Bringing what appears to be the month of horrors (Dark water, Amityville horror and Taking lives) is The tale of two sisters, brought to you by the Korean director Ji-woon Kim. I already said it and let me repeat it again, japanese cinematography confuses me. The pace is much slower and the fact that all of the characters look alike to me, does not help much.
First thing you notice in this film is the camera-work which is beautiful. The colors and the movement is something worth checking out independently of the storyline. But since the story is the most vital part of a good horror-thriler movie, here we go.
What appears to be two sisters come from a asylum and are greeted by their father and possibly the most annoying step-mother you will ever come across. Her talk, her manners and her moves only emphasise that. The step-mother and the two sisters are instantly involved in a conflict where the younger sister is pestered by the step-mother and the elder sister is protecting her and trying to convince her father of the evil nature of the step-mother.
But not all is what it seems as we realise that the younger sister and the evil step-mother are already dead and that the elder sister is the only mental patient around the house.
The charm is in what you don`t see, not what is in your plain sight. Something that the hollywood horror/thriller movies have yet to discover. The plot reminded me of “The sixth sense”, where the plot follows similar guidelines, only at a smaller, less complicated scale.
The movie can only be misinterpreted when you are expecting something like Amityville horror with blood and chainsaws flying and body party falling all over the place at a 4-minute intervals. This is more or less a psycho-thriller where we can see how a human mind is capable of creating a whole new universe, regardless of the facts of this world.
The camera-work, soundtrack and actors are its peaks. The somewhat confusing storyline its downs. All in all, a good movie for picking your brain and trying to figure the truth out.
“There’s something strange in this house.”
after watching this complicated yet universally intriguing horror twice…I am still confused! however I disagree I thought the stepmom stayed alive up until the point where she was confronted by the ghosts.