"Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum" movie review, part two

 

 Release Date: March 8, 2018  Length: 94 minutes  Director/Writer: Jung Bum-Shik

Main Cast: This was a real hospital until it was torn down in 2018. It was off limits to the public so filming took place at an abandoned school in Busan but the inside was remodeled to look the same as the original hospital. The cast used their real first names in the movie.

Wi Ha-Joon as as Ha-Joon.... Runs a YT channel named 'Horror Times' which is becoming slightly popular. After witnessing a short video of some teens at the hospital Ha-Joon decided to have a live broadcast from it but didn't expect the horrifying turn of events. But until the end he stayed in the 'control center' which was outside the hospital where he uploaded/edited the live feeds from the other six who entered the hospital.

Park Sung-Hun as Sung-Hun.... Ha-Joon's friend who helps him out with this channel, for this broadcast he was the main cameraman and had also installed many cameras beforehand on the walls. But also some 'effects' for at first this wasn't supposed to be a real event...

Lee Seung-Wook as Seung-Wook.... Also a friend of Ha-Joon's and for the broadcast acted as the main host, did help set up the cameras with Sung-Hun before the broadcast began.

Yoo Je-Yoon as Je-Yoon.... One of four, the only male, who volunteered to be a part of Ha-Joon's broadcast and was usually paired up with Ah-Yeon.

Park Ji-Hyun as Ji-Hyun.... The most unknown of the seven characters but she was the first to sign up for this night of horror and didn't scare too easily.

Moon Ye-Won as Charlotte.... Only one not to use her real name. Charlotte had been to three of the world's seven most freakiest places, this will be her fourth from the list. However she gets frightened rather easily which may have led to her and the above's death.

Oh Ah-Yun as Ah-Yeon.... Youngest of the characters though in real life is the oldest, she had been training to be a nurse before this adventure.....

 This was a real hospital that closed down in 1996 and there's many stories about it worth reading, two pictures of it before it was razed in the Spring of 2018.

Movie Trailer that's subbed in English

 

 Picking up right where we left off and the six are performing a ritual in the director's office, the six are hoping it'll ward off the evil spirits while Ha-Joon is hoping it'll attract them! This is when true odd happenings began to happen, Sung-Hun and Seung-Wook had set up some fake effects which did scare the others but more than that is going on. They did arrange for the candles to blow out but not of the hells ringing on the ceiling, how can that happen when there's no wind? Back at the main control center Ha-Joon too is having some eerie things take place and they would continue on for a while. For instance the power went out a few times, just as mysteriously it came back on each time and Ja-Hoon can somehow feel the presence of something very creepy in his tent. Back in the asylum the events after the ritual have really shaken the six up including the pair who set the fake horror effects up. The goal is still to open room #402, that's on the third floor and now the group has made it to the second floor.

Hard to describe the creepiness with words but the atmosphere was so thick you could cut it with a knife! The lab was the next destination and was the place Ah-Yeon and Je-Yoon had visited earlier. Things have changed since that visit less than an hour ago, on the wall written were the words I want to live which have now somehow changed to I want to die! Neither of the men changed the words and even if they wanted to how could they? But the most important find in the lab was a doll they had seen in the director's office, that spooked everyone but it had been planted there by Seung-Wook. Charlotte was the most spooked of them all and she pleaded with Seung-Wook not to pick the doll up which he did. That sent Charlotte into such a frenzy and seemed like her mind snapped right around then, it's also when more odd things began to happen and at a quicker pace.. There were some coffin like boxes around the wall, when Ji-Hyun stuck her arm into one it was grabbed and something dug it's evil finger nail into her severely! To date Ji-Hyun had been the most calm of the six but not now after that attack. Charlotte blamed the incident on the doll being picked up, it was too much for Charlotte and Ji-Hyun who soon left the asylum to make their way back to the tent to rejoin Ha-Joon. One other odd tidbit was that while in the lab there was a video that featured all six together. But while watching it live Ha-Joon muttered to himself, 'If all six are in the video who is doing the filming?'.

 This was the oddest scene of them all as it was so dark it was hard to tell what was gong on but one thing we did see was that Charlotte's and Ji-Hyun's lives didn't last much longer. While heading back to the tent they ran into a small building, was that there before? The answer is no and before they entered it Ji-Hyun was overcome by some evil spirit which you can see above. She hid in that building and when Charlotte went to investigate this 'thing' was now no longer Ji-Hyun who quickly ended the life of Charlotte but it was so hard to tell how it happened though now two of the seven have met their end. Make that three out of seven for at about the same time in the asylum Seung-Wook also met his demise. Seems his picking up of the doll awakened these spirits which were never actually seen by us or the viewers watching this live broadcast. When Seung-Wook tried to flee from this unseen spirit he was lifted off the ground and strangled in mid air! With the broadcast still going live above Sung-Hun told Ah-Yeon and Je-Yoon that many of these incidents had been staged, back in the tent Ha-Joon was so furious with that confession as the broadcast now had over 800,000 live viewers.

 But Sung-Hun did admit that everything that had taken place since the doll was picked up wasn't staged and what's been going on since is the doing of the evil spirits. By now the trio has made it to the top floor and will be soon entering the legendary room #402. It had been sealed off tightly but Je-Yoon had a blowtorch which has broken off the lock and seals. Some things are better left alone and with all that had been happening why chance angering the spirits even more? But that's what the three did as they finally nudged open the door and entered this doom room. One thing that hadn't bene mentioned because it didn't happen too often was the hearing of a ping-pong ball. Hospital legend has it when you hear one bouncing it means a tragedy is about to take place, just as the trio were about to enter room #402 Ah-Yeon heard the sound of a ping-pong ball and it was one of the last sounds she would ever hear! That's because she and Je-Yoon would soon meet their fate the same way as Seung-Wook did with a mysterious force surrounding them, lifting them off the floor while strangling them to death!!!!

 Back at the tent Ha-Joon had no clue what's befallen his mates. Sung-Hun's confession hasn't affected the viewership total yet and before his friend could do any more damage Ja-Hoon dashed to the hospital, during this time Sung-Hun met the same fate as his other mates by being strangled in mid air by a spirit! Ha-Joon eventually made it to this very evil room #402 and it was a mystery why a room on the third floor would be flooded with water. You can see above in the second to last screenshot that the organizer of this ghost hunt Ja-Hoon met the same tragic fate as the four others in the asylum, with Charlotte and Ji-Hyun being the first two killed it meant all seven met their ends in about a one hour stretch. The cameras were still rolling and the viewers at home were confused on what took place but none saw any of the actual deaths. Seems many left the show after Seung-Wook's confession about things being staged but I wonder if any of the actual deaths did appear on a video that someone taped? With that this review comes to it's conclusion and finally did one reasonably well.

 If there's one problem I've always had is trying to explain too much of what took place in a drama or movie. For the first time in a long time think a review turned out well as I was able to relate most of what took place without giving away all that many spoilers. So while you now know most of what took place left out many minor things in case you want to view this and it's a film I will recommend. Didn't go in with high hopes but did find this to be a very creepy/eerie film, one that was a bit difficult to describe it's bizarre happenings. Will give this a rating of 8.4/10 which is a decent grade and this is a movie I'll watch again so bet when that happens the rating will be a bit higher. Plenty of screenshots below to help you follow the story a bit better and they do follow the action as it happened. Am taking  a break from dramas for a while so hope to have at least one movie review a week going for a while, hopefully can have two some weeks and most will be for horror flicks.