Review of A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) by Jareth S — 12 Nov 2010

This S.Korean modern classic is one of the finest Asian horror films ever made and my personal favorite. Unfortunately, some people seem to have come to it expecting typical generic horror scares and weren't ready for a film with a bit more thought put into it. It's not a typical horror film and probably shouldn't be approached as such. It's more involved with the psychology of why this house is haunted than it is with manufacturing generic jump scares. The film is also beautiful to look at thanks to excellent production design on the house's interiors. If you're looking for another Ringu clone, you might want to look elsewhere.

There's a Hollywood remake called The Uninvited, which kept a few of the main details and radically altered the rest. Whilst some generic horror fans might prefer a movie padded with a bunch of extra nonsense, demonstrating a lack of faith in the original story, AToTS is a much better film that trusts it audience to be intelligent enough to follow the story instead of holding their hands and treating them like idiots.

I also recommend Kim Jee-woon's dark comedy about murder THE QUIET FAMILY (remade by Miike as the also excellent HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS), his gangster film A BITTERSWEET LIFE, and even his goofy repressed wrestling fan/office worker vigilante story THE FOUL KING.