Prior to reviewing the film on Blu-ray, I’d heard quite a lot about Exhuma, nearly all of it very positive. So I approached it with somewhat elevated expectations, especially since a majority of the South Korean horror films I’ve seen have been pretty damn good.
And there’s a lot to love about Exhuma. Establishing a dark tone and deliberate pace right away, this one bares more narrative and stylistic similarities to The Wailing than Train to Busan. But unlike The Wailing, which was good but often rambling and way too long (my minority opinion), this one stays more on-point, though the story itself isn’t without issues of its own.
Professional geomancer Kim Sang-deok (Choi Min-sik), shaman Lee Hwa-rim (Kim Go-eun) and mortician Yeong-geun (Yoo Hae-jin) come to the aid of a wealthy family whose long-dead grandfather has been haunting the dreams of all the males, including the newborn son of Park Ji-yong (Kim Jai-cheol). This involves exhuming his casket from a remote gravesite and performing a ritual that would banish him to the hereafter for good. But when someone opens the coffin, the ghost is freed. Worse yet, he’s plenty pissed and hell bent killing all his heirs.
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| "I don't think this is gophers, Kim." |
Roughly comprising the first half of the film, this is a pretty fascinating story, particularly the scenes involving the shaman ceremonies, which look and sound authentic (I don’t know, or care, if they actually are). There’s also a lot of slow building tension and dread, punctuated by the “grandfather’s” ominous presence, which is effectively depicted through chilling sequences that don’t rely much on CGI.
But that’s only half the story. It turns out something else was buried with Grandpa…a huge, monstrous samurai ghoul that Kim Sang-deok foolishly digs up as well. Now they must contend with this entity, which has the power to possess one of their own. This aspect of the the film ups the violence and features a few wonderfully effective scenes. However, it also feels more like a standard-issue good versus evil story, rendered less effective by clearly showing - early and often - the demon our protagonists are facing. For the most part, the events of the first hour are forgotten, essentially making the film two tenuously-linked stories, and unfortunately, the second one isn’t quite as engaging.
Still, Exhuma is has enough wonderfully creepy moments to be worth worth watching, probably more than once. Intelligently written and boasting solid performances (especially Choi Min-sik’s), the narrative might be a little overstuffed, but overall, the film is immersive and atmospheric
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