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| THE SOUL GUARDIANS. Starring - Shin Hyun-Joon - Ahn Sung-Ki - Chu Sang-Mi. Director - Park Kwang-Chul. 1998. ‘They have conducted the rite of blood and sold their souls to resurrect evil, but that was only the beginning. The time has come for them to finish the rite. When the curse of blood begins, it’s the end of everything’. Police are left baffled after uncovering a ritualistic mass suicide. Each body is left stretched out in front of a heavily pregnant woman atop an altar. Barely alive the woman is rushed to hospital but dies shortly after arriving, but the child is saved and delivered seemingly healthy. Twenty years later and the survivors are being discovered brutality murdered and all are missing their ring finger, coincidentally the child saved on that fateful day twenty years ago is having visions of the murders. Seung Hee knows nothing of her past or her mother or how she has become embroiled in these murders but now everyone wants to know her, including Satan himself. As she struggles to make sense of it all a mysterious man enters her life, Hyung Am. Just who is he and will salvation lie in the hands of this man? This is one confused movie, at the heart of it is a dark and moody supernatural thriller, alas tip toeing around the edges in lead slippers is a hulking action movie. And this is where this movie all falls apart. I was fairly intrigued by the demonic concept, it is fairly well scripted and sufficiently interesting enough to get your attention, but then like a sledgehammer to the testicles all is lost as the smooth transition into the next scene and genre is about as subtle as said sledgehammer. Nothing really fits in this movie, if all the action segments had been removed and the love scenes condensed then Soul guardians could have been a corker. Well that is also if all the corn in this movie had been harvested firsthand. What genius decided to replicate the intense love scenes in Bichunmoo and then stick a soundtrack ripped straight out of Titanic on top? Probably the same genius that decided a demonically possessed bulldozer chase scene would be fun. I mean these things can move with the speed and ferocity of a Cheetah. How could anyone outrun one of these things, it just isn’t fair. However bad the corn gets though The soul guardians does still manage to retain certain qualities. The film looks good, the cinematography is superb and certain segments look incredible, a scene in which Seung Hee is having visions whilst bathing comes to mind, switching from colour to grainy black and whites with ease whilst containing a real maniacal feel. I cannot fault the visuals and to be honest this kind of quality deserves much, much better. Unfortunately looks alone don’t make a film, and to be honest I cannot remember a movie that looked this good that ended up being so average. It isn’t that The soul guardians is a bad movie, it just isn’t a good one. Hampered by all the corn and confusion it could never make it above an average title. Which is a shame really as it does contain plenty of promise. Initially feeling like a Korean version of Satan returns it soon descends into a mish mash of ideas, which ultimately spoil the whole experience. 5****stars. |
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