Reviewed by Neil Davey
Featuring Woo-seong Kam, Jung Suh, Kyeong-heon Kang, Hyeong-seong Jang, Byung-ho Son, Seung-kil Jeong, Won-sang Park, Yeong Yun, Yeong-jae Kim, Seong-cheol Jang
UK certification 18 | UK RRP £14.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 120 minutes| Written & Directed by Il-gon Song
Usually at this point, we'd start a Screenjabber review with a synopsis of the relevant film. Supernatural Korean thriller Spider Forest is going to be an exception. We'll give it a go, of course, but the labyrinthine nature of the plot and the general darkness of the film itself has left us baffled.
It appears to be about a man who comes across a secluded cabin, discovers two bloodied corpses, and is attacked himself by the murderer. He's then run over by a passing car. He comes round 14 days later, finds himself the prime suspect, and tries to piece together the events of that night. However, his memories are unclear. Are the events he describes the truth? The flashbacks of a delusional man? The result of a fevered imagaination and 14 days of unconsciousness? Or possibly all of the above.
If you're thinking it sounds like a Korean David Lynch film... you're not far off. It's certainly stylish, undoubtedly enigmatic and well made enough to garner four stars. However, while it probably rewards further viewings, I'm two viewings in now and I'm still scratching my head, hence it loses a star for crossing the border between smart and smartarse.
According to the director, he wrote the real story, than added a dream because “Desire changes the reality … into the unreal. That's why I had the idea to write two stories about this character. And then I started to mix what was real and what was his dream, what he really wants.” Then he added — quite superfluously, frankly— that he “started to make it a mystery as well.”
And he certainly succeeded. If you're looking for something a little more challenging than the norm, something to stroke your beard over for hours on end, you won't be disappointed. But if you like your films to have a beginning, middle and an end, in that order, and on the first time through, then this isn't one for you.
EXTRAS None. And if ever a film cried out for a commentary or some more information, it's this one.