Letter #138: The Halloween Movie Spooktacular!

Good morning, Erin—and HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

When I went trick-or-treating as a child, it was always, always cold outside, which meant my mom would not take my sisters and me out unless we were properly dressed for the cold—which meant, no matter how clever or elaborate our costumes were, they were always hidden underneath our winter coats. And whatever excitement I may have had about dressing like my favorite cartoon hero of the moment would immediately start to dissipate…only made worse once we were actually outside, as my natural shyness when talking to people I didn’t know (especially adults I didn’t know) crept steadily closer to the forefront of my mind with every doorbell we rang. Which, for some reason, I would forget was going to be the case when it rolled around the next year. 

I know. Think of all the fun you missed out on because we didn’t know each other as kids. 

Now, I’ve already told you I’m not the biggest fan of Halloween, and that’s true even apart from the above-mentioned underwhelming experiences. But even I have my traditions: eating Reese’s peanut butter cups, saying I read Jeph Loeb’s classic Batman: The Long Halloween every year even though I haven’t read it in 5 or 6 years, and taking off from work on the 31st so I can avoid participating in any kind of office celebrations.

Something very much not on my list of traditions, though, is watching scary movies. Not my bag. Not a horror fan. But, much like with K-pop, that doesn’t mean I don’t like a lot of things that fall into that category—whether they would be considered “scary movies” or not. (Horde of fast zombies? I’m in. Unkillable ax murderer hunting teens in the forest? Pass. (...banal day-in-the-life story peppered with sudden music spikes as a CGI ghost leaps out of nowhere? DOUBLE-PASS.))

Well, in light of the holiday, I thought now might be a good time to watch some spooky-ish films that caught my interest and, y’know, tell you how it went. 

So, grab a bagful of candy and a blanket to hide under—there be frights afoot.

I. Alienoid 2

The sequel to Alienoid 1, in which Kim Tae-ri and a wacky band of fantastical folks from the distant past try to stop an alien conspiracy from jumping forward in time to destroy humanity…by accidentally helping the aliens jump forward in time. 

1. …what? The aliens are vaguely scary—it counts.

2. This movie is bonkers, and I totally dug it. It’s all the good stuff from the first one—the weirdness, the fun, the action, the humor—but starting the moment the movie begins (which makes sense, considering we’re picking up right from where we left off in the previous film) instead of having to slowly build up to it. If you liked the first one, you should really like this one. 

3. The movie begins with Kim Tae-ri narrating a recap of the first film—and she is giving it 150%, let me tell you. As if any of this should be taken seriously. It’s all so goofy. I mean, not to her, apparently, since she’s fully committed to the dramatic read, but…that gave me a good chuckle. 

4. Got some new folks added to the cast—which means we’ve got a new round of “Hey, I know you!” to talk about:

• the paralegal from Vincenzo as a…bounty hunter or something

• the dad from Revenant as the blind monk

• Third Floor from The 8 Show as the monk with the fan and the two magical cat sidekicks

4A. So, when I say the dude playing the blind monk was “the dad” in Revenant, I mean he was, of course, Kim Tae-ri’s character’s father in that show, so we’ve got a fun mini-reunion there.

4B. And then there’s the guy who played Third Floor in The 8 Show, who was absolutely in the first movie, but I didn’t recognize him from Alienoid 1 when I was watching The 8 Show. But I totally recognized him when he first showed up in this one—which is especially funny because, as it turns out, he was totally the male lead in Little Forest (making this another Kim Tae-ri mini-reunion!), and I didn’t recognize him in any of the things I saw him in after that. 

5. The paralegal from Vincenzo is always funny, and his comedy fight scene in this definitely delivers the laughs. The dude can land a joke. 

6. Kim Tae-ri continues to absolutely rock the fight/action scenes. This just seems to click, for her. And I continue to want to see more of this from her. In fact, let’s take a look at what she has coming up… [type type type] She’s going to play a young woman who wants to join an acting troupe in the 1950s. Hmm. Probably not a lot of leaping off buildings in that one. Nerts. 

6A. Wait—Young Main Bully from The Glory is in it, too? Oh, that’s neat, I migh—GASP! And also Piano Girl from Vincenzo?! Oh, bump this up my list, thank you.

7. When the plot jumps back to modern times, the actors from the first film who weren’t in it for very long get another whack at their scenes, this time for slightly longer (and from a slightly different angle), which is nice.

8. …including the cameo-filled mayhem at the hospital from the start of the first movie. But the best part about this is that they show us the chaos as it was recorded on little girl Kim Tae-ri’s phone—which, of course, when we see it, is just the scene as we saw it play out in the first movie, but this time on a phone. Which is hilarious because A) to remind us that she has this footage on her phone, the movie replays the whole scene where she’s running around the hospital avoiding the aliens…which is essentially the footage we then rewatch when we see it on her phone; and B) the scene we watch play out from the first movie that ends up on her phone ends with her running into frame and pulling out her phone to record the chaos—that is, the footage that we watch on her phone is of what happened in the minute or so before she took out her phone to record. Because that’s what was filmed for the first movie, so it’s what they had. And I don’t know if anyone else noticed it, but…I did.

II. Exhuma

A shaman, an undertaker, and a feng shui master team up to perform a ritual that will ensure the peaceful transmission of a buried body from one grave to another. It does not go as planned. 

1. If you thought I went into this movie completely blind and only selected it because Kim Go-eun was in it…then you’re right. I genuinely had no idea what Exhuma was about when I started it: from a glance at the poster, I guessed it was maybe about magic or that someone was a robot or something—so, like, I assumed it wasn’t a romcom, basically, and that was about it. Which it wasn’t. ‘Cus turns out it’s a tense supernatural semi-horror movie. And really, really good. Compelling story, good pacing, solid character, great tone. If you are at all interested in something mystical and thrilling (rather than scary or gruesome), definitely give it a go.

1A. Plus, you might enjoy some of the cast. Just…y’know, if I were to guess. 

2. To wit:

• Eun-tak from Goblin as the shaman

• Glasses Brother from Sweet Home (see?) as the shaman’s assistant

• the PTA mom from Crash Course in Romance as the shaman’s seonbae

• the cute tendril monster girl from Sweet Home 2 + 3 (mini-reunion!) as the shaman’s hubae

• the director of neurology from Bad-Memory Eraser as a grieving family member

3. Kim Go-eun is excellent in this. Totally unsurprising, I know, but it needs to be said. Like, she doesn’t even sound like herself. I know I sometimes gush, but she’s just that good. All the time. 

3A. Y’know, I’m starting to wonder if I need to rethink my “best actresses” list a little bit. Because as great as Jeon Yeo-been is, I’ve seen her struggle in a couple of roles (none her fault)—but Kim Go-eun is always, always good. Or maybe I need to seek out something awful that she’s been in and see how she fares, first. Hmm. 

4. The old dude playing the feng shui master (or “geomancer,” per the subtitles) was also really good. Just for the record. 

5. The actor playing the rich first-generation American with the sick baby had a great American accent. 

6. In case you were wondering, the title, Exhuma, is short for exhumation—which is what our protagonists do: they unbury dead bodies and rebury them in more mystically satisfactory places (which is meant to ease the unsettled spirits of the dead). Figuring that out was fun. 

7. Having watched Possessed Love, I am, of course, an expert on shamanism, so I had some questions about why we weren’t hearing anything from the shaman’s deity (the spirit she’s possessed with that makes her a shaman), like warnings or insights—and then, just as I was finally compelled to take off points, the movie had a scene where she spoke to her deity, and I (again, the expert on shamanism) was satisfied. 

8. We pretty much start the movie with a scene of Kim Go-eun having a short conversation in Japanese, a detail the movie points out pretty quickly, yes, but one my ears picked up on first—and not in the way I normally would. No, rather than recognizing the Japanese itself, what first tipped me off was how uneven Kim Go-eun’s delivery sounded off. I quickly realized it was because she wasn’t speaking Korean, and I went from there. 

9. …which is maybe the only negative I have for the movie—and I’m not sure if it’s more to do with me than with the movie, but…if you know a little Japanese and especially if you know a little about Japanese folklore, one of the big eureka! moments in the movie is painfully obvious well in advance of the reveal. I spent a chunk of the film loudly telling my TV that [X] was clearly [Y] because [Japanese stuff I know]. It’s not so big a deal that it hurt my enjoyment of the film, but it certainly wasn’t quite as exciting as it would have been to discover the truth along with the protagonists. 

9A. …though, because of this, I absolutely consider it a strike against the movie that the shaman didn’t figure it out when I did BECAUSE SHE SPEAKS JAPANESE. And, y’know, knows about supernatural stuff. This should have been obvious to her, no?

III. The Priests

A disinterested seminarian is asked to assist a disgraced priest perform an exorcism on a dying young woman. 

1. Generally speaking, I knew what this movie was about before I watched it. The question I can’t answer, though, is why I had it set aside to watch. Because I didn’t come up with the theme for this letter until sometime in September…and I’d downloaded this movie waaaaay before that. I’ve never watched or been interested in exorcism movies, so it wasn’t the genre. And it’s not like one of my K-drama girlfriends is in it. So…I dunno. But I had it available to me. And I did want to do an on-theme Halloween letter. So, presumably I will send myself back in time to download the file when the me from the past isn’t around, thus ensuring a closed time loop and, more pertinently, that the movie is available for me to watch as part of this letter. 

2. The version of the movie I tracked down was fansubbed—and it was a singular experience, let me tell you. Because I’m pretty sure it’s an English translation of the Chinese subtitles, rather than of the spoken Korean. 

2A. Why do I think that? Well, it could be how, though the English is usually okay enough, its grammatical stumbles are typical of the syntactical differences between Chinese and English…or maybe how every Korean character had a Chinese name in the subtitles. 

2B. Relatedly, the movie starts with two Catholic priests speaking about needing to fly to Korea to perform an exorcism—and one of them says that demons fear “god.” Yes—lowercase god. 

3. The initial discussion by the Korean priests about whether or not to acknowledge the case that is the focus of this movie—and, by extension, the disgraced priest—is much more unserious than it probably should be, because, though exorcisms are (supposedly) rare occurrences, these is a very real criteria that needs to be met during an investigation by the Church to determine if they’re dealing with credible demonic possession. That is, the priests in the meeting are almost entirely dismissive of the case in a way that struck me as a bit unrealistic—but also totally how you’d write the scene as shorthand exposition for an audience that might not be aware of Catholicism’s broad thoughts about (and general reticence regarding) exorcisms. So, especially since the scene wants to get across that they think the disgraced priest is a kook and a troublemaker, I guess I can’t complain about it too much.

4. I knew a surprising number of people in this one:

• the younger baby trafficker from Broker as the seminarian

• the widower from The Frog as the disgraced priest

• the daughter from the poor con-artist family in Parasite as the dying girl

• Ji-ho’s dad from Because This is My First Life as the doctor

• the time-traveling killer from A Time Called You as a cop

4A. And to add a little Halloween flare to this…we’ve got an indirect mini-reunion of sorts: both the dying girl and the seminarian starred in movies with actor Song Kang-ho—that I’ve seen! (Parasite for her, and Broker for him.) Whatta ya think of that, hmm? Feel unsettled, right? Yeah, if you find mild coincidences eerie, I bet you’re so spooked, right now. I am awesome at Halloween!

5. Interesting that the movie uses the Rosicrucians as some kind of illusive sect within the Catholic Church when they are both a really niche reference and, significantly, entirely unrelated to Catholicism. That is, considering that very few people would even know who the Rosicrucians are, it seemed doubly strange to use them as some kind of specialist order of exorcists when basically any made-up thing would narratively achieve the same thing. Again, since practically no one in the audience will have heard of them, there’s no real harm in using them in this role, but…I do know a little about them, and it made me raise an eyebrow. (Because, to me, for this to make sense, you’d have to establish that there was a cabal within the Church that was nominally Catholic and using it as cover to access information and/or power to help fuel its occult practices or something.)

6. I’m no expert, but I don’t think priests need a pig to cast the possessing demons into when performing exorcisms. It is, however, a fun detail to add, since it harkens back to the Gospel story of Jesus exorcising Legion and casting the demons into a herd of pigs. 

7. Speaking of: the section of the movie that concerns itself with the pig is fantastic. Easily the most engaging, thrilling, and compelling part of the story. 

8. …which is to say that the movie is okay, overall. I don’t think it’s scary nor is it gory, so I don’t think it’s too especially horror-y. Like Exhuma, I’d say it’s more “intense supernatural” than “horror.” But, at the same time, there isn’t a whole lot of story to it, so it’s unlikely anyone would be hooked by the plot, such as it is. 

9. Oh! I forgot to mention: the seminarian is quite a charming character. I liked him a lot.

10. Okay, one last bit of #Catholicism for you: Latin chants and prayers are typically used during exorcisms—because there is literal power in spoken Latin words, certainly in terms of their effect on demons. Now, if I’m not mistaken, the Church’s official stance is that any approved rituals will have the same effect against demonic possession, regardless of the language that is used…and that’s where things get interesting. Because the reason Latin is so powerful against demons is because it is the official language of the Church and, as such, has become entwined with the sacred rites of the religion—that is, because of its constant use in Church rituals (from prayers to the Mass as a whole), Latin became representative of the spiritual might of the Church and, therefore, the most effective language for combatting demons. Which left many people wondering why, in the 1960s, then-Pope John XXIII did away with the Latin Mass and had everyone switch over to their native languages. Was it a deliberate lowering of the Churches defenses, hidden behind a promise that the change to vernacular would better serve Catholics in their understanding of the Mass? Perhaps…or perhaps not. But, according to exorcist Father Malachi Martin, a secret cabal at the highest levels of the Catholic Church performed a dark ritual not long after overturning the Latin Mass that brought the devil into the Vatican, where he has literally walked the halls for decades. 

10A. …at least, that’s the story. 

IV. Train to Busan

A man accompanies his young daughter on a trip to visit her mother (his ex-wife). Coincidentally, the zombie apocalypse kicks off just as their train leaves the station. 

1. I remember thinking this movie was great, back when I saw it in 2019, and what better time than a Halloween movie spooktacular to revisit it and see if my thoughts have changed at all in five years?

2. Verdict: yeah, it still rocks. Everything about it is great: pacing, characters, plot progression, performances, shocks and twists and turns—all of it. If you somehow haven’t seen it, do it as soon as you are able. It’s great. 

2A. I’m still shocked at how little plot armor our band of protagonists has. 

2B. No spoilers, but…I still got very anxious about what happened at the very, very end. Like, I remembered it exactly—but it still stressed me out. Incredible stuff. 

2C. Plus…plenty of Hyundai logos.

3. Now, we both know I knew Mr. Goblin from this movie before I even knew he was Mr. Goblin (and, funnily enough, knew Eun-tak before I knew Eun-tak!), but I was surprised to see that there were a handful of people I now know after having watched nearly 150 K-dramas:

• the main guy from Our Beloved Summer as a high school baseball player

• Doctor Guy’s little sister in Thirty-Nine as the girl who likes the high school baseball player

• the chief’s lackey from Inspector Koo as the train engineer

• Start-Up Dead Dad from Start-Up as the high school baseball coach

4. The chunky guy (who I eventually saw in Badlands Hunter) is still f***ing awesome. But, this time through, I thought his pregnant wife was f***ing awesome, too. And quite pretty. 

4A. Hang on…I think we can add a little Halloween flare to this one, as well—‘cus we’ve got another indirect mini-reunion of sorts: the chunky guy stars in this with the main guy from Our Beloved Summer, but I also saw him in Badlands Hunter with NJ from Our Beloved Summer. So, whatta ya think of THAT? Unsettling? Eerie? Yeah, I am awesome at Halloween!

5. Not gonna lie: I spent most of the movie wishing the girl from Thirty-Nine was Saet-byul’s little sister from Backstreet Rookie, instead. 

6. Whatever else happens in this movie, nothing made me more uncomfortable than looking over the cast list and wondering who the cute girl I didn’t recognize was…and then realizing she was the protagonist’s young daughter. Because this movie was made 10 years ago, and she’s 18, now. 

7. If nothing else, this movie is yet another warning that if the authorities tell you something that insists you “can’t trust your lying eyes,” just don’t listen to them. 

And that’s that.

…except for this B-B-B-B-BONUS CONTENT!!!

V. Over the Garden Wall

A young teen and his little brother find themselves lost in a surreal, autumnal countryside that is both much more innocent and much more dangerous than it appears.

1. When autumn rolls around, I now think of Phoebe Bridgers’s first album and Over the Garden Wall. And both of those things make me think of you. But, while there’s certainly a hint of a haunting quality about Punisher, it isn’t really spooky by any means. Over the Garden Wall, on the other hand, is carved from stone of the uncanny, making it the perfect capper to this letter—and, I hope, a pleasant surprise.

2. I gotta say…I feel exactly the same way about this as I did the first time through. Which, considering I enjoyed it the first time through, is a good thing!

3. I still really, really, really identify with Wirt. 

4. Wirt x Beatrice is still my favorite part of the show. I love their chemistry, especially once they open up to each other and…I don’t want to say it’s quite the start of a romantic relationship, but it’s not not that, either. They are the only ones to coax the other into getting past their fears of revealing who they really are inside, and that intimacy is the spark that leads them both to their redemptions. I’d have taken three more episodes of just them talking, honestly. The only real tragedy of the story is that Wirt and Beatrice have to separate at the end, if you ask me—even if the story doesn’t quite treat it as such. (Maybe on Beatrice’s end, when we see her as a human again.)

5. I can’t believe I didn’t realize the voice of Beatrice was crazy Rose from Two-and-a-Half Men. (My sister and I used to watch that show after I’d pick her up from work in the summer, back in the day.)

6. In Episode 4, when the boys are at the inn, Wirt is asked what his “role” is, and the folks there keep pitching archetypes in the hopes of properly identifying him. However, it struck me that “elder brother” is never suggested. Perhaps this is deliberate insofar as it is meant to emphasize that Wirt has not yet taken up the role of being, well, any kind of brother to Greg, yet, which, if true, is quite interesting, since, in Episode 1, the Woodsman tells Wirt that he’s responsible for Greg/Greg’s actions as the elder brother. 

7. Speaking of the Woodsman: his story is classic fairytale—and so strong that it’s almost a disservice to the show. It’s full of pathos, intrigue, and dramatic irony, meaning it could very well stand on its own two feet, irrespective of Wirt and Greg's journey to find the way home…and that it has to compete with the boys for narrative superiority is unfair to both.

8. The Beast still creeps me out.

9. …and I still don’t like the final confrontation with the Beast—in that it is so quick and easy and dismissive. As Wirt tells the Woodsman, the Beast and the lantern are his trouble to deal with—and yet, in so doing, Wirt totally undercuts the Beast’s menace and power, essentially resolving the issue before almost immediately abandoning the Unknown to return to their home. I know the show is aware that this is not the ideal climax to the story (because the narrator quickly tells us that “everyone” is happy with the ending, which is a cheeky, self-conscious misdirect), but lampshading it doesn’t make it better. 

And that really is that, this time. 

I’ve already gorged myself on Reese’s peanut butter cups, which is as Halloween as it gets. 

I hope you have at least as good a day as that.

More soon.

—Daryl