in on movies like "Ju-On" and such ghost movies, but with an added element of light comedy. The problem was, however, that the comedy didn't work and the story was just so monotonous and slow paced that it was problematic keeping an interest in it.

The acting performances in "Show Me the Ghost" were adequate, but the actors and actresses were struggling hard with having no properly written script, characters or dialogue to work with. So it was cringeworthy at times to watch them stumble around on the screen.

"Show Me the Ghost" was a massive swing and a miss. And if you enjoy horror comedies, then the South Korean cinema has much interesting movies to offer. However, I managed to sit through the entire ordeal, though I wasn't impressed or even overly entertained. This is definitely not a movie I would recommend you wasting your time, money or effort on.

My rating of "Show Me the Ghost" lands on a very generous three out of ten stars, and that is entirely almost based on the production value of the movie.

(Korean) Well acted and produced silly story - a couple has difficulty trying to sell their haunted home. Over the top comedy, probably not too scary for most kids.

Simple comedy-horror, with some thriller and mystery mixed in. The movie is not complicated and maintains focus, making it easy to follow along. Most of the story involves just the two friends, Ho-du and Yeji. There are quite a few really funny moments. The horror is a bit creepy, but nothing extreme or over-the-top like gore or loud sound effects to annoy you. The movie ends in a way to setup for a sequel, but since it's an independent film, I highly doubt it will happen.