Intruders: An Overabundance of Characters

So there's this screenwriter, see. And he's scammed a month at an out-of-the-way B&B that's owned by his agent or producer. The writer needs time away to finish his latest script! On the bus to his self-made literary retreat, he's befriended by a quirky, clingy guy who has recently been released from prison and who's brother is a cop. Once the screenwriter gets to the snowy cabin in the woods, he leases out the vacation home nextdoor to some partying skiers with a tagalong girlfriend because he wants to make a few extra bucks. Or he's scared about being alone so far from civilization. Or he's irresponsible by nature. I wasn't sure. I wasn't worried about it.

There are gunshots that keep him on edge. There's a wood trapdoor in the backyard that leads somewhere creepy and dark. Even the random little urn of kimchi stored outside seems ominous. Is it big enough to hold a head? Regardless, what exactly is going on? Well, eventually, there's murder, a stabbing, a few shootings, a sexual assault, and the eating of a raw hunk of meat that one suspects may be human flesh. (This time it tastes more like pork than chicken.) Sadly, all this action comes at the very end and who's killing who and why and whether our hero survives is unclear. TV news bulletins suggest some North Korean soldiers may be running loose among the trees but does Intruders really want to blame its problems on the neighbors from Pyongyang? Is this a fright flick, a thriller or a mystery? What kind of wine do cannibals drink?

The Witch: Part 1 - The Subversion: Woman-Made

"Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" Glinda famously asks upon first encountering Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. The same can be asked of Yoon Koo-ja (Kim Da-mi), the high school student who keeps her dark powers under wraps while caring for the enfeebled parents who adopted her after finding her bloody young body in their field when she was young. She seems nice on the surface: She's gets good grades, helps around the farm, and likes to sing a pop version of "Danny Boy." But is that the whole story here? Of course not!

Incorporating a mad scientist (a deliciously evil Jo Min-soo), a stylish henchman (Park Hee-soon), and a pack of teen, English-speaking witches led by a tossel-haired teenybopper (Choi Woo-sik) and his knife-wielding sidekick (Jung Da-eun), Park Hoon-jung's spellbinding, supernatural thriller is a wild grab-bag of scifi elements: diabolical military training programs, psychologically twisted genetic engineering, amped-up generational warfare, and the lone warrior against the system all get their due. The movie also includes a preposterous Star Search-style TV talent contest and a goofball best friend (Go Min-si) who inexplicablly wears a curler in her bangs. The quirks are icing on the cake. The question remains: Is the proverbial cake poisoned? And will we need to see The Witch: Part 2 in order to find out? If the second half is as good as the first, then I'm up for Part 3 and Part 4 as well.

#Alive: Metaphor for the Moment

If you're looking for a movie that translates the anxiety of self-quarantine during the year of the Coronavirus, I may have found the perfect film for you. Entitled #Alive, Cho Il-hyeong's zombie thriller has a timely mix of isolation, paranoia, desperation, and insanity. Its hero — bleached-blond gamer Jun-woo (Yoo Ah-in) — is basically an everday Joe whose everday world completely disappears when an airborn virus mysteriously turns the majority of the population into rabid cannibals with cataracted eyes. A good part of the movie involves him all alone holed up in his apartment while failing to get word from the outside world and figuring out how to survive off a poorly stocked fridge while watching human-monsters run around the streets in search of food like him.

Eventually he develops a survival-friendship (with a touch of a crush) with a young woman (Park Shin-hye) who lives in the residential complex across the street; she's equally suicidal but somewhat savvier and unquestionably more savage when it comes to fighting off the enemy. (I mean, she wields a mean scythe, although why she has one is less clear. Then again, who cares?) Each becomes the other's main support — together, yet at a distance — as they navigate a sucky reality where stepping outside is suddenly high-risk and your neighbors cannot be automatically trusted. I can't say it's as great as Train to Busan but as zombie flicks go, it's not just well-timed. It's exhillarating! It's also a reminder that things could always get worse. So here's to tomorrow!

Disappearance: A Haunted House Is Not a Home

How desperate are people to get likes on social media? Well, in Ansan, barely legal vlogger Minsu (Kim Juheon) — who used to specialize in food porn — is taking his fans on a live-recorded tour of a notorious haunted house that's been causing deaths for 30 years or so. It's a dark and filthy place with trash everywhere but a flashback of his humble apartment suggests a kind of "single and not-ready-to-mingle" status that's also ugly despite being clean. Will he die too? Does he secretly want to? And will he get more likes if he does?

He's certainly in need of validation. Past clips of him listening to his mother play Chopin on an upright piano while his couch potato father watches televised sports (with an attitude) make clear that socializing techniques were not taught in his childhood home. Neither were strong observational skills. A mysteriously cloaked object in the bathroom distracts him from some pretty cool tile work; a squiggly line on the wallpaper leads to a closet housing a doll that sends him into a hyperventilating fit. Breathe, Minsu, Breathe!

So what else? Hmm. A shadowy figure is glanced on a fallen mirror. A weird growl comes out of nowhere. A phone receiver hangs in the middle of the hallway. Broken glass is everywhere underfoot. Scary? Not for me. Sad? Definitely for its protagonist. In Jang Junyeop's mini-fright-flick "Disappearance," this lone videographer's final attempt at building his online audience is going to call up some painful family memories that may have him wishing he'd chosen a different hobby. I'm thinking improv might've been better.

Miss Baek: Not Without Her Daughter

Mothers rescuing their children... That's nothing new. What's rarer is mother's rescuing other people's chidren. Which is what Lee Ji-won's harrowing melodrama Miss Baek is all about — a disturbed, antisocial workaholic (Han Ji-min) who, when she isn't rejecting her patient boyfriend (Lee Hee-joon), is befriending a destitute little girl (Kim Si-uh) whose gamester daddy (Baek Soo-jang) and his sadistic soulmate (Kwon So-Hyeon) are abusing their young charge with a viciousness that'll make you gasp. Failed by her neighbors, the cops, and the local social service agencies despite obvious evidence of torture, poor ragamuffin Ji-eun has taken to the streets in search of food scraps, a decent change of clothes, and a sympathetic word.

What a relief to see her get all that and a trip to a seaside amusement park. With her scarred legs, knotted hair, and butchered pinky finger, this kid should be set up with the Make-a-Wish foundation for seasonal check-ins and rewards. Cinderella has nothing on her. Plus, she doesn't need a pumpkin to change into a riding coach or a nest of mice to transform into footmen. As for her gritty fairy godmother, Miss Baek lacks the bippity-boppity-boo to make such large-scale miracles come true. Limitations notwithstanding, this new self-appointed guardian recognizes Ji-eun needs a new family, even if it scares the shit out of her to get involved. So what might this non-traditional family look like? To its credit, Miss Baek avoids the obvious feel-good answer. Life can get better. Here's the caveat: You've got to put yourself out of hell.