I COULDN'T FORGET the moment when I first got in touch with South Korean horror as my heart never felt so heavy upon the reaching the end credits.
It first happened with A Tale of Two Sisters, where the tragic plot twist at the end left me stunned, and my emotions were heightened by the sheer magic of the film's epilogue score.
Then when Train to Busan came, I was slightly in tears upon seeing the protagonist bid his farewell to one of the characters, a perfect way to showcase his development.
Have I ever felt the same with Exhuma? Well the film isn't as emotionally invested as the other films mentioned earlier, but does it manage to leave a lasting impression in the other facets of horror? Let's take a deeper look.
WARNING: SPOILER ALERT
A grounded take on the supernatural
Exhuma narrates the ordeals of a group of shamans who were tasked to uplift a generational curse that has plagued a family.
Through digging a mysterious gravesite and performing rituals, the shamans were trying their best to address the supernatural entities haunting the family.
Of course like most horror films, there were complications that took place, and this occurred the moment the shamans started digging deeper into the mysteries surrounding the gravesite.
And as they go through, they accidentally released a powerful supernatural being that could potentially doom South Korea.
Just by looking at the film's brief narrative, one could expect that the shamans will use magical abilities to weaken the evil spirit's abilities, but that wasn't the case.
Instead, the film grounds itself to reality as director Jang Jae-hyun relies on rituals and spellcasting techniques that we normally see from real life spiritual experts.
This is what makes Exhuma stand out as a horror film as despite the overpowered nature of the main antagonist, the film remained grounded to reality, making us appreciate the shamanistic traditions and the cultural heritage of South Korea.
The jumpscares
Besides the film's take on the supernatural and its use of South Korean customs, there were other horror elements that should also be placed under a microscope. Let's take a deeper look at the film's jumpscares.
In horror, jumpscares need to be timed well and the best ones rely on one important factor, creativity.
We can go back to the red demon on the background in Insidious as a prime example of how a well-timed jumpscare could rattle our hearts. Who would've expected a dark entity to appear out of nowhere, especially in the middle of a serious conversation.
And if we look back at films from South Korea, Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum, could be an outstanding reference point especially since it relied on the film footage perspective.
Now let's see how Exhuma fares when it comes to jumpscares. The film doesn't rely heavily on unexpected screamers, but it instead plays around the emotions of the viewer, as they're left thinking on whether something will appear or not.
For instance this can be seen in the barn scene, where the entity's giant hooving sounds could rattle the viewer. Kim Go-eun's character is all by herself in this scene, which further adds to the tension.
So what happened next? You'll see :D
And this has been prominent throughout the film, such as the loud banging sound of the door during the hotel room scene, which absolutely trolled the audience, and so on.
Overall, the jumpscares were brilliantly done as it didn't look predictable nor did it follow the usual tropes of randomly shocking the viewer out of nowhere.
It was indeed creative, but most importantly, well executed.
Where it falters
While Exhuma manages to leave a lasting impression with its execution of the horror elements, there were some noticeable flaws that could be highlighted.
Let's talk about the overall plot.
At the start of the film, there was a lot of promise, from the opening of the coffin in the hospital, the screaming snake, the heavy rains, the hotel room scene, etc.
However once the film reaches the mid-part, things started to get a bit...off.
For some reason, making a new chapter to highlight the 'final boss' somewhat ruined the film as it took away the momentum we had from the beginning. When the screen started to fade black, it seemed the conflict was already solved, though it did feel like something was missing, hence the new chapter.
However, the sudden emergence of the higher entity somewhat strayed away from the good parts at the start of the film. Exhuma tries its best to connect the dots, and while it manages to build a connection, it more or less ended up as a frustrating experience.
It likewise didn't help that the entity was a gigantic hulking being, which somewhat shifted the attention of the film from the supernatural into a monster movie.
Personally, it would've been better if the higher entity has a deeper connection with the family from the start of the film, like let's say they're a black sheep in the family with a tragic backstory, or some mysterious eerie entity instead of some historical behemoth from centuries old.
CONCLUSION
Looking back at the overall film, Exhuma can be a mixed bag for the audience. Sure there were notable highs as seen from its horror elements as stated above, and the overall acting from the cast.
Featuring veterans of the industry like Choi Min-sik, Kim Go-eun, Yoo Hae-jin, and Lee Do-hyun, Exhuma already has the starpower at their disposal. Combine that with the film's brilliant use of sound and music, and the inclusion of Shamanistic beliefs and traditions, Exhuma is blessed with the tools that could make it succeed.
However, there's no denying its flaws as seen from the narrative which felt like the director just crammed two separate films in one sitting.
Ultimately, Exhuma isn't as well-written as the other South Korean horror films mentioned earlier, but it does have its moments that truly made it shine.
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