On DVD Arang

Directed by Sang-hoon Ahn

Starring Yun-ah Song, Dong Wook Lee, Won jung Jeong

Another Asian horror film about a ghost?  Is this one of the good ones? Arang, directed by Sang-hoon Ahn (Pass Over) was recently released on DVD by Tartan Asia Extreme and I gave it a spin in the old DVD player.

The Movie

Arang tells the story of So-yeong (Yun-ah Song) a detective that is investigating the deaths of two men. These men have died in a very unusual way; they were poisoned from inside their bodies.

So-yeong, and her newbie partner Hyun-ki (Dong-wook Lee) begin to investigate the strange murders and quickly discover the disappearance of a teenage girl in a nearby coastal town. Could it be that a ghost has killed these men? And if so, for what reason? So-yeong and Hyun-ki will go through quite an ordeal before the mystery is solved.

Arang is not your typical ghost story. Sure, it has elements too similar to Ringu, The Eye or virtually any other Korean ghost story you can pull up from your memory banks. But, the real strength of this film is the performance by Yun-ah Song as So-yeong and the intriguing mystery that unfolds during the course of the film.

I learned through research that the story of Arang is based on an old Korean legend that tells the woeful tale of a young girl that was raped and her tale of revenge.

I hate to have to say this but, can someone please change the look of the ghosts in these Korean films? Every single female ghost has long flowing black hair, they amble slowly, staring at the floor, and most often, the dress is white and covered with blood. It was a bit scary the first time this imagery was used, but it is time for a fresh idea.

While there are elements of Arang that are derivative and certainly something you have seen before, the mystery that has to be solved and the performances certainly take this film up a few notches above anything ghost story being produced here in the states.

Is Arang worth plunking down your hard earned cash to make part of your Asian film collection? Possibly, although in my opinion, it is a definite strong contender to add to your Netflix queue for a night of eerie fun.

6.5/10

The Video

Arang is presented in widescreen. The overall transfer looks decent and colors are respectably vibrant. The black levels are reasonable.

7/10

The Audio

Arang is presented in Dolby 5.1 and DTS in the original Korean language with English subtitles. This is not the most dynamic of all film presentation, but suitable for the film presented.

7/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features

Arang is presented in a standard amaray case with a cardboard slipcover with some interesting artwork that captures the creepiness of the film nicely.

Some nice bonus features await your perusal on this release. First up, a commentary track with the director and several of the cast members is presented. This commentary is presented in Korean with English subtitles.

There are several featurettes and deleted scenes to explore on this release as well. Thre are also some interviews with cast members that give some valuable insight into the characters as well as discussing the interesting Korean legend certain elements of the story are based upon.

All things considered, a nice array of bonus features to accompany this spooky little tale from Korea.

7/10

Overall ( Not an Average) 7/10

Suzie Lackey

The Movie 6.5/10

The Video 7/10

The Audio 7/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features 7/10

Overall ( Not an Average) 7/10