Haunters

A pretty damn effective and unique Korean thriller with a creepy premise.

Cho-in is a crippled man with a terrifying gift – he can control people just by looking at them. Having grown up in an abusive household, Cho-in has become cruel and deranged and uses his ability to rob people and inflict pain on others. On the other end of the scale is Kyu-nam, a cheerful, hard-working and somewhat absent-minded man. He’s easy-going and cares for his friends, and seems to be special in his own way. When Cho-in attempts to rob the store Kyu-nam works at, he finds that his powers don’t work on him. Already deranged, he becomes furious to find someone he can’t control, and becomes determined to kill Kyu-nam by any means necessary, including turning his own friends against him. Kyu-nam, in turn, makes it his mission to put a stop to Cho-in and save his friends, and the world, from Cho-in’s madness.

After a dark opening in the company of Cho-in, the introduction of Kyu-nam and his friends is positively cheerful and somewhat goofy. They’re a likeable bunch, which makes the turn into full-on dark thriller territory all the more effective. There are occasional moments of light, silly humour thrown in, but when the film turns dark it turns dark. It manages a good balance of the two.

Cho-in’s ability makes up for his own disability – he doesn’t do his own killing, but rather controls others to do it for him. The implications of just how powerful Cho-in’s ability is leads to some pretty chilling scenes. Kyu-nam, on the other hand, is determined and capable, and willing to throw himself into harm in attempts to save others. He’s also gifted in his own specific way, fitting to his character. In this respect, you could argue that Haunters is a superhero movie. If you want to argue that, then you’ll find that Haunters is a far better hero origin story with a far greater villain than countless big name superhero movies. 

The acting is top notch. In particular the guy they chose to play Cho-in is creepy as hell. He has the look of a deranged serial killer. Everybody else does their part well. The special effects work is very light and understated, and works well. The film is also well shot, with some really creepy scenes and shots sprinkled throughout. One complaint is that the film is often too dark visually, with shadows and darkness being too black. Scenes at night are often almost entirely black making it impossible to make out what is happening. One sequence within a pawn shop at night is pretty much the same as watching a black screen for a few minutes.

So this is turning out to be a rare, short review. Haunters is a good movie with a really interesting premise. It gives it a good treatment too, with a tight story that focuses on the characters and builds up exceptionally well. This one gets my thumbs up.