Movie digest
The movie begins with the scenes of Buddha and the Devil. Before a long time, a monster was firm in creating eternal suffering. Buddha had a tough fight with it but was not able to kill it. He stopped the monster by taking away its eyes. One eye was black and the other was red. Buddha had to fight in order to take away the red-eye. Finally, when the Buddha put an end to the red-eye, he kept both eyes in varied caskets. While one eye was buried in the Far East mountains, he buried the other in the Far East deserts. This was done so that the monster doesn’t give birth again. But much to the twist in the story, after some centuries, an anguished professor (Choi Jin-ho) makes it a point to discover and give birth again to the monster’s red-eye. What follows next is the crux of the story.
The feel-good part
Keeping in pace with the movie’s tone, it develops very slowly. The plot too is well-handled. There are quite some suspenseful scenes in the movie that can engross the audience. With the handling of a thoughtful script, the director will make a deep impact on the viewers.
The disappointing factor
The first half doesn’t have much happenings and seems to be slow-paced. The horror scenes are not really scary.
In-depth analysis
Suffering is an integral part of life, and it is scrutinized through the Buddhist angle in the movie. The storyline doesn’t have any major twists in the film’s first half. With the passage of time, the story is handled elaborately. However, as one tries to get engrossed in the movie, there is too much information that will be difficult for the viewers to grasp. The movie is not a scary one; it can be classified as a suspense thriller. The mysterious angle to the movie is justified by the entry of the Virgin Shaman. Now with regard to other elements, the frames are shot beautifully, and the makeup is commendable (the supernatural aspects look reasonable). The VFX is not exaggerated given that such movies tend to mess up with it. The script of director Kim Tae-Yung is highly intelligent and thoughtful, and it helps to maintain the tempo of the story. The spiritual enlightenment part is touched earnestly in the movie.
Star power
The movie doesn’t have many characters. However, it has given equal significance to each of the characters that are present on the screen. Right from the extras to the lead characters, everyone grasped their roles and did well. Lee Sung-min portrays his sufferings brilliantly. Nam essays the role of the naïve person in an outstanding manner. Cheong Seok is exceptional in his expressions though he speaks very little in the movie. His open-eyed approach towards life will definitely appeal to the viewers.
Overall opinion
“The 8th Night “ cannot be considered as an offbeat weird movie, but it manages to bring the needed eeriness in the atmosphere.
