ShowMe the Ghost (Korean: 쇼미더고스트) is a 2021 South Korean comedy horror film, written and directed by Kim Eun-kyoung and starring Han Seung-yeon, Kim Hyun-mok and Hong Seung-bum.[1] The film depicts the story of two job seeking best friends Ho-du and Yeji, whose dreams and hopes have been ruined.[2] It was premiered at 25th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival on July 10 and was theatrically released on September 9, 2021.[3]
This self-exorcism comedy of two best friends of 20 years, Yeji (Han Seung-yeon) and Hodu (Kim Hyun-mok) has creepy horror. Both the friends are seeking jobs and need a house to rent. Then they get a fully furnished house with a low deposit and low monthly rent. To their dismay they find a ghost living in the house. They have no money and no place to go, so they try self-exorcism with the help of a self proclaimed exorcist.
The film was invited at 25th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in Korean Fantastic features section. It had its premiere in the festival on July 10, 2021.[5] It was theatrically released on September 9, 2021.[6]
Kim So-mi writing for Cine21 said, that the film has "charm of a complex genre interwoven with horror elements and comedy." Kim felt that the director Kim Eun-kyung's film "flows in an erratic and pleasant twist from beginning to end." Kim liking the characterization in the film wrote, "A special attraction is the harmony of characters that create psychological intimacy. Kim concluded, "Both horror and comedy have a bland feel, but the development that gradually sharpens the senses of justice, solidarity, and friendship gives off a pleasant warmth."[8]
Up until the late 1960s, yurei (ghost) films were released in the summer in Japan to tie in with traditional Buddhist Obon celebrations, or the Festival of Spirits. Religion, literature, military history, folklore, kabuki theatre and oral storytelling are all hugely influential on the Japanese ghost movie, as is the belief in animism, the idea that literally everything on earth possesses a spiritual essence. Black cats, cursed VHS tapes, apartments and even the internet haunt the protagonists of these stories, with female onryo (vengeful spectres) a predominant force in the genre.
Similar visuals emerge in prewar, postwar and the millennial J-horror yurei films, but their themes diverge to reflect the social changes or political anxieties of the time. With the shifting role of women in society, starlets such as Sumiko Suzuki moved into horror cinema with monster roles such as the bakeneko (ghost cat) in the 1930s.
Postwar cinema examined tensions between tradition and modernity, and the impact of conflict, with themes of greed, poverty, female suffering, corruption and grief all manifesting in ghost films. Aside from a few choice titles, the appetite for paranormal activity died down in the 1970s and 80s.
In the 1990s, there was a resurgence in the popularity of supernatural tales, specifically marketed towards a YA audience. The anthology TV movie series The Haunted School boasted a list of directors that became synonymous with the J-horror boom of the 2000s. Hideo Nakata, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Takashi Shimizu all directed their own segments, laying the groundwork for their modern spins on ghost stories laced with contemporary worries about family, technology and finances. Their work spawned multiple, long-running franchises including American remakes, reboots and spinoffs.
Legendary Japanese star Machiko Kyo makes an unforgettable entrance as an enchantress spectre, accompanied by the ominous score by acclaimed composer Fumio Hayasaka. The grounds of her ghostly mansion are given an otherworldly quality by cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. Dreamy lakeside views and carnal pleasures tempt the farmer to be unfaithful to his wife. The film concludes with a technically remarkable and lamenting denouement that confronts the folly of greed and lust.
An urban legend about a cursed VHS tape, adapted from the first novel in a trilogy written by Koji Suzuki, was the catalyst for the J-horror boom. Directed by Hideo Nakata, this modern update of the yurei known as Okiku contains iconic imagery of the drenched, straggly haired female ghost, who jaggedly crawls towards her victims.
Kurosawa drains the real world of colour, placing his characters in grey, oppressive environments, watching grisly images of suicide and sadness. Soon these images turn into sinister apparitions that invade the human realm and start spreading as an uncontrollable, destructive virus. The penetrating sound design and creepy score by Takefumi Haketa, combined with dark visuals of lost souls literally turning into shadows of their former selves, lay out the worst fears about a future where the internet becomes the main line of communication to the outside world.
Postwar cinema examined tensions between tradition and modernity, and the impact of conflict, with themes of greed, poverty, female suffering, corruption and grief all manifesting in ghost films. Aside from a few choice titles, the appetite for paranormal activity died down in the 1970s and 80s.
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\nIn the 1990s, there was a resurgence in the popularity of supernatural tales, specifically marketed towards a YA audience. The anthology TV movie series The Haunted School boasted a list of directors that became synonymous with the J-horror boom of the 2000s. Hideo Nakata, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Takashi Shimizu all directed their own segments, laying the groundwork for their modern spins on ghost stories laced with contemporary worries about family, technology and finances. Their work spawned multiple, long-running franchises including American remakes, reboots and spinoffs.
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