10/4/20 - The Wrath (2019) - 4/10
A bit of a dull Korean tortured spirit revenge ghost story. It’s basic setup is manageable, but when it gets into details and the interplay of characters, it kind of lost me. I don’t really understand the politics at play, so I feel something vital is escaping me. What isn’t escaping me is the horrendous use of wailing sirens and haunted house witch cackles when it’s “spirit time”. Smoke ghosts representations are enjoyable and remind me of old Chinese & Japanese ghost films, but much of the rest was unsatisfying.
The reliance on jump scares when some of the mood setup is creepily effective was a mistake. Evil Dead inspired camera work keeps things energetic during the more ethereal scenes, but the homage doesn’t pay off much. It had difficulty finding a balance between haunting mood and externalized horror savvy.
The switch in spook tactics and clarifying what is actually happening made no sense. It also emerged as a splatter-gorefest out of nowhere, which only jarred me, not titillate. It’s all over the place - body horror, ghosts, possession, gore, torture, jump scares, and even a weird Blair Witch handheld black and white nightcap. It jumps all over, but doesn’t truly land anywhere that truly satisfied me. Perhaps the “Damien at the end of The Omen” final shot was left things spookily open ended, but I can’t say that I cared all that much.
