Today I watched
Hansel & Gretal, a Korean movie streaming in HD on Netflix which has very little to do with the title children' story. It's a very dark tale and barely qualifies as a horror movie, its far more along the lines of a dark fantasy. That isn't to say it's a children's movie, it's much too grim for kids. The story is a guy gets in a car wreck in a rural area and wonders off into a forest before passing out. He is found by a girl who takes him to a house with a family that seems just a bit too perfect. Things gradually become more surreal as he finds he is unable to leave no matter what he does. I felt it was a good movie, and I would recommend seeing it without any more knowledge of the plot, in case you are tempted to read the spoilers ahead.
SPOILERS AHEAD:
The story is strongly reminiscent of that segment from Twilight Zone The movie where that boy can generate anything he wants from his imagination. This is not a bad version of that tale, and explores that scenario to a much greater extant than the Twilight Zone did, as well it should with a two hour running time. Even though I had that angle figured out pretty early, I was still glued to the screen, and for some reason I found this film somewhat moving. The story had more depth than simply the terror of a hugely powerful but immature being.
END OF SPOILERS
The production is nicely mounted, the sets and camerawork looks great. The direction and editing were pitch perfect for the story. The screenplay could probably have used a little bit of tightening up, but I was still intrigued by the movie the whole way through. The movie didn't have a lot of visual effects, but what there was was very well done, on the level of any hollywood movie. The acting was good, especially the children actors, which is surprising given the neglect child performances are treated with by so many asian films I have seen. Most asian movies just don't seem to care about the children giving a convincing performance; the kids read their line and look cute, the director says cut, and that's a wrap. That would have been deadly for a movie like this where child characters were so heavily involved. And thank god the children didn't overdo it either, which would have been so easy to do in a Korean movie where performances tend to be on the melodramatic side. The more I think about it, the more impressive it is, the child performances were not too forced, not too sentimental, and well beyond a simple line read despite the actors very young age.
Altogether this movie greatly exceeded my expectations. Highly recommended if you are in the mood for a dark fairy tale along the lines of Pan's Labyrinth.