Monday, October 4, 2010

A Tale of Two Sisters

A Tale of Two Sisters ** (장화, 홍련 Janghwa, Hongryeon literally 'Rose Flower, Red Lotus') is a 2003 South Korean psychological horror film by Kim Ji-woon. The film is inspired by a Joseon Dynasty folktale entitled "Janghwa Hongreyon-jon", which has been adapted to film several times.

I don't remember who said they saw this movie and thought it was really scary? Was it Wendy? Anyway, I did see the American remake "The Univited". I didn't hate that version, but I am a fan of Asian Horror, so I thought I'd give the Korean version a try.

I don't remember being afraid watching the American version, but the Korean version was creepy. I wasn't 'scared', but I did tense up some. I did get a little lost during the movie, I wasn't sure what was happening, and at the end, it didn't come to light. Maybe I'm just dense, but the overall picture was very good.

For those unfamilar with the story it is about two sisters who come home from a hospital stay. They come home to a step mother who moved her way in shortly after (or during) their mother's death. Strange things happen once the girls return home.

I always tell people to watch the Asian version of a horror picture before they watch the American remake. I have not found any American remake that was as scary as the Asian. The best American remakes were "Shutter" and "The Eye"...still the Asian version is better.

If you have any interest, here are some Asian Horror pictures that are out there:

Ju-On (The Grudge) (Japanese) **
Ju-On 2 (Japanese) **
Jian Gui (The Eye) (Chinese)
Shutter (Thai)
Rinne (Reincarnation) (Japanese)
Ringu (The Ring) (Japanese)
Ringu 2 (Japanese)
Yogen (Premonition) (Japanese)
Phone (Korean)

**Highly Recommend

I purposely left 2 movies off "Auditon" (Japanese) and "Pulse" (Japanese) because they were awful.

2 comments:

Wall-to-wall books said...

Wasn't me. I have never seen this one before.
I does sound interesting though!

Michelle Stockard Miller said...

I love Asian horror films and I think I've seen most of those on your list. A Tale of Two Sisters was excellent and much more creepy than the American version...a much better movie, in my opinion.