Sum-bakk-og-jil (2013) Reviews

• A satisfying, creepy and intense thriller. It keeps you at razor edge

  ajit21062014-01-21

  Korean Cinema has been consistently making one of the best thrillers; "Hide and Seek" is an addition to that list. Huh Jung's debut feature as a Writer/Director has every ingredient of a classy and creepy thriller and has been executed with precision. It keeps us at the razor edge for the entire run time; every scene will leave you contemplating with the supreme suspense. It leaves behind the clichés of slasher/horror movies and gives a new tone within the genre. At the very start, a woman is chased by person dressed in all black, sporting a black motor cycle helmet, following young woman and you will instantaneously feel that it is going to be a sensational ride. Sung-soo (Son Hyun-joo) is a wealthy entrepreneur, suffering from excessive cleaning and anxiety, living a mundane life with hidden secrets. With his wife and two children, he lives in an affluent life in a very high society and trying to keep the family happy. Until one day, when Sung-soo receives a call informing him his estranged brother has gone missing. This starts his hunt to find him and he is engulfed into the mysterious world. He is chasing the enigmatic black figure thinking that it is his brother. The revelations and symbols keep you startled as frames pass. The screenplay has perfect timing of revelations, flashbacks and strikes an entertaining chase sequences. The character development and the subplots add values and sometime it jumps the genres. The editing has been done with utmost skill with sustaining the intensity through 107 minutes of decent run time. "Hide and Seek" is a well-made and satisfying thriller, with good performances. Finally , we get an astonishing thriller with terror and horror. A must watch for Thriller Genre. MY Vote - 7.5/10.

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• That movie was really bad. Don't even see this. Just read this review

  pigmaios2017-03-04

  Don't even bother!! Spoilers everywhere. First of all I am furious with this movie. The characters are just mindless people or something ?!? (IQ = 50). Let us get things straight. You found yourself in the bad woman's house after you get hit and you call your wife. Mind putting 1 more coin to call the cops? No you do not call them. You tell someone on the road to call the cops? Nope ! You go to your house where the bad lady is in. At the entrance there are people. You tell them to call the cops? No you don't. The cops are at the entrance because they found a dead body. You inform them ? No again. You go in your house. You are in the kitchen. There are like 10 knives. Do you want to be wolverine ? No bare hands are better. You are again in the kitchen. 10 knives in front of you but yeah just take the lighter cause yeah it is obviously a better choice. You are the wife. You manage to hit the bad lady barely unconscious. You snap her neck? You kill her? Nahhh no way just walk away. The best character is the boy. THE 6 YEARS OLD BOY. seriously this movie has more holes than a cheese... This movie has nominations and awards. REALLY? I am furious with this thing. Really furious....

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• Hide in plain sight

  gradyharp2014-06-11

  Korean writer/director Jung Huh made this fascinating film in 2013 to great critical acclaim. It is a well-sculpted movie and surprisingly is more understated than the usual fare from these films. Seong-soo (Heyeon-ju Son)), a successful businessman who lives with the perfect family in a luxury apartment, has secrets and mysophobia (pathological fear of contamination and germs) about his one and only brother. One day, he goes to see his brother after a phone call about him being missing and sees weird symbols all over the house and he meets Joo-hee (Jung-Hee Moon) who knows his brother. "Please tell him to stop looking at my daughter. Joo-hee lives alone with her daughter but lives in fear of someone watching them. Seong-soo looks around carefully at the old apartment and realizes the symbols mean gender and numbers of people. Seong-soo returns to his home from his brother's and notices a familiar symbol written next to the doorbell of his house, too. And the mystery thriller sails to a strange conclusion. In Korean with English subtitles, this is a bizarre little jewel of a film, well worth watching.

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• Devilishly Creepy

  MattBirk2014-09-20

  South Korea kicks out another solid entry in the Murder-Mystery Genre. This is a hard movie to talk about without giving too much of the story away. 'Hide and Seek' does a great job building up suspense and mystery, even if the finale is a bit overdone. Providing plenty of creepy set pieces, 'Hide and Seek' is a good choice for someone seeking a solid mystery and a few good thrills. Another above average movie coming out of South Korea, though certainly far from the best. And it is on Netflix! Full Review at: http://www.simplefilmreviews.com/2014/08/hide-and-seek- 2013.html

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• Nice start, but goes downhill

  KineticSeoul2015-08-26

  Despite the few twists and turns. This movie was corny and annoying. I was just sitting there for it to get better, but despite the crisp cinematography it was annoying and dull to sit through. Sure it has it's creepy moments, but that isn't enough for this movie to be worth a watch. Gosh the male lead is the most annoying and wimpy character I have seen in a horror movie ever. The guy is a super wimp. Nothing against guys that are physically weak. But the guy was so annoying to watch on screen. Even his wife and kids have more balls than him. No wonder why girls dislike wimpy guys that can't fend for themselves. Now the character decisions. Sure, when it comes to horror movies there is usually a lot of characters that make some really bad decisions. But since the characters are frantic all the way through while making really bad decisions which made it even more annoying. Sure it does have that creepy vibe going for it, but it lacked the tension, suspense and thrills. It's watchable, but you won't be missing out or anything like that if you didn't watch this. 5.6/10

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