Muoi: The Legend of a Portrait (2007)
"Muoi" (original title)

"Muoi" charts the path of a Korean writer who travels to Vietnam in search of stories for her second novel. There she learns about a mystery centered around a century-old vengeful spirit.

Director:

Tae-kyeong Kim

Writers:

Zizak, Tae-kyeong Kim

Stars:

Anh Thu, Anh-Thu, Ye-ryeon Cha

Cast

Credited cast:
Anh Thu	...	Muoi
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anh-Thu
Ye-ryeon Cha	...	Seo-yeon
Anh Hong
So-hee Hong
An Jo	...	Yun-hui
Yong-tae Kim
Dong-yeob Ko
Seong-Eon Lim
Binh Minh
Hye-ji Oh

Storyline

"Muoi" charts the path of a Korean writer who travels to Vietnam in search of stories for her second novel. There she learns about a mystery centered around a century-old vengeful spirit.

---

Plot Keywords:

spirit | stabbed in the chest | death | acid burning | friendship | 

---

Genres:

Horror

---

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [kr]

Country:

South Korea Vietnam

Language:

Vietnamese Korean

Release Date:

26 July 2007 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Muoi: The Legend of a Portrait

Box Office

Budget:

$2,300,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Billy Pictures, CJ Entertainment, Donuts Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite being a Korean movie, most of the scenes in the movie take place in scenic locations of Vietnam like Da Lat, Hoi An, My Son, among which Hoi An and My Son are world heritages claimed by UNESCO.

User Reviews

The best parts were the Vietnamese ones

This is one of the first times Korea has worked directly with Vietnamese producers and actors to create a feature length film. This is important to note because it is a joint production between a rich and developed industry (Korea) versus a very small and poor one (Vietnam). Although the film is thoroughly Korean in style and direction, the Vietnamese setting and supporting characters add a very nice touch.

The teaser trailer released actually has little to do with this film. It was almost like a separate 'fake' trailer. I find the premise of that more interesting than the story of the film.

The story has a lot of twists and is rather hard to comprehend. The best parts were definitely the Vietnamese 'flashbacks' presented a few times throughout the film. I wish there could have been more spoken dialogue in Vietnamese, however.

The film has a unique setting but it uses way too many East-Asian horror clichés. It almost becomes annoying and boring. Using 'cliches' is almost unavoidable in horror but depending on how talented the director is, he/she can present it in a new way.

Muoi tries to find its place within Korean horror but ultimately fails to bring anything worthy to the genre.

I recommend this film mainly in support of Vietnam.