PiFan 2012: Horror Stories (무서운 이야기, Nooseowoon Iyagi) 2012

Part of MKC's coverage of the 16th Puchon International Film Festival.

Omnibus horrors seem to be all the rage at this year's PiFan, with the inclusion of the much-ballyhooed V/H/S and the Indonesian ghost offering Hi5teria (not to be confused with period British vibrator comedy Histeria, which is also in competition). But the one with the highest profile this year was the Korean Horror Stories, which served as the event's opening film.

A group of talented filmmakers, most of whom are prominent genre filmmakers, were assembled for this production which many hoped would breath some life back into Korean horror cinema. Of late, K-horrors have been increasingly disappointing and the consensus is that there hasn't been a good example since the excellent Possessed (2009). Hopes were high for last year's trio of summer Korean horror offerings (the traditional season for the genre) but White: the Melody of the Curse, The Cat and Ghastly all failed to impress despite their potential.

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PiFan 2012: 90 Minutes (90분, 90-boon) 2012

Part of MKC's coverage of the 16th Puchon International Film Festival.

It’s a rare thing to sit down to a film and know just from the opening shot how bad it’s going to be. Sadly this was the case for me at the world premiere of 90 Minutes, a new low-budget Korean revenge thriller. Whether it was the poor framing, choppy editing or thin premise I couldn’t say.

A good-looking commercials director is living in the fast lane and every door seems to open for him until one day when, following a late afternoon tryst with a high-class hooker, he finds himself blackmailed by this femme fatale who has recorded their rendez-vous. He must now follow her commands for 90 minutes if he wants to escape with his life and career intact.

It’s a simple plot that in the right hands and with a bit of creativity might have yielded an interesting, if modest thriller. In director Park Sun-wook ‘s hands however, it becomes an unwieldy and illogical mess. The film’s first mistake is that it takes a full 40 minutes to get things going. The excessive exposition introduces us to a plethora of unlikeable characters, none of whom change throughout the narrative.

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KBO: The Dark Knight Rises to First (07/20-07/22, 2012)

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	The Dark Knight Rises (us)	7/19/12	65.30%	1,992,182	2,434,011	1,210
2	Deranged	7/5/12	15.70%	495,156	4,172,904	534
3	Detective Conan (jp)	7/19/12	5.40%	190,413	204,496	350
4	The Amazing Spiderman (us)	6/28/12	6.30%	189,839	4,779,673	357
5	The 5-Million Dollar Man	7/19/12	2.00%	63,943	79,794	328
6	Two Moons	7/12/12	1.80%	59,429	398,617	238
7	A Letter to Momo (jp)	7/5/12	0.90%	30,825	294,196	109
8	Midnight in Paris (us)	7/5/12	0.90%	25,588	268,136	92
9	Madagascar 3 (us)	6/6/12	0.40%	11,434	1,621,890	52
10	Dangerously Excited	7/12/12	0.20%	7,429	214,080	95

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Weekly Review Round-up (07/14-07/20, 2012)

A number of new releases reviewed this week and much more.

CURRENT FILMS

Bloody Fight in Iron-Rock Valley

(Modern Korean Cinema, July 19, 2012)

(Twitch, July 18, 2012)

Dangerously Excited

(Seongyong's Private Place, July 14, 2012)

Deranged

(Seongyong's Private Place, July 15, 2012)

(The Hollywood Reporter, July 17, 2012)

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PiFan 2012: Bloody Fight in Iron-Rock Valley (철암계곡의 혈투, Cheolhamgyegokeui Hyeotoo) 2011

Part of MKC's coverage of the 16th Puchon International Film Festival. Though this film was presented at last year's event (where it picked up two awards), I thought it would be a suitable way to kick off the coverage of this year's event.

Low-budget filmmakers love to dabble in genre fare and, despite inexperience and other shortcomings, they often wind up making more pertinent and exciting works than more established helmers, who may have lost their youthful filmmaking pizzazz. Horror is particularly popular for budding cineastes: it is cheap; relatively simple; and offers many opportunities for experimentation. Sci-fi, though trickier, has also been thoroughly mined by young filmmakers. Westerns on the other hand are among the hardest genre films to realize.

Film lovers are drawn to this genre and it is no surprise. Its sweeping vistas, epic stories and enduring iconoclasm remain popular among directors looking to make their mark. However, this is a difficult feat to accomplish. First of all westerns are visually demanding and feature the type of careful attention to mise-en-scene that requires time, effort and money. Other genres can cut back on this in certain ways, especially horror, but not the western. The next thing and perhaps the hardest, is striking the right balance and tone. Horror and sci-fi films, depending on their angle, may not need to be taken seriously, but a western will sink or swim on its ability to properly engage a viewer and for a neophyte in the director’s chair, this is often too much to ask for.

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PiFan Preview

Bloody Fight in Iron-Rock Valley (철암계곡의 혈투, Cheolhamgyegokeui Hyeotoo)
90 Minutes (90분, 90-boon) 2012
Horror Stories (무서운 이야기, Nooseowoon Iyagi) 2012
Over My Dead Body (시체가 돌아왔다, Sichega Dolawassda) 2012
Super Virgin (숫호구, Suthogoo) 2012
The Suicide Shop 3D (Le Magasin des Suicides, France) 2012
The Crucible (시련, Silyeon) 2012
Interview with Young Gun in the Time's Oh Young-doo
Young Gun in the Time (영건 탐정 사무소, Yeong-geon Tam-jeong Sa-moo-so) 2012
Zombie 108 (城Z-108, Taiwan) 2012
The Heineken Kidnapping (De Heineken ontvoering, Holland) 2011
Osaka Violence (大阪外道, Japan) 2012

Well, PiFan gets underway tomorrow and I've been burning with anticipation for a few weeks now. It'll be my first Korean film festival after landing here 6 weeks ago. The programme looks great and there are many people I'm excited to meet. I'll be at the event for the duration though I won't be able to see as many films as I'd like since I do have a fulltime job that gets in the way of most of the screenings during the weekdays but I've still devised a pretty packed schedule.

Since I won't be able to take in each day from morning to night I won't be publishing daily recaps as I did for this year's Fribourg and Udine Film Festivals but there will still be plenty of reviews, some news and hopefully a few interviews as well. Anything that comes up here will be crossposted on Twitch, where I will be covering the event with James Marsh (@Marshy00) and in addition I will also be participating in daily coverage of the event for Cine21, Korea's no. 1 film magazine.

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Korean Cinema News (07/12-07/18, 2012)

PiFan is upon us and once it gets underway tomorrow I dare say I won't have time for anything else. This means that there will be no Korean Cinema News next week but don't worry I'll double the week after the fest!

PIFAN

Final two previews from James Marsh and I over at Twitch:

PiFan Preview Part 5: Myung Films, 70s Korean Comedites and More!

Twitch Reveals its Top Picks

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