User reviews

H is another of those moody Korean movies that moves at a deliberately slow pace. This measured approach to story-telling can sometimes add to the atmosphere of a strong well-told tale but, in this instance, it simply draws attention to numerous deficiencies in both plot and characterisation.

A couple of mismatched cops investigate a complex case involving a serial killer who targets pregnant women or women connected with abortions in some way. The murders are copies of those carried out by a man ten months earlier who gave himself up and now awaits execution. The cops initially suspect the original killer has hired someone to carry out the killings but, when they have caught the person they believe to be the murderer and the killings continue, a much less straightforward answer becomes apparent.

The Koreans seem to have a thing for slow and thoughtful movies, and there's nothing wrong with that if the storyline is strong, but this film borrows from too many other films – most notably Silence of the Lambs and Seven – to bolster a fairly thin yet paradoxically complicated plot. Strong on visuals – especially some extreme gore – there are a number of effective and well-staged scenes in H but it relies too much on a brooding heroine who betrays no emotion, and an excitable hero who would quite frankly be a liability in any police investigation. In fact the pair of them overlook obvious lines of investigation and generally stumble upon clues through luck or by drawing obscure – but accurate – conclusions from the vaguest of clues. Seung-woo Cheu makes a curiously uncharismatic villain in a role clearly modelled on Hannibal Lecter, and spouts enigmatic mumbo-jumbo about blue skies and an abyss that probably made no sense before its meaning was mangled by the translators responsible for some truly excruciating subtitles. And for all the moody atmospherics from first-time writer/director Jong-hyuk Lee, the film is almost completely devoid of any tension or suspense.

There are many exciting and inventive films coming out of South Korea these days, but unfortunately H isn't one of them. Of course that doesn't mean we won't be seeing an American remake within a year or two

Korean thrillers are always fascinating, and this one more so than others I have seen.

A serial killer Shin Hyun (Seung-woo Cho ) confesses to murdering six women, is imprisoned, and the killings go on. They grab suspect after suspect, and the killings go on. Even Shin Hyun's psychiatrist was a suspect.

Naturally, we get mismatched partners, as often happens in police thriller. Detectives Kim Mi Yun (Jung-ah Yum) and Kang Tae Hyun (Jin-hee Ji) are as different as night and day, but they have to make it work.

If you are a fan of se7en or The Silence of the Lambs, then this is the film for you. There are good surprises, and it will baffle you until the very end.

H

I am a huge fan of the Korean serial killer drama Tell me something. So when the review on the box of this movie said `tell me something esque' I thought I would give it a shot. My history with Korean films are hit or miss. This is a miss. I will say this the plot twist is something you would never see in American film. Of course you would also never see it in reality either.

The film is paced so boring. Maybe the moody feeling just doesn't translate but I think the film was going for the SEVEN moody feeling. The camera work was somewhat interesting. The gore was there. The acting was so so. In the end I kinda had to force myself to finish it.

I would say if you have a choice get `tell me something' instead.

I could go on about the slow pace, bad acting, moodiness, implausibility, contrived and generally ridiculous plot line but suffice to say that I wish it was me getting a bullet in my head at the end of the movie.

The movie was dreadful. I'd recommend almost any other Korean movie over this. The sheer number of times I found myself scoffing at the actions of the characters, the plot "twists" or the character "dialogue" were too numerous to count.

Any deeper reading about the supposed message of the movie only serves to obscure the fact that this was one horrible flick.

The only positive comment I can make (as someone on the message boards noted) was some of the very interesting artwork; I quite liked it.

The brilliance of this film does not lie in its basic thriller plot nor its characters (The characters are not terribly interesting, but the film does not dwell long on their personal lives; The serial-killer plot, while over-used, is paced enough to keep interest.)

Truly, the one reason to watch this film is for the fact that everything--- every action, every line spoken--- leads up to the conclusion. This movie is so perfectly woven that there is not a hair, so to speak, out of place! How few movies are like this one!

Basically, if you want a good story, read a book. If you want a well done film, watch "H".

A bit less than a year ago a serial killer turned himself in. He had targeted mostly pregnant women and the police had no clue as to his whereabouts. But now he's in custody. The only problem being that a copycat killer has emerged. So detectives Kim (Yum Jung-ah) and Kang (Ji Jin-hee) are put on the case.

Korean films don't seem to believe in happy mediums. Either they're full-out acid trips of surrealism, or they're the greyest, most depressing dramafests you've ever seen. H falls into latter category. Granted, the actual killings are horrifically brutal and graphic in a way you just don't see in mainstream Western cinema, but aside from that the film is almost banal.

When it's not blatantly ripping off The Silence of the Lambs, that is. I mean, you have psychotic madball killer in prison, who's interrogated to help catch another criminal, while at the same time he's analyzing his interrogators. Subtle this movie is not. Throw in some Se7en as well for the events of the final third and you have yourself an unoriginal movie.

Though, it is shot nicely, the characters can be interesting and the gore is sure to be pleasing to those that gravitate towards that kind of thing. Not a complete loss, but not worth recommending either.

On the whole, I enjoyed this film. It starts out with a series of nice, gruesome post-mortem and death scenes, and carries the creepy ambiance most of the way through. Unfortunately, as the twists begin to unravel, so does the quality of the film.

For the sake of those who haven't seen the film, I won't spoil any of the myriad twists, but I will say that you better pay very close attention to this film or you'll miss some illuminating plot points, as I did.

Unfortunately, this has to do with the number of suspects/characters in the film, and the difficulty an American viewer will have keeping all the names separate. Characters are often referred to by name without being on screen (as is the nature of a police thriller), and I found myself, more often than not, seeing said names and thinking, "wait, which one is he?" Still, I doubt I'd have had the problem if the characters in question were more than just your standard serial murder movie cutouts. I watch a lot of Korean cinema, and this is the first time I've ever had this problem.

This speaks to the general quality of the film which, while engaging, is certainly not going to stun most viewers with its artistry. The acting is passable (at best), the writing is sparse and convoluted (though not devoid of entertainment value, to be sure), and the editing is flat-out terrible. That's not something that usually stands out for me in a film, but in this case it was a flagrant issue with the film. You'll find yourselves following the characters to a raid on a suspect's house only to forget why this guy was a suspect in the first place, and random cuts to side characters doing sweet F.A. don't do much to ease the difficulty of following the bouncing (murder)ball.

There are two kinds of "end of the movie twists" out there. There's the "Oh my god, I didn't see that coming, but I should've" twists, and then there are the "uh...what?" twists. Sadly, the final revelation of this film is one of the latter. I've seen debate on the message boards regarding the supposed "final, final twist," but I have to say that it's a pretty loose interpretation to call the final moments of the film yet another twist. It's more of a "book-end," and effective as such.

Where this film fails most is in the expectations it builds. It's an excellent concept for a serial murderer flick, and they spend a lot of time building an interesting emotional landscape that's inevitably forsaken for gimmicky plot devices that, while not wholly unbelievable (though highly improbable), are pretty much just plain silly. Had they stuck with the emotional and psychological themes and forsaken the twists, this would be an excellent film.

As it stands, it is not excellent, but it's certainly not terrible. If you're a fan of Asian thrillers, you could do worse than this one.

-J

Ten months after the imprisonment of serial killer Shin Hyun (Seung-woo Cho), who gave himself up to the police after brutally murdering six women, a copycat murderer begins to replicate his grisly crimes. Detectives Kim Mi Yun (Jung-ah Yum) and Kang Tae Hyun (Jin-hee Ji) are assigned to the case, and after interviewing Shin Hyun, begin to suspect that he has somehow masterminded the killings from behind bars.

Directed by Jong-hyuk Lee, Korean thriller H is, rather ironically, something of a copycat itself, being a little bit Silence of the Lambs and a little bit Seven, but nowhere near as good as either film: the plot is a little too convoluted and confusing at times, the pacing way too slow, and the inevitable twist nowhere near clever (or believable) enough. In an effort to make his film as stylish as those he is trying to emulate, director Lee throws in endless rain-drenched scenes and moody shots of his cops smoking, but even though his film looks good throughout, it fails thanks to its leaden storytelling, a lack of tension and originality, and an ending that beggars belief.

An reprehensible and - if you are honest, utterly disgusting, offensive - storyline* to drive an 'ohh, I didn't see that coming' closing twist of, if not straight plagiarism, then, a variation, version of 'The Silence of the Lambs' ilk: at minimum, done / seen it all before.

However, in the usual what can I get out of this otherwise waste of time, could be in contrast to how women are considered and treated to drive this thoroughly nasty, offensive plotline* to its main character dynamics, you do then get an against (Korean especially) type, moody, laconic, strong - (she clocks the hero full square on the jaw at one stage!) - female partner cop (Jung-ah Yum at detective (no less) 'Kim Mi Yun'); Plus you can have 'fun' wondering at what passes for surely completely absurd, preposterous 'policing investigation procedures' in Korea! (e.g. In suspect in pursuit car chases and, especially so, how to interview so notoriously nasty / dangerous, he's up for execution, incarcerated convicted murderer interviews!)

In what is otherwise (have I said, got across?) an appallingly sickening serial killer reasoning*, the sheer revoltingness of it all was barely marginally leavened by it amused me that in at least two incidences, the 'investigating' hero cop (Jim-he Ji as partner, but new to the job, cop, Kang-Tae Hyun) surveying the crime scenes before him, in one case looks all about him for a good few seconds before noticing TWO women's bodies - one directly in front of him on a table! And then, at which he then goes on to most professionally cop-like manically destroy the crime scene evidence! - and in another suspect location swoop, at first completely overlooks a suspicious red pool on the floor so much that he steps in it!

Oh, and - (perhaps) - the - ONLY - 'best' bit is the 'gory' / madman artworks shown at the latterly discovered baddy's lair (pity can't locate specific 'artist' credit for that alone - but, possibly a Chi-woo Lee as 'set designer'?) - although even there i.e., yup, not only variation on afore-referenced (inspiration?) film's butterfly collection, but in any case, many other film plots nowadays, too.

Basically, this is a useless film, trumped up as redeemable by a worthwhile 'oh I didn't see that coming' shocking surprise ending, predicated on one the worst misogynistic premises* it's ever been my misfortune to have to sit through and pretend somewhere in this, somehow, some way, is even remotely considered 'entertainment'.

Abysmal.

* so, quite frankly, no kudos, but rather utter shame on scriptwriter Jong-hyeok Lee!

On which; my titling comes from a quote given by the baddy: which to me, far more represents what this film suggests ...

I love Korean and other Asian films, and I watch a lot of them. But this is one that I wish I hadn't bothered with.

As per usual, the visuals in this film are fantastic, and the editing tries to be as distorting and uncomfortable as that in 'A Tale of Two Sisters' and other successful types. However, the failure of this film remains in some of the most overreacted acting and clichéd story plot elements that quite shamelessly steals from thrillers such as 'Silence of the Lambs'.

The male lead is so desperate for an Oscar he shakes in anger or fear in almost every scene that involves conversations - most particularly the interrogation scenes involving an older case killer (Hannible Lector wannabe) who is more homosexual-coming-onto-a-straight-man scary instead of him being a psychological mind F-ing threat.

The female lead is also too detached most of the time and the film gives very little back story to sympathise for and nothing lovable about her to convince us to root for her.

Further more, the music and sound effects make some of the most dire and unoriginal attempts to make things more sinister. Whenever the filmmakers want you shaken or disturbed they'll add in those sharp violin or metal scrape sounds to bring out emotion to the audience, but only making scenes seem more cheesy, camp or like a parody of the genre as well as being placed so predictably I could hear them in my head seconds before they happened.

There are television murder mystery thrillers with more maturity and involvement in this. I seriously suggest looking somewhere else.

The frame is a thriller with victims and chasers. Yet, the content is richer. The description of females vs. males is especially intriguing. The main female characters Detective Kim Mi Yun and Dr. Chu Kyung-sook are both more intelligent than their male counterparts and they both stay cool while the males are either easily aroused or do not understand. It is true that all the victims are females. Yet, the killings are connected with the reproductive capacity of the females that the males do not possess and can not control. A main motive is the pregnant women's ability to kill their (male) foetuses. The most influential male character, Shin Hyun, murderer now in a prison, has a non sexual foetus like aura. The killings are carried out as revenge on the women for this ability, obviously and totally in vain. Thus, the film describes a core dilemma true for all males. However, I am not aware of a comparable open description in European literature of film. Yet, I have seen it in Japanese films (e.g. Shindo's Onibaba). – A most interesting film.

This movie is another very atmospheric film noir from Asia that surprises with a weird main idea and a haunting conclusion while the acting is very emotional and gives a really authentic touch to the characters. Especially the main villain is completely unpredictable and scary by looking so innocent and acting very intelligent.

The movie is quite heavy and surely not a pleasure to watch for everyone. The opening scene shows us a dead young woman with her unborn baby brutally ripped out of her body at a garbage incinerator. This is only the beginning of a series of six murders that seem to copy a crazy killer that committed exactly the same crimes a few years ago and went to the police station with his final victim in a big bag to get arrested. Now, a female police officer that has lost her husband that committed suicide as he didn't get over the brutality of the first killer and a young and very emotional police officer with a weird wife suffering amnesia have to solve the case and get drowned into a haunting downward spiral of mystery, brutality and insanity that lead toward a surprising ending.

Once again, the Asian cinema creates a unique dark psycho thriller that you won't easily forget and that convinces with an interesting intrigue, very brutal murderers and a brilliant villain. It seems that the Japanese and Koreans never do a bad movie in the whole genre and that we can only distinguish between good and intriguing movies (seven points), very good movies (eight points), excellent and haunting movies (nine points) and masterpieces for the eternity (ten points). This movie is an excellent and haunting trip and comes close to perfection with the only negative point that the main idea is nothing really innovating and new if you know the extreme Asian cinema as much as I do.

I bought this film expecting an Asian rip off of Se7en, but was confronted with something better- a disturbing film with a gruesome plot. Someone is killing single mothers- pre birth.

In the opening scene of the movie you've got a dead woman found in a trash heap with her baby literally torn out of her. If that's not gruesome enough, I don't know what is.

The film has one of the best twists in a long time, and totally puts a spin on the serial killer genre of films.

The most disturbing scene would have to be the scene on the bus. I won't go into detail, you'll have to watch it for yourself.

Overall I give the film 10/10. Great story, brilliant twist, very disturbing.

This movie rated high for me because it has all of the great detective movie qualities. An evil killer played by Cho Seung-woo and two detectives (Yeom Jeong-a and Jee Jin-hee) who are on the tail of his copycat killer. Much like the American styled Lethal Weapon, there is comedy thrown in with this very serious story. Jee Jin-hee's character is similar to the character played by Mel Gibson in that he is emotionally charged, sarcastically humorous with his tough guy antics, and ruggedly good looking. Yeom Jeong-a plays the very serious and emotionally guarded female detective trying to do her job in a male dominated career and with the loss of her lover still tearing at her heart strings. As these two detectives get closer to the copycat they also find a friendship growing between them. Both have tragic tales to tell and when they do it becomes apparent that these killings are close to home for both of them. Cho-Seung-woo plays evil in a very calm creepiness. He is much like the American Hannibal Lecter. As much as you want to dislike his character for his crimes, it's easy to become entranced by his charisma. Another character that seems to be the off beat detective that everyone enjoys to have around is Detective Park (Ji-ru Sung). He plays the true comedian in the bunch. He is the one most likely to fall down on the job, and boy, does he ever! Detective Park is the only one who seems to understand both Detective Kang and Detective Kim. This movie not only has realistic gory scenes, but a great musical score that sets the tone for this intriguing thriller. Being a fan of horror and mystery, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie so much I had to buy it!

It was a decent movie. It handled the subject matter well and it was quite gritty. The biggest drawback for me is that i didn't connect emotionally with any characters and wasn't fully invested in the story. So the movie became a little dull for me at times.

Starring yum jung ah, Ji Jin-hee and Cho Seung-woo. Directed by Lee Jong-hyeok. This is a korean movie. The movie was released in 2002. It was remade in telugu as amaravathi.

How do you write an review of 600 characters unless you are a paid critic. It is impossible for an average movie fan. Remove this dumb 600 character limit for reviews on imdb. Imdb do something!