4 inyong shiktak

Plot synopsis:
Kang Jung-won (Park Shin-yang), an interior decorator, is overcome with inexplicable anxiety as his long-overdue wedding with Hee-eun (Yoo Sun) approaches. One evening, Jung-won falls asleep on the subway on his way home. He is barely able to wake up at the last station. As he comes round, he sees two young girls asleep on the seat next to him. He cannot wake them before he has to jump off as the train leaves the station. He arrives home to find that his wife-to-be has bought them a new metal dining table.
The next day, Jung-won is working when he hears on the radio that two young girls were found poisoned on the subway. In the course of fitting some lights in a ceiling, he is hit by falling debris and cuts his forehead. After a trip to the hospital for some stitches, he goes home to find the two dead girls seated at his new dining table.
Jung-won, who is now working on renovating a psychiatrist's office, bumps into Jung Yeon (Jun Ji-hyun), a patient on her way out of a therapy session. She has been receiving treatment after her friend, Moon Jung-sook (Kim Yeo-jin), killed both of their children a year earlier. Another accident leads to Jung-won taking Yeon back to his apartment where she too sees the apparition of the dead children.
Having been tormented by nightmares and the hallucinations, Jung-won is desperate to find out something about the apparitions that haunt him. Yeon runs away refusing to help him, so he searches through the patients' records at the clinic to find out more about her. Using the information he succeeds in persuading her to help him uncover his past. Jung-won discovers that he had been born with shamanic abilities similar to Yeon and accidentally killed his father and sister.
Unfortunately, he suffers the consequences rediscovering his past. His fiancee Hee-eun suspects that he is having an affair and leaves him. Jung-sook is convicted of the murder of Yeon's child, but she suddenly commits suicide as she is leaving the courthouse. Shocked, Yeon calls Jung-won who comes over to console her. He talks to her husband, Park Moon-sub (Park Won-sang), who suspects that it was his wife, not her dead friend, who killed their children.
Jung-won, caught up in his desire to deny his past and his fear of Yeon, turns down Yeon's cry for help when her husband tries to have her committed to a mental hospital. His refusal crushes Yeon, who throws herself off Jung-won's apartment building. Jung-won sees her as she falls. In the final scene, Jung-won sits in his dust-covered apartment. Face lined like an old man, he brings a steaming dish of food to the dining table and sits down.
His dining table is full, not with the family he had been planning but the apparitions of the two poisoned girls on the subway and Yeon.

Tags: insanity, psychedelic, violence

Review:
The movie tells a story where religion, psychology and supernatural elements mix together in an elegant cocktail of mystery, fear and love.
And it deals with the dilemma of helping people to reconcile with a part of themselves that should have been left forgotten, or should it?The true essence of the story isn't revealed until relatively late, compared to other movies who set the tone right from the beginning.
When a movie is capable of giving you the chills without having to resort to loud noises or sudden events, then it is truly scary, and some of the scenes will stay with you for some time.
See this movie if you like a great story, riddled with mystery, fear and psychological deepness.
The recent New Wave of Asian Horror has seen quite a few mediocre films released, however there have also been some true masterpieces amongst them, and The Uninvited is definitely one of the masterpieces.This is a genuinely dark, violent, disturbing, artistic horror film.The key ingredient missing from most horror films these days is an emotionally charged story with characters that you can relate to and care for.
While there is a supernatural element, the real nastiness is based in the humanity and psychology of the characters.The Univited has possibly been mis-represented by it's own marketing, as they have promoted it as a supernatural horror, when in reality the film is more art-house and intellectual than it is horror.
This probably accounts for some of the negative reviews, particularly in relation to the films slow pacing.This is not a film that will make you jump in your seat a few times and leave the theatre laughing, but rather one that will chill you to the bone and leave you thinking.I highly recommended The Univited if you have a darkly artistic streak, and are looking for a character driven film that abounds with atmosphere and chills..
After the wonderful "Shiri," I found myself annoyed with "Tell Me Something," confused by "A Tale of Two Sisters," and outright bored with "Ring Virus." So I wasn't expecting a whole lot out of this film, whose Korean title translates literally to "4 Doll Table."First off, it's not a straight horror film.
The plot is easy enough to follow, but it's intricate and deep, and just giving out details and summaries recklessly ignores all of the context these details have.What I will say is that this is the most masterfully written and directed Korean film I have ever seen, and the acting for it is absolutely stellar.
Scenes have purpose and even though this isn't totally a horror film, it does feature scenes that are downright disturbing and very chilling.This is a strong, original, intelligent film that art-house fans would do well to pick up off of eBay. I impulse bought it and it wound up paying off in a big way.Absolutely outstanding.
if you watched this movie because of Ji-hyun Jun (understandable if you ever saw 'my sassy girl') then be warned - this film is definitely neither romantic nor a comedy.to tell what the film is really about would spoil your experience watching it, the ghosts and other supernatural occurences are only there to highlight the message of the film, to show the feelings and inner problems of the main character.
Good, but slow and not a horror movie.
Sometimes that works to The Uninvited's advantage; I like movies to have a little ambiguity in them where I can apply my own imagination, and there are several deliberately ambiguous moments here.At other times, it's more of a distraction, as we wait in vain for the story to return to and possibly resolve an earlier theme.
I don't mean "loose threads" in the usual sense of plot elements that are unexplained (although there are a few of those), but more like bigger themes that seemed like what the movie was about at the beginning of the film and didn't at the end of the film.The acting is decent, overall, but the two leads both play the sort of shell-shocked, alienated characters that are hard to relate to even if we're sympathetic to begin with, and most of the other characters are not terribly fleshed out.
The direction is good although the pace is slow (unnecessarily slow at times).(Parenthetically, one shot used in The Uninvited seems so obviously ripped off from Ringu that I figure it's got to be an homage, but the movie seems like it takes itself too seriously to throw in a Ringu homage.)Overall, a worthy but flawed effort that is much more complex and rewarding than most Asian horror movies of recent years..
It's truly one of the most effectively depressing films of the past decade, and is essential viewing for lovers of slow-burning, psychological, dramatic horror films with heaping quantities of character development.The key to enjoying this film is to pay attention to the subtle details.
Even the opening 30 minutes, which makes the film seem like it's going to travel oft-explored ghostly themes, can be interpreted as entirely psychological.
Some sequences are, in fact, jaw-dropping because most filmmakers (and their producers) are too timid to show such things.This is a damn good film that somehow fell between the cracks during the oft-referenced (but not entirely accurate) period known as the "hey day" of Asian horror (circa 1998-2005).
Although it is a very good movie, and well worth seeing, I would strongly advise that you do not watch this movie just before bed time.
Watch it when you are fully rested, or you will fall asleep.Another cautionary note, is that IMDb should remove the categories, Horror and Thriller, because this movie is strictly a Drama, and a very slow moving one at that.
And they are long forgotten once you have reached the 90mins mark.It is a very sad movie with most of the characters going through some really deep trauma, so if you are looking for something upbeat, look somewhere else.This is a very good movie though.
Death of children, death of cats, justified death, unfair death, death covered up, death revealed.It's the story of man who should be happy with his life but at its very peak events begin to move around him opening up a past best left forgotten and a gift that is more of a curse.There is nothing happy in this movie, no good endings to anyone or for anyone, but it is well woven and absorbing, it reaches right into the darkest places in your own mind and resonates with the despair you keep hidden away there.Most people will hate it, those that fear the darkness in themselves.
The Uninvited starts out very slow, with a hesitating, introverted main character, which all puts a test on your patience, but hold on and you will be rewarded with a genuinely horrifying viewing experience, which lets you forget all previously seen so-called horror movies by US studios.I do not like gore or cheap shock scenes that make you jump for a moment, but prefer subtle, realistic psychological horror instead, and this is what The Uninvited delivers: A sense of true horror with one specific sequence that is so disturbing and surreal in its whole execution, but realistic and gripping at the same time, you will not be able to shake off this creepy atmosphere out of your head afterwards.Having said this, The Uninvited has a few flaws.
The pacing is extremely slow, the storyline has too many sub-plots, most of which felt unnecessary to the main plot, and some images seem borrowed from other horror films.
Nevertheless, if you are looking for a subtle, slow-burn horror with a stark, disturbing center-piece, you should give The Uninvited a try..
Starring probably Korea's most recognizable face Jun Ji-hyun, I'd admit I was curious enough to see how she would take on a horror story after a series of romances and comedies like Daisy, Il Mare, and possible her most popular film to date, My Sassy Girl.In fact, The Uninvited has little horrific moments in the traditional sense, and its attempts at being a psychological thriller falls flat too with its meek attempts to weave and associate itself with the unknown power of the mind.
Case in point, those 2 kids often used to spook potential audiences, have absolutely nothing to do with the story at all.Except perhaps to introduce its male lead Mr Kang Jung-won (Park Shin-yang), an interior designer who chanced upon them during a late night train ride, only to know of their deaths in the news the next day.
Yun- jung could have been an interesting character, given her mysterious background, innate shaman like powers and her narcolepsy illness which makes her faint when she least expects to.Just when Jung-won thinks he's mad to be seeing the dead children, Yun-jung seeing the same thing makes him curious enough to want to know her, and tap her shaman like powers to explain his forgotten childhood.
There's plenty of unnecessary back and forth of scenes with rather plain characters populating the story, like Jung-won's fiancée, Yun-jung's estranged husband and his mother-in-law, Jung-won's father and sister, Yun- jung's best friend who's there just to provide a tragic element, and the list goes on.What's peculiar in this movie, is how it prefers to try and shock with its plenty of leaps off buildings, balconies and parapets as its preferred method of death.
It had a theme which could have been made primary - that of the concept of how Truth becomes, only from acceptance, and like that immortalized line from A Few Good Man, can you handle it?But alas it's too little too late, and with its boring and unnecessary meandering, The Uninvited sinks, and seriously, it's an uninviting movie to sit through for all its blandness..
A very good Asian horror movie.....
I watched The Uninvited last night, and i found it to be a very good Asian horror film, although the film had a running time of 121 minutes which felt very slow at the beginning ended up to be a great horror film.
He starts to begin seeing the girls dead bodies sitting at his kitchen table, and is worried about his mental health He meets Yeon a women who is narcoleptic who is also witness in a infant murder case.
A very good horror film.
I won't reveal anything that will spoil this movie if you haven't seen it, but my own impression after seeing this movie is really mixed.I got freaked some times, but there was just way too long between the scary scenes and way too many scenes, where very little goes on.But at the same time, there's an interesting story being revealed, which you just can't miss the ending of.
I got the DVD for the Uninvited not knowing what to expect, Asian Horror movies are usually very different one from another.
He ignores what is happening to him, probably thinking is the shock of watching the children dead in the train until the day he meets a woman named Yun who suffers from narcolepsy, so he takes her to his home when she loses conscious in his car, and just when she is leaving she tell him to put his kids in bed, so now Jung-won is not the only one seeing the dead kids.
Both lead actors, Shin-yang Park and Ji-hyun Jun (most known for her part in the romantic comedy (My Sassy Girl") did a fantastic job playing these troubled characters.
It has a Making Off, Interviews with the lead Actors, a story boards/scenes comparisons, and other need stuff like a condensed version of the movie.
Like other IMDb'ers who have commented on The Uninvited, I expected the film to be a supernatural tale along the lines of The Eye. Instead, the movie turns out to be a rather depressing (and somewhat overlong) study of fractured psyches, depression and dealing with death.
This movie is more about people who are haunted by the ghosts of their pasts, rather than by real spooks.Whilst travelling home from work, Jeong-won, a man with no memory of his childhood, witnesses the death of two small children (poisoned by their mother and abandoned on a train).
Together they unravel the shocking secrets of his past.An extremely slow moving movie with a sometimes confusing plot, The Uninvited is certainly hard going.
Replete with suicides, accidental deaths and murder, and with some genuinely shocking scenes that will sear themselves into your memory, this isn't exactly a feel-good movie.
With absolutely no lighter moments to lift the mood, be prepared to feel 'down' after the credits have rolled.And if you think I'm exaggerating, see if you can watch the scene with the 'truck/child interface' without wincing!The look of the film is amazing and there are some lovely sweeping camera movements which are technically superb.
The director and director of photography together have an amazing eye for lighting as well as camera direction and some of the mis-en-scene reveals are quite potent.Also, I was impressed by the actors; the protagonist, played by Park Shin-Yang, who I'd only seen before in a gangster versus monk comedy, surprisingly carries his everyman suffering with visions aptly and Gianna Jun (Jun Ji-Hyun) plays surprisingly well the quiet and depressed psychic well.
Unfortunately, the inability to focus on the characters and their decisions, the sometimes contrived and unexplained ways to introduce problems, and the lack of narrative or emotional resolution cause it to be quite a frustrating view in the end.I can't recommend The Uninvited, but if you don't necessarily need a strong story and want to witness a rather striking work that explores the above-mentioned theme while gathering a rather impressive atmosphere, you could check this out.
No, this film tells the quiet yet overpowering horror of isolation and anonymity in a monolithic, dysfunctional metropolis that is lined with gray high-rise apartments like massive grave-markers; it tells of the horrible numbness and sadness that can lead a mother to drop her wriggling infant child from a 40-story balcony and not even realize what she's done.
It tells of the horrors that can happen when you squarely face your past, as many of the characters do in this film.
Several times this movie made me--a longtime jaded horror movie buff--actually catch my breath, clench my teeth, and shake my head in wonder.Lastly, the photography in this film is remarkable.
Yes, the plot is typically convoluted (which has been my experience with many Asian horror films--I think it is evidence of a cultural gap more than anything).
Warning: Minor spoilersThis film is a bit like a good rough draft that, with more work, could've become something quite interesting.
It takes its time setting up the characters and scenarios, and the story slowly unravels before us.It's not horror, or thriller exactly, but a rather horrific tale of trauma and loss.
But this is a very different film from what you might think of at the term "Asian Horror".
It begins with a rather "thriller" approach, with the mystery of two dead girls appearing before our main character, but this event is actually just used as a mood-setter and hook.
The movie then seems to head in the direction of a drama, as our main character becomes very interested in a rather disturbed, mysterious woman.
You almost think the film is going to be a melancholic love story, but not so.
All in all, the film is a collection of good ideas, some excellent scenes, and quite clever plot elements, but it lacks real unity.
For more than half the film I was wondering what kind of idiot this guy is - only later is there given any hint of the fact that he has some past issues troubling him.Overall, the rather interesting themes are left almost completely undeveloped on any intellectual level, and the movie ends up as wasted potential.
A Horror Film Worth Watching.
The Uninvited is a movie about two people namely,Jung-won and Yun, who met accidentally and have a developed a friendship as they relate together about the psychological horrors and trauma that they have experienced in life.
The story could have been a good one but unfortunately, the plot was extremely slow and its presentation could be confusing to many viewers as it wasn't presented in a straightforward manner,which was the major flaw of the film.
The Uninvited was definitely not a horror film as advertised.
It was a dark film that presented themes on how people try to cope with their their bad experiences and traumas in life.
The film could have been better if the story had a conclusion instead of being open-ended and direction were better.
I thought I would comment to address the disparity between the relatively favorable comments and the modest rating of 5.8 (as of April 2008) of "The Uninvited." First off, as others have noted, this movie isn't really a horror, at least not in the way most people think of modern Asian horror.
The main character is haunted by recent deaths of two girls on the subway.
This was one of the most difficult movies I have ever watched to keep track of connections between different characters and events.Now I can appreciate a movie with open-ended plots and countering interpretations, but there comes a point where a story is simply poorly told.
It starts out great with those two kids, but at the end it just went on and on in slow motion, even after it was more than obvious what the point of the movie was.
I liked the visual style and I have nothing against drama or a slightly confusing plot in a Korean horror movie such as in A Tale of two sisters, but Uninvited really isn't horror although the back of the DVD case promises the viewer a chilling horror movie.
The film s 1% horror and 99% faux drama.