Fantasia is into its final week but there are still plenty of good films to come and plenty more reviews rolling in ... here's Michael Lasry with his thoughts on Ghost House.
Ghost House, by Korean director Kim Sang-Jin (Jail Breakers, Kick the Moon, Attack the Gas Station!) has a promising opening. Pil-gi (Cha Seung-wan) is being sweet talked by a real estate salesman to buy a beautiful house by the sea. The salesman is very convincing - “Jesus Christ couldn't build a better house", he tells Pil-gi – and we can tell from the look on Pil-gi's eyes that he will buy the obviously haunted house. You can always tell they're haunted when they're dirt cheap and that you see a ghostly reflection on a doorknob when you first see the house.
There is a confusing shift into what we'll discover to be Pil-gi's childhood. We see Pil-gi at different ages being dragged from slum to slum with his father pushing all of their belongings in a cart. The father pulls and Pil-gi, sitting in the cart, complains that he doesn't want to move anymore. It so happens that Pil-gi's father is a short-tempered man and that instead of voicing complaints he prefers beating his landlords when he feels cheated. They continue to move until one day, it's the son that is pushing the cart and the father is wheezing and coughing. Moments later in what could be called an incredulous death scene, Pil-gi's father asks his son for one deathbed promise; and as he cringes exaggeratedly we can't help but laugh. He asks him to be a homeowner and as the son expresses his sorrow in pitiful screams and makes that promise, laughter ensues and the tone is set for what should be a funny film thanks mostly to Pil-gi's expressive capabilities. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
At first, the film takes off with energetic scenes involving Pil-gi's poltergeist problems. Pil-gi moves in the house and couldn't be happier; until he gets to wrestle with a couch and that an attempted exorcism goes wrong (Pil-gi snuggles with a chubby monk). The reason is that lovely Yeon-wha (Jang Suh-hee in her first role) is not part of the living anymore but she is determined to keep her house and scare Pil-gi until he leaves for good. It is a great twist to see Pil-gi becoming accommodated with the ghost and even scaring her.
All the elements are there for a good film. Pil-gi is a talented comical actor, especially when being invaded by thousands of chickens and there are a lot of twists and turns in the film that should've made the film funnier than it is. Ghost House however loses its fuel halfway through and degenerates into what could have been a moving love story and a remarkable drama on the tenacity of human emotions, had it been in another film. When it does try to incorporate that subplot, it does it quite clumsily and it begins to drag and drag until one quickly runs out of reasons to actually recommend this film.
This is disappointing, especially because there was so much promise. As one waits for it to end already! (those 123 minutes redefine overkill) it becomes clear that the film was overambitious from the start. This is a slapstick comedy and a spoof of other films (Asian film aficionados will recognize many references in there and everyone will know that take-off of Ringu when they see it); it is also however, a love story, and a fantastical drama and all these elements are clumsily merged. In fact, they are not merged at all. After the first half, the laughs quickly diminish and it turns into a drama we don't care for. It could've worked but the first half was so busy making us laugh it didn't bother making the proper character development which was necessary for continued interest in the film. The film opened with a particular tone; it was funny to see Pil-gi's father die! By the end, the film has become far too serious in its attitude and it becomes quite dreary.
Review by Michael Lasry.