April 22, 2008
Black House
Rick Dunn READ TIME: 1 MIN.
A smash hit in it's native country of South Korea, Black House is the second film adaptation of Yusuke Kishi's 1997 hit novel, but it wisely avoids the comic trappings of the first and instead aims right for the jugular.
Korean film star Hwang Jeong-min plays against type as a nerdy insurance investigator who turns his attention to the owner of an exceptionally art-directed, run-down home when he finds the man's son hanging and daddy looking to claim insurance money. Of course, it's not that easy -- and neither of are a few of the film's impenetrable sequences that defy logic, but remain gripping.
Like all Korean and Japanese horror films of the past decade, there's a major twist at the film's midpoint where it transcends routine crime thriller into full-tilt horror show. While style tends to overwhelm substance -- and sometimes common sense - "Black House" is a welcome, compelling rental.
An EDGE Founding Editor, Rick Dunn's writing has appeared in Bay Windows, The Windy City Times, Washington Blade, among many others. He also initiated The Boston Globe's very first (and last) gay column, Out & About in 2001. He was the editor of In Newsweekly from 1996 to 2003.
