Hansel and Gretel (2007) - A Quick Review

 

I heard Hansel and Gretel was really good. Let's just say it lived up to the hype!

Hansel and Gretel is a fantasy horror movie released in South Korea in 2007. It stars Chun Jung-myung, Shim Eun-kyung, Eun Won-jae, Jin Ji-hee, Park Hee-soon, Lydia Park, Jang Young-nam, and Kim Kyung-ik. Hansel and Gretel was directed and co-written by Yim Pil-sung.

Lee Eun-soo is not prepared for the family he meets...

In Hansel and Gretel, Chun Jung-myung plays Lee Eun-soo, a young man who is dealing with a lot concerning his girlfriend and his family. He argues on the phone with his girlfriend while driving, causing him to not pay attention to the road. At the last minute he swerves to avoid running over something laying in the road, causing him to crash his car. He safely gets out of the car, but is in a daze. A young girl named Kim Young-hee (played by Shim Eun-kyung) finds Eun-soo and brings him to her house. There, he meets Young-hee's older brother Kim Man-bok (played by Eun Won-jae) and their little sister Kim Jung-soon (played by Jin Ji-hee), and their parents (Kim Kyung-ik plays the father, Jang Young-nam plays the mother). He sleeps over night to recover from the car crash...

When Eun-soo wakes up, the family treat him to a huge breakfast of candy and cupcakes. Weird. He insists that he needs to call his girlfriend and family, but the family says their telephone line is not working. Double weird. Eun-soo decides to leave the house to look for his way back to town. The family warns him he might get lost in the forest (where the house is located). He leaves, and what do you know, he gets lost and comes back to the house. Eun-soo needs to leave, but the children (who now call him 'Uncle') are insistent that he stays. Man-bok starts showing threatening behavior towards Eun-soo and his parents...

The perfect, beautiful family... or so it seems.

Eventually the parents ditch the house, leaving Eun-soo in charge of the children. Eun-soo is baffled by the situation. He goes exploring around the house and the surrounding forest. He finds some very unsettling things that begin to explain what is going on. Things get weirder when two new guests come to the house, a deacon (played by Park Hee-soon) and his wife (played by Lydia Park). A snow storm occurs, trapping the new guests as well. The deacon doesn't mind, as he feels he was sent to the house by a 'higher power' to 'help' the children... Will Eun-soo escape the house, and will the deacon cleanse the house of 'evil'?

Hansel and Gretel is an amazing movie. There, I said it; upfront, too. This movie is weird, unsettling, and tragic. It is shot beautifully, and all of the actors and actresses portray their characters excellently. Until the reveal happens, you are always wondering what is going on with the children, their house, and the forest surrounding the area. Much like the classic fairy tales (not the Disney versions, I'm talking about the original stories), there is an underlying darkness to everything. As said before, the actors are great in this. Chun Jung-myung plays Lee Eun-soo as a sort of aloof young man who just wants to get home to see his family. He shows that he does care for the children, but he is also wary of them. Shim Eun-kyung plays Kim Young-hee as the most trustworthy of the kids (at least to Eun-soo), and she keeps Man-bok from getting too angry. Great performance from her in this. Eun Won-jae as Kim Man-bok is very angry and probably the most untrustworthy of the kids. That kid is scary, and his anger causes him to do... things (when you find out why he is the way he is, along with the other children... let's just say feelings will change). Finally, Park Hee-soon as the deacon is... unsettling. His attitude is totally different from his wife's and Eun-soo. To say more would be spoiling the movie, but the director cast perfect guy for this role.

Do not get Man-bok angry, or else...

I highly recommend Hansel and Gretel. It's not just a good horror movie, it's a good movie, period. This movie went places I wasn't expecting, and that made it all the more entertaining. This is one of the best movies I watched this year so far (not meaning to over-hype it, though). South Korea knows what it's doing when it comes to making movies, don't they? Hansel and Gretel is one fairy tale you won't forget any time soon! Check it out, if you can!

Reviewed by David Williams