The Strangers

Un film de deux heures et demie, destiné au public sud-coréen, un mélange typiquement incohérent de comédie, de drame familial et surtout d'horreur, avec des démons, des chamans, des zombies, une fille possédée et beaucoup de sang. De nombreuses scènes individuellement géniales, mais dans l'ensemble, cela ne peut pas être pris au sérieux, ne serait-ce que par les personnages qui se comportent comme des idiots. Dommage, car la qualité de production est élevée et l'ambition d'innover avec les clichés du genre se ressent dans les retournements de situation de la dernière partie. [Cannes] JEREMIE (19/05/2016)

A richer horror sub-genre blend than I expected. That naked old man with blazing red eyes will probably haunt my dreams for a few days, thanks a lot! Perhaps it is overstuffed, there are so many motifs and evil or potentially evil entities that I’m not entirely sure that I got everything, but the overall impression is very positive nonetheless. (24/07/2016)

A acclaimed Korean affair that has rocked festivals, cinemas and audiences from an acclaimed director who has made brutal thrillers like The Chaser and The Yellow Sea and strikes again. The Wailling is perhaps a mix of all genres from horror (there is exorcism, gore, contagion, virus) with elements of comedy, crime and thriller, and surprisingly it works. As a downside I see the running time of 156 minutes, which is considerably excessive, but thankfully boredom doesn't happen. There are fantastic scenes, strongly atmospheric and dense, the uncomfortable stuffiness is simply in the air, but I was expecting a bit more gore given the hype and the director's experience, and I didn't find the finale intense enough to chop me up and feel excited. But it's still a high quality film, solidly directed and imagined. If you like Korean filmmaking, don’t miss this one. Story 8/10, Atmosphere 8/10, Gore 5/10, Visuals 7/10, Action 4/10, Suspense 6/10, Humor 3/10. Entertainment 6/10, Scares 0/10. 75%. (25/07/2016)

A film as treacherous, captivating, cunning and unpredictable as the Devil himself. The Wailing is the perfect fulfilment of the basic horror principle that the most frightening thing is the loss of rational certainties, which is felt not only by the film’s characters, but primarily by its viewers. (08/01/2017)

The Wailing definitely had the makings of an excellent film. The atmosphere, the village, the cast, a few funny moments in the beginning, and the odd case that the viewer is actually looking forward to solving. But the more supernatural it started to get, the more my hope for a solid script diminished. Then the red eyes, the shamans start showing up, and it ends up being a bit of a nonsensical mishmash. At least they managed to keep the suspense up. 3 stars. (13/12/2016)

An interesting Korean genre mix where it pays to follow all the themes closely. Everything may not fit 100% as it should in the end (more accurately – as I imagined it would), but the overall impression of a fairly original crime drama with a distinct mystery atmosphere remains strong nonetheless. If its main investigator had a more in-depth (or more seriously) fleshed out character, it might even have made the cut. Indeed, at times I felt that some of the characters were caricatures of themselves, which I can't quite connect with. 3.5 stars (06/07/2019)