Hansel and Gretel

Time Out says
Fairytale horror movies don’t have a respectable lineage: from ‘A Company of Wolves’ to ‘Leprechaun in the Hood’, they tend to fall somewhere between childlike and chilling. This runs into similar problems, as father-to-be Eun-Soo (Chun Jeong-Myeoung ) loses his way in a wood and stumbles into a home where three children are doted on by their dead-eyed parents.
The film is stunningly mounted, from the tangled forest to the candy-coloured interiors. The use of light and shadow is exemplary, and there are scenes where the visuals achieve a nightmarish collision of fear and wonder. But it’s inconsistent: too predictable and simplistic for adults, too disturbing and bloody for their offspring. It’s hard to know who it’s for.
The film is stunningly mounted, from the tangled forest to the candy-coloured interiors. The use of light and shadow is exemplary, and there are scenes where the visuals achieve a nightmarish collision of fear and wonder. But it’s inconsistent: too predictable and simplistic for adults, too disturbing and bloody for their offspring. It’s hard to know who it’s for.
Details
Release details
Release date:
Friday January 16 2009
Duration:
116 mins
Cast and crew
Director:
Yim Phil-Sung
Screenwriter:
Kim Min-Sook, Yim Phil-Sung
Cast:
Lee Eun-Joo
Chun Jeong-Myoung
Eun Won-Jae
Chun Jeong-Myoung
Eun Won-Jae