Inhyeongsa

Plot synopsis:
60 years ago, a doll-maker and a woman in a red kimono (Jeong Yu-mi) fell in love in the Korean countryside, and the doll-maker made a doll in her image. Later, when the red kimono woman was found murdered, the blame was put on the doll-maker. He was arrested and killed by vigilantes in the woods. Not content to be without her maker, the doll sat by his grave for all eternity.
In present day, Hae-mi (Kim Yoo-mi), a sculptor, Tae-seong (Shim Hyung-tak), a model looking for work, Young-ha (Ok Ji-young), a woman who talks to her doll like it's alive, Jung-ki (Im Hyung-joon), a photographer, and Sun-young (Lee Ka-yeong), a ditzy high school student, arrive at an isolated doll museum after receiving an invitation that dolls will be made in their image. They are greeted by siblings Choi Jin-wan (Chun Ho-jin), the museum’s curator, and Im Jae-won (Kim Do-young), the paraplegic doll-maker.
Then, odd events begin to occur. Hae-mi catches sight of a mysterious young girl in a red dress who shows up repeatedly on the museum grounds. Tae-seong has an encounter with a doll that touches him, and it is revealed that the curator is keeping a man chained underground. Hae-mi finally meets the red-dress girl, learning that her real name is Mi-na (Lim Eun-kyung). Things take a nasty turn when someone destroys Young-ha's doll; Young-ha is found hanged. Panic arises in the group. Hae-mi is alarmed to find a crying Mi-na with bloody hands. Mi-na asks Hae-mi why she doesn't recognize or remember her, before fleeing in tears. Inside the house, Sun-young and Jung-ki are both murdered.
Hae-mi finally remembers that when she was younger, she had a doll that she loved so much that it gained a soul, resulting in Mi-na. Tae-seong reveals himself to be a police officer who had come to investigate a recent murder at the musem, and handcuffs Hae-mi in suspicion. However, Im reveals that she is possessed by the red kimono doll, who wants to avenge its maker; all the guests Im invited are the descendants of the doll-maker's vigilante killers. Angry at being rejected by Hae-mi, Mi-na admits to murdering the other guests and kills Tae-seong before going after Hae-mi. She stops her murder attempt when she sees Hae-mi's scar, remembering the childhood incident where Hae-mi protected her. However, Im destroys Mi-na's soul before attempting to finish off Hae-mi, who kills Im in defense.
The chained man, revealed to be Im's husband, escapes prison and kills the curator. He finds his dying wife, saying he regrets bringing the red kimono doll from the woods after all the trouble it caused. In the end, Hae-mi and Im's husband burn the dolls and the remaining corpses.

Tags: romantic, cruelty, murder, haunting

Review:
She decided she wanted to watch Closer, which seemed like such a repellant idea that I had to rent another film for once she'd gone to bed.
Just based on the cover sleeve (A woman with a doll-like face crying tears of blood) I thought this would be interesting enough to rent.As for the film itself, watching it in an almost empty house, with all the lights turned off it was pretty scary.
I must admit I've always had a bit of a phobia of dolls since I was a kid (and watched an awful film called Asylum, one of the stories in it involved a mental patient creating a doll which killed people.
The creepy foreboding atmosphere really set the scene well, and without moving the dolls seemed genuinely threatening.
But unfortunately as soon as they did start to move it all got a bit cheesy, I was a bit disappointed when moments that could have been genuinely frightening made me laugh because of the way they were filmed.As for the characters, it's a horror film, you're not really expecting anything memorable.
I found I remembered names and faces better than most Asian horror films I've seen, which suggests there must have been some hidden character development that I didn't consciously notice.
The typical stereotypes are out in force in this movie each one having some kind of character quirk that sets them apart from the others, from shy and quiet Yeong-ha and her doll Damien, to the outgoing bimbo Seon-yeong.The plot itself was fairly cool, even though the ending, which bought together many of the loose strands of plot, seemed a bit confused and didn't really do anything for me, although it did have a couple of really cool plot-twists that I won't ruin here.
The basic plot is a bunch of kids are invited to be modelled as dolls by a famous reclusive old doll maker, they have to stay in the creepy house (adorned with scary dolls, some big some small) and things start to happen as our heroine Hae-mi starts to explore areas of the house and things start happening to the other inhabitants.Overall, I would definitely recommend the film, not to watch with too many people as some of the moments would probably make you laugh if surrounded by friends, but as something too watch on your own in the dark, with the windows and doors open just a bit, just in case any dolls feel like watching with you.
Me and my friend went to see it during the Stockholm film festival and this was actually one of my favorite movies during the festival.
Dolls being used in horror movies aren't something new but I haven't seen that many movies were it has been as well carried out as it is in this movie.
Now if you expect this film to be another Grudge or Ring then you probably won't like it.
Even though it's pretty predictable and at some times laughable I still recommend this to anyone who likes horror flicks.
A passable South Korean horror with lotsa spooky dolls..
A cute sculptor Hae-mi and four other people are invited to a gallery of dolls.They are excited to pose to be a doll model.Superintendent Mr. Choi and Jae-won a doll-maker are the hosts who invite them to this gallery.After just being in the house a short while strange things start to happen to each one of the newly arrived guests and there are also other strange things going on there,like a man being chained in the basement and some weird acting girl in a red dress showing up every now and then.I must admit that the dolls in "The Doll Master" are spooky as hell.However the climax is disappointing and the pace is slow.Still "The Doll Master" is decent enough to watch it once.6 out of 10..
"The Doll Master" creates a sense of dread and suspense rarely seen in movies outside of Asia.Think of a mixture of "Manga" and "Ringu" rolled into one and this is what its all about.First rate acting, first rate direction, first rate sets and effects.This is right up there with the best of Asian horror cinema; Ringu, Dark Water and A Tale of Two Sisters.An absolute must.
I have recently watched many j-horror movies and now i find this South Korean horror masterpiece and it really shows that South Koreans can also make good horror movies.
I give this movie so high rate because i found it really distressing because of these frightening doll's.
Normally i would rate this 8 but i give 1 plus point because this is so underrated.South Korea shows what's horror all about.
The gore level is reasonably high, the photography and set design and production values are first rate, the acting isn't all that bad, and the scares are definitely there.
Pretty good horror movie.
The doll comes to revenge the descendants of those who killed the doll maker in modern day Korea.The movie is well made.
Plot is pretty exciting, but acting by some of the actors are spotty that takes away from the near perfect production of this film.
I think this movie is better produced than some of the venerable Japanese horror movies.
But as mentioned earlier, in this particular movie, acting could have been better on few of the scenes.Good horror film from Korea, and is worth a watch if you're an Asian horror movie fan..
Yong-ki Jeong's "Puppet Master only with scary parts" was the most recent Korean Horror flick I had the pleasure of watching.
With the title of "Inhyeongsa" in Asia, this movie struck me immediately when I saw it reviewed online, with images that made me think of Puppet Master, Childs Play and other toy/doll based horror flicks in the past.
Toysome horror done well almost.The movie starts slowly, but I like that, so it was fine.
I wont give much away, but the story was strong in this one, and I would highly recommend it to any fan of Asian HORROR.
Here we have the perfect example of a novice writer and director (Yong-ki Jeong) who, bereft of original ideas, draws on every genre film of note in the mistaken notion that all the classic aspects of old favourites bundled into one movie will add up to a kind of genre mega-movie.
So we have a creepy wheelchair-bound woman in black, an old-style lift with security shutters, a maze-like cellar filled with spooky passages, a dungeon in which is chained an Oldboy lookalike, a bunch of young kids ripe for slaughtering, a creepy little girl, a monster with long black hair covering much of her face, murderous dolls and a vampire in a flowing black cloakWell, OK, I made that last bit up, but you get the ideaThe central theme of the story  which someone elsewhere has pointed out is curiously close to the concept behind the Toy Story flicks  is a good one, and a degree of poignancy is occasionally attained on the rare occasions that writer/director Jeong can tear himself away from providing repeated LOUD NOISES and jump cuts in his unwavering desire to cram as many cheap scares as he can into the mercifully modest running time.
The only positive points I can make about this mess is that the life-size dolls look pretty cool, and the heroine has the cutest smileDo yourself a favour  if you want to watch a film about rampaging dolls rent a Chucky movie; they're trash too but at least they are up front about it.
Well, I just saw this movie and I started thinking that may be I have seen too much Asian horror because I just had one good jump of fear while watching this film.
Even when I have to say that this is the most "frightening" scary-dolls movie I have seen, I have to say as well that, as an Asian film I was expecting more tension and good psychological horror.
It has more gore than I expected and that I'm used to (regarding to Asian's movies).
On the other hand the acting was really good, the atmosphere was well studied, because,I mean, the dolls were amazingly creepy and well located.
The plot is not bad, it's well justified, but I realized that this is an Asian movie with a north American horror style and that's what I didn't like of it.
Horror movies from East Asia countries tend to have original concept, but it is seldom to see one that able to execute it perfectly.
Unfortunately, Inhyeongsa or The Doll Master, suffers the mediocre execution.This movie revolves around a group from different backgrounds that invited to a remote doll museum by a curator to be the models for a puppet maker, but something evil awaits to avenge them.Although it's on different nature, I remember the same theme (puppetry) was used in a 1987 horror film titled The Doll.
Lots and lots horror movies around the existence of a doll exist (Yall know Chucky), but probably this is the only one who incorporate melodramatic sequences too much.Inhyeongsa actually starts promising with a legend that a puppet maker was wrongly accused for a murder of his wife.
This movie seems in between a cartoon/anime inspired flick and your serious horror act.
I think they intend to make a twist, but the twist is obvious and really not connected to the whole premise.The only good point that offered by this movie is the consistency of its dull nature which you will always find in a B-horror Asian movies.
For those who want to watch a mediocre horror movie, just for fun and nothing else, it's something you can pick, although there are many movies exist out there with more original premise ...
The Doll Master is the directorial debut of South Korean director Yong- ki Jeong.
It is a story in the House on Haunted Hill (1959) format whereby a wealthy eccentric invites a group of unwitting outsides to their manor for twisted reasons that they're less than upfront about.In this case the eccentric rich person is some sort of doll maker who adorns her house with creepy, life-sized dolls.
Of course, it isn't long before people start dying and you can guess the rest.This film was not entirely thrilling as it was a hackneyed, cliché premise and the acting and filming weren't entirely impressive either.
Seems like The Doll Master tries very hard to be a very scary horror film, but it fails.
But the story seems a nothing, the brilliant camera shots and the brilliance of acting was taken away cause of the plot.Don' watch this if you are expecting great shocks..
Bought this quite cheap at a video-store and since I've always been fascinated by dolls I simply had to buy it!The film starts out a bit slow, but here you really get to know the characters and their personalities.
Then when it starts to speed up you'll be introduced to the horror and how scary dolls really can be.
The tension is extreme throughout the movie and it constantly changes your perception of the horrors that the characters encounter.
What I mean by this is that once you think you've figured out how the horrors can take place, the movie throws something different at you to make you think different.It's a little reminiscent of The Grudge, and adds a new twist to the "evil doll-genre".
The plot throws something different at you every 10 minutes or so, never leaving you bored or making you take your eyes off the screen.Only watch this if you want to enjoy a rich story, get freaked out, scared out of your mind and love dolls!10/10.
Have to say, the film has a lot of potential to be something really spooky but unfortunately resorts to the almost Hollywood like style sense of horror with the predictable deaths of its characters which makes this look more like a slasher film.It doesn't help that all the characters feel like card board cut outs - the annoying college girl, the annoying male, the uptight and serious guy, the awkward weirdo girl who can't be removed from her doll and our heroine who is sort of in the middle of everyone.
They are all invited to a house so the owner can model dolls from their features and find well....there is more going on in this house than meets the eye - like you couldn't work that out for yourself.The film doesn't build up the suspense which would have been perfect considering there are so many creepy dolls in this house - but relies more on the cheap scare tactics which doesn't work at all here.
And it is a pity considering the production design and the look of the film has so much to work with.If the director had seen A Tale of Two Sisters and tried to make that approach by slowly revealing things while still maintaining a sense of mystery instead of throwing it down your throat, this would have been a much better film but unfortunately, is on the same level as a teenager slasher film.
Disappointing - has its nice moments but overall just as hollow as normal doll - all looks but nothing inside..
There aren't many horror movies that I can think of that used dolls that looked so realistic.
Another flaw is that the director deviates from the basic premise which is scary enough and brings up new elements that never get explained and aren't even relevant to the "Doll Master mystery".
If you want to see a good horror movie involving dolls go see "Dead Silence"!.
Have to disagree with people saying that this is a lousy horror film with good acting and camera-work - I'd say it's an okay horror flick RUINED by shockingly abysmal acting and poor camera-work - watch 'Ju-on : The Grudge instead of wasting your time with this garbage.
The principal idea behind the film is rather an original one, considering the abundance of killer-doll-based scare-fests which have been foist upon us over the years; unfortunately, the story is handled with all the subtlety of the latest Michael Bay actioner, with a cast of characters which are uniformly unlikable and played with precision-perfect dreadfulness by actors presumably sifted from daytime Korean soap operas.
It isn't scary and only succeeds in dampening your expectations of the next Korean horror movie to come-a-calling.
Dolls come to vengeful life in this rather predictable little horror tale from South Korea.
Despite the Asian influence, in feel and format this is very much a Hollywood-lite production, with a group of rather bland characters brought together in a creepy old house before being bumped off one by one by the porcelain menaces.It's mildly entertaining, featuring some nicely inventive death sequences and a focused pacing, but it's also all so predictable.
It's entertaining enough by itself, but in the scheme of things, THE DOLL MASTER is a bit of a dud..
Being a fan of horror movies in particular and also being a big fan of Asian cinema, I bought this movie from Amazon and was sort of excited to watch it because it had gotten fairly good reviews, and the cover of the DVD looked appealing.
A welcome addition to the genre of Asian horror." - So with those words and the movie's first impression, I popped it into the DVD player.The story was easy enough to follow, it just didn't really make any particular sense.
Yeah, alright, not really much of a solid plot right there.As far as "The Doll Master" goes for scares, then there was none for me.
But I am sure Asian people sitting down with the movie will be in for the odd shock here and there, because of the thing they have with the hair covering the face, lots of that trick being used in the movie.
That never was scary to me though.The acting in the movie was adequate enough, though the main actress did put me off.
It was like watching a female Asian version of Nicholas Cage here - one facial expression for every scene no matter if it was a sad scene, scary scene, funny scene, etc.
Don't get me wrong, her acting was fine enough, it was just her lack of facial expressions aside from the one that was glued on there.One of the best things about "The Doll Master" was the attention to detail.
There was a lot of really nice touches to the house and the dolls in particular, in this movie.
I will not spoil anything here and give away anything, just watch it.If you enjoy Asian horror movies, and have nothing better to do, you can give "The Doll Master" a go, though you will not be in for anything extraordinary or spectacular.
And there are far better Asian horror movies available out there, both new and old movies.
I wasn't impressed with this movie one bit, though I did sit through it from start till end..
Great atmosphere , great K-horror movie.
I really liked "The Doll Master".
The atmosphere is unique,as the story is set in an old house,in the forest, which is a doll museum.
I enjoyed the way the first scene set in the past was connected to the last scenes: we can actually understand the motivations of some characters and the why they act in a certain way.One of the best k-horrors!.
I have seen few K-horror movies, so I respect the users who have been disappointed but I am shocked that the movie gets such a low rating (5.8 at this time) as it is much better than that.
As always where possible I watched the movie in the original format with English subtitles - to me that is essential to getting the full atmosphere as intended by the director..
A disappointing Asian horror flop.
i don't recommend it to fans of Korean/Asian horror films.