Tag: Horror

Review: Hotel Del Luna

Posted December 15, 2022 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Hotel Del Luna

Starring: IU, Yeo Jin Goo, Shin Jung Keun, Bae Hae Seon, P.O, Jo Hyun Chul
Year Released: 2019
Number of Episodes: Drama, Comedy, Fantasy, Horror, Romance
Country: South Korea
Director: Oh Choong Hwan
Screenwriter: Hong Jung Eun, Hong Mi Ran
Where I Watched It: Netflix
Who I Watched It For: IU

Nestled deep in the heart of Seoul’s thriving downtown sits a curious hotel, the like of which no one has ever seen before. Old beyond measure, the building has stood for millennia, an ever-present testament to the fact that things are not always what they seem. Running this hotel is Jang Man Wol, a greedy, suspicious soul who has spent the past thousand years acting as the establishment’s CEO. Bound to the hotel by a deity who keeps her there to save her from going berserk and self-destruction with rage, hatred and thirst for revenge. Her only hope of escape is if she could let go of her resentment and hatred, and find love. Trapped in her resentment for a betrayal, Man Wol is doomed to spend all of the eternity running this odd establishment, catering to the needs of the most peculiar clientele.

Things take an interesting turn when Goo Chan Sung shows up. Once the youngest assistant manager ever to work at a multinational hotel corporation, Chan Sung finds himself forced to manage the Hotel del Luna because of a deal his father made with Man Wol years ago. Excellent with managing money, he starts to put Jang’s excessive spending and disastrous finance situation in order, that may be exactly what this odd establishment and its cursed CEO needs.

I’ve heard a lot of good things about this show so it’s been on my radar for a while now. It didn’t come up on Netflix or Viki or anything whenever I would browse for new shows to watch but when it finally did, I didn’t even stop think about it. I just started watching. IU has fast become one of my favorite k-actresses and I thought was another solid effort of hers and if anything, made me an even bigger supporter of hers now.

I’m going to skip the story portion of my reviews and jump right into everything. The blurb included above does a pretty decent job of explaining what this drama is about. 🙂

Main Male Lead

I can’t remember seeing Yeo Jin Goo in anything else before so this was my introduction to him and his acting. I don’t have a single complaint about his work here. I was so invested in his journey, and in him finding his way with and without Man Wol. Over the course of the show, I grew softer and softer for his character and I cried a lot with him and for him.

Chan Sung was an interesting character that captured my attention from the very first episode seeing him fight and bicker his way into some super heavy feelings for Mang Wol and seeing him come to terms with his part in just everything made the show that much more compelling for me. I really liked him.

Main Female Lead

IU did her thing in this show. Jang Mang Wol was such a complex character that had a lot of hidden depths. She was so complex that at first, it was hard to connect with her but with each passing episode, you start to connect and feel for her and what she’s been through. She comes off as one kind of person but the more you dig, the more you realize that there’s more than meets the eye. By the time her story is completely out there, you won’t be able to help yourself. You’re going to love the hell out of her. At first, she frustrated me with how bratty she was but by the middle of the show, I was completely Team Jang Mang Wol…and so was Goo Chan Sung. Hehe.

The Cast

There were a lot of familiar faces on this cast and I liked each and every single one of them. My favorites of the bunch being Ji Hyun Joong (the bell boy) and Sanchez, but also the high school girl, Kim Yoo Na. As great as everything and everyone else were, aside from Man Wol and Chan Sung, I was most interested in these guys.

I thought each character made a great addition to the overall story being told and I really enjoyed the way that they all came together.

Final Thoughts

IU, Jin Goo, and everyone created a fun, interesting, and delightful drama and I’m super glad that I watched it. I wasn’t expecting the humor and the brightness in such a dark drama but I’m so glad for those additions because they made the drama pop with a color that I enjoyed. I will say that there was a beginning hump that I had to get through so there was a lot of confusion on my end but once everything started clicking, it was hard for me to stay away. I watched this one pretty quickly and even though it’s a drama that is heavy and on the dark side, it wasn’t hard to watch at all. Once the confusion lifts, it’s pretty easy to keep up and root for our main leads. Though it’s not my favorite drama ever, I still enjoyed this one and would definitely recommend if you’re in the mood for a humorous supernatural watch.

Final Rating

via GIPHY

4 out of 5

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Review: All of Us Are Dead

Posted July 19, 2022 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

All of Us Are Dead

Starring: Park Ji Hoo, Yoon Chan Young, Jo Yi Hyun, Lomon
Year Released: 2022
Number of Episodes: 12
Genre: Contemporary, Horror, Drama, Romance
Country: South Korea
Where I Watched It: Netflix
Recommended By: N/A
Who I Watched It For: Jo Yi Hyun

A high school becomes ground zero for a zombie virus outbreak. Trapped students must fight their way out — or turn into one of the rabid infected.

*** SPOILER ALERT! The following review will have spoilers (though I’ll try to avoid them as much as possible) so please don’t read on if you haven’t watched this drama. ***

The premise of this drama is pretty easy. A zombie outbreak happens in a high school and the students that haven’t been infected are trying to stay alive by fighting back against the infected zombie students but it ain’t easy. The uninfected are scared, teenagers, and no matter how hard they try, the zombies keep coming, making staying alive harder and harder with each episode.

In the past year or so, I’ve become a huge horror nerd. I used to hate all things scary and horror fell under that category for me. But these days, I love all things supernatural, all things horror, and I especially love zombies. I binge-watched this entire season in one day and I felt all of the feelings while doing so. I was entertained, I was annoyed, and I wanted to fight so many characters but I was invested in the main character’s journey and I was invested in trying to figure things out right along with the students in the high school.

I really connected with pretty much all of the main characters and though I wanted to smack the shit out of On Jo a time or two, I only wanted to push her out the window into the hungry zombies waiting down below like ten times, tops. I didn’t hate her in the end. If there was anyone that I wanted to kick into the depths of hell, it was this motherfucker:

No matter how many times those poor kids killed his ass, he just kept right on coming back time after time again. His determination to stay as alive as he can be and kill Cheong San would have been admirable if it wasn’t so damn annoying. He was a huge factor in why the uninfected would take two giant steps forward in their survival and then be pushed back ten steps. Between him and On Jo, I don’t know who I was more annoyed with. Because On Jo? Yeah, her heffah ass stayed on my damn nerves. The lengths that Cheong San went to protect her from the zombies, going above and beyond a next-door neighbor should have gone, pissed me off because did On Jo appreciate him or his efforts? Of course not but while I didn’t quite forgive her in the end, I didn’t hate her.

Overall, this was a fun way to spend the weekend. I was invested in everything going on. From the students trying to make it out of there alive and in one piece to the side romances that kept the story alive and running. I was rooting for Soo Hyeok and Nam Ra the most but I wanted On Jo for Cheong San, even though she didn’t deserve him, because she was who he wanted. I loved seeing Nam Ra (who I hear is in deep drunk driving trouble in real life, yikes) come into herself. The way that she kept everything at bay and did what she could to do the right thing warmed my zombie-loving heart. I definitely recommend this drama if you’re in the mood for some wholesome zombie-fighting fun. Even though it felt like everything was burning to the ground every episode, it’s a good one, I promise.

Final Rating

via GIPHY

4 out of 5

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Review: Annabelle Creation

Posted July 20, 2021 by Rowena in Reviews | 2 Comments

Annabelle Creation

Starring: Stephanie Sigman, Talitha Bateman, Anthony LaPiglia
Year Released: 2017
Rating: R
Run Time: 1 hour, 49 minutes
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Where I Watched It: HBO Max
Recommended By: Therese
Who I Watched It For: Therese

Former toy maker Sam Mullins and his wife, Esther, are happy to welcome a nun and six orphaned girls into their California farmhouse. Years earlier, the couple’s 7-year-old daughter Annabelle died in a tragic car accident. Terror soon strikes when one child sneaks into a forbidden room and finds a seemingly innocent doll that appears to have a life of its own.

This week’s movie review goes to the next movie in the conjuring series lineup. Annabelle Creation, which was released in 2017. This is where we learn where the hell Annabelle came from. That damn doll is old as hell and has been scaring the hell out of people for hella years.

So this movie shows how Annabelle was created. A toymaker made her and then after a car accident takes the life of his 7-year-old daughter, named Annabelle, her spirit shows up in the doll and years later, when a bunch of orphaned girls with their nun nanny comes to live with the still grieving couple, the Annabelle doll comes to life after one of the girls sneaks into the forbidden room and wakes up the evil spirit. *rolls eyes* Why do people don’t mind their business and stay out of shit that doesn’t have anything to do with you? *sigh*

I spent most of this movie annoyed with Janice because…ugh, STAY OUT OF THE ROOM YOU DUMBASS! I was also annoyed at the adults in the movie too because they were shit caretakers…and the older girls were a bunch of bitches too.

I can’t say that I was all that invested in what was going on. The Annabelle movies so far are my least favorite. I’m just not that interested in a haunted doll that comes to life when people don’t mind their damn business. Or when they stir up shit they should leave well enough alone. For this one, I was mostly curious about how Janice would end up after all was said and done. I knew that she was out there somewhere, being a freaking crazy person and I wasn’t wrong. I will say that the way that the conjuring moviemakers tie in characters and things from the other movies is something that I enjoyed while watching these. I loved fitting the puzzle pieces together and when I figured out stuff from the other movies that were featured in this movie, it was my favorite. Other than that, this movie was pretty slow-moving and just okay IMO.

Final Rating

3 out of 5

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Review: The Nun

Posted July 15, 2021 by Rowena in Reviews | 4 Comments

The Nun

Starring: Taissa Farmiga, Damien Bichir, Jonas Bloquet
Year Released: 2018
Rating: R
Run Time: 1 hour, 36 minutes
Genre: Horror
Country: USA
Where I Watched It: HBO Max
Recommended By: Theresa
Who I Watched It For: Theresa

When a young nun at a cloistered abbey in Romania takes her own life, a priest with a haunted past and a novitiate on the threshold of her final vows are sent by the Vatican to investigate. Together, they uncover the order’s unholy secret. Risking not only their lives but their faith and their very souls, they confront a malevolent force in the form of a demonic nun.

Last month, my best friend and I binge-watched all of The Conjuring movies and I decided that I was going to review all of the movies so that I can keep my thoughts straight on all of them. I’ll be reviewing them in chronological order instead of by release date. Which means that first up? It’s The Nun.

In the Nun, we meet Sister Irene and Father Burke who are sent to Romania to investigate the suicide of a young nun. When they get there, they’re escorted by a young man who found the dead nun. Together they uncover a pretty dark story about dead nuns and evil spirits and they unravel secret after secret after secret. Not all is as it seems and they have no one to lean on in trying to figure out what’s going on, or to fight the evil spirits at the abbey so they must rely on each other to fight evil.

I’m new to watching scary movies and I thought this one would be a scary one since it’s got the religious tilt to it but I don’t know. There were moments in the movie where I jumped from being scared but overall, I didn’t think the movie was all that scary nor was I heavily invested in the characters and what was going on for that matter. I was much more interested toward the end when things started clicking about just who Sister Irene was and then seeing the French guy at the end and putting two and two together of what I know from the other conjuring movies. I mean, during the movie, I was putting the pieces of the conjuring puzzle together but once everything is confirmed – I was like, oh. Oh, okay. Nice touch with casting Lorraine’s real life sister as the main character in this one. I kept thinking, OMG is she connected to Lorraine cause she looks just like her…only to find out that their characters don’t connect in any way other than Lorraine talks about Irene’s case in her present-day lectures and talks.

I watched this movie in parts because I fell asleep in the beginning twice but was determined to finish it so I did just that. I’m glad that I did because even though the beginning was slow, I still enjoyed the overall story and how it connects the other movies together. Will I watch it again? Probably not. Am I mad that I watched it at all? Nah. So, would I recommend it? If you’re interested in the Conjuring series and watching all of the movies connected then yes, I recommend you start with this one. That’s all I got though.

Final Rating

3.25 out of 5

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Review: The Meg

Posted August 21, 2018 by Rowena in Reviews | 4 Comments

The Meg (2018)
Starring: Jason Statham, Bingbing Li, Rainn Wilson
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Release Date: 10 August 2018
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 1:53
Movie Type: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi

Five years ago, expert sea diver and Naval Captain Jonas Taylor encountered an unknown danger in the unexplored recesses of the Mariana Trench that forced him to abort his mission and abandon half his crew. Though the tragic incident earned him a dishonorable discharge, what ultimately cost him his career, his marriage and any semblance of honor was his unsupported and incredulous claims of what caused it – an attack on his vessel by a mammoth, 70-foot sea creature, believed to be extinct for more than a million years. But when a submersible lies sunk and disabled at the bottom of the ocean – carrying his ex-wife among the team onboard – he is the one who gets the call. Whether a shot at redemption or a suicide mission, Jonas must confront his fears and risk his own life and the lives of everyone trapped below on a single question: Could the Carcharodon Megalodon – the largest marine predator that ever existed – still be alive … and on the hunt?

I’ve been pretty anxious about seeing this movie since I found out that it was coming out. As soon as it dropped, I knew that we were going to make a family movie night out of it and I wasn’t disappointed. This movie was cheesy and it was ridiculous but oh man was I entertained! I laughed, I jumped out of my seat and when it was all said and done, I had a big ol’ smile on my face.

Naval Captain Jonas Taylor encountered a big ass shark that dented the hell out of a just as big submarine that Jonas was brought in to rescue and when he abandons a few members from his team to save the rest of the people from that big ass shark, nobody believes him and he gets the boot out of the navy and his wife leaves him and he’s dishonored. Dishonor on his family. Dishonor on his house. Dishonor on his cow. Five years later, a new submarine carrying his ex-wife is at the bottom of the ocean and he has to go and save her and her team from…the very thing that nobody believed attacked him all those years ago.

Needless to say, he’s not happy about it and he has no interest in going to save anyone from that Megaladon shark…until he finds out that his ex-wife is down there and then he changes his tune and goes to get her.

The entire movie features a bunch of smart people discovering something new and getting excited about their discovery, only to get really scared when that new discovery starts attacking them and then having to destroy that discovery because it is pissed and starts killing hella people. I was here for it all. The cheesy romance, the cute little kid that ran all over the place and the big ass shark that was killing everyone and taking numbers. There were plenty of moments that I thought I would roll my eyes right out of my head but goodness, even those moments I was here for. I really love how many times Jason Statham took the shark on one on one and lived to tell the story. I also really love how calm he was every time he had to step up and save everyone from the big bad monster in the ocean.

This movie brought back memories of watching Jaws for the first time. I got scared, I screamed out loud and I cheered when all was said and done. I also thought a lot about the Black Sea Changelings from Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changelings series because these marine biologists live in the middle of the ocean in one of those underwater buildings like the one in Ocean Light.

The cast was great, the acting wasn’t horrible and overall, the movie was a hit for me. If you’re looking for a good time and love shark week, then this movie is probably for you.

Movie Trailer

My Rating

4.5 out of 5

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