Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum

Although the cycle of found-footage horror movies that began with The Blair Witch Project has largely run out of steam, Korean writer-director Jung Bum-shik tries to revitalize the formula with this tale of a bunch of young adults who venture into a long-shuttered mental institution in order to reveal its hidden secrets on a live-streaming website. The place is believed to be cursed (rumors abound about torture, suicide, and mysterious disappearances), especially the legendary locked and bolted Room 402, which is reputed to be the facility’s ultimate chamber of horrors. After a long prologue in which the various team members are introduced and the site host—called The Captain (Wi Ha-joon)—takes his place in a tent to monitor the group’s progress via a maze of monitors, the story follows the adventurers from floor to floor, pausing periodically when their instruments record some supposedly supernatural presence (eerie messages and photographs appear on walls). Every once in a while someone will yell “It’s so creepy!”, telling viewers how to react to grainy footage that is presented with whiplash editing and screwy camera angles. After some predictable twists—the electricity goes out and some events are being manipulated to boost viewership—the team reaches Room 402, open the door, and all hell breaks loose. Viewers have seen all of this before in terms of both style and substance, and the fact that the characters are such irritating twits doesn’t much help. Not a necessary purchase. (F. Swietek)