Arang (2006)

A salt storehouse near the sea may be haunted. A penniless ex-con dies a gristly death in a house he can ill afford. The detectives assigned the case are Min, newly reinstated after a ... See full summary »

Director:

Sang-hoon Ahn

Writers:

Sang-hoon Ahn, Seon-ju Jeong

Stars:

So-yeong Choo, Won-joong Jung, Hae-in Kim

Cast

Credited cast:
So-yeong Choo
Won-joong Jung
Hae-in Kim
Ok-bin Kim
Dong-Wook Lee	...	Hyun-ki
Jong-su Lee	...	Dong-min
Ju-hwan Lim	...	Hyun-ki (young)
Yun-ah Song	...	So-young

Storyline

A salt storehouse near the sea may be haunted. A penniless ex-con dies a gristly death in a house he can ill afford. The detectives assigned the case are Min, newly reinstated after a suspension, and Lee, a new transfer from forensics. Min has nightmares: a sexual assault that haunts her. She and Lee work well together, but soon two more deaths occur - each mysteriously poisoned, both friends of the ex-con. A fourth friend, a newly married doctor, is a suspect. But what has all this to do with the salt storehouse, a death ten years ago, and a missing girl? Can Min and Lee get to the bottom of it, or is the supernatural beyond a cop's reach?

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Plot Keywords:

death | friend | salt | suspension | sexual assault | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Release Date:

28 June 2006 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Haunted Village

Filming Locations:

South Korea

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Dream & Pictures

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

A capable and stylish, but not outstanding horror film

Let me preface by saying that I'm not really familiar with the Asian horror genre, and I can't tell you if the long-haired-ghost routine is, by now, trite and derivative. I can tell you Arang is a pretty movie with well done visuals. It also had a number of solid "jump" moments-- a scene near the beginning where the ghost appears only on film during a wedding is memorable, as is a still image of the bride twisting into a wicked, inhuman grin. I was amused by the visual imagery of each supernatural murder, if not genuinely frightened.

The movie is interesting because it represents a fusion of two genres: cop drama and ghost-horror. It seems like such a natural match, I was astonished that I hadn't seen it on film previously. A ghost is killing people, the cops are trying to solve the murders, and in the process discovering the connection between the killings and the reasons the ghost cannot rest. The two genres tie together with an amusing twist 3/4 of the way through that re-contextualizes the relationship between the two genres to each other.

Arang is a competently executed piece of genre fiction; it isn't groundbreaking, but it is entertaining, and I'm glad to have seen it.