Korean occult films are challenging the notion that the genre appeals only to a niche audience. Integrating elements from other genres rather than solely emphasizing horror, they are becoming more accessible and mainstream.
Exhuma features two shamans, a geomancer, and an undertaker who relocate a sinister burial site. The 2024 film is acclaimed for advancing the Korean occult genre by seamlessly integrating elements from other popular entertainment genres.
© 2024 SHOWBOX AND PINETOWN PRODUCTION ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Korean occult flims typically involve evil spirits and exorcisms. But they are also injected with characters originating in folk beliefs, traditional tales, and lore as well as elements other than the supernatural and gore. Like other Korean fare, occult films bend genres in absorbing plots with plenty of twists to appeal to a broader audience.
Exhuma, this year’s top Korean movie to date, is laden with what viewers would expect from a Korean occult film. There are shamans who use magic for healing, fortune-telling, appeasing spirits, and warding off evil; a geomancer who selects auspicious sites for burials or housing; and an undertaker who takes charge of the funeral rites and procedures. And, as one would expect, the film includes a gut, a shaman ritual, which is a recurring feature in the Korean occult genre.
Exhuma unfolds a desperate struggle against a vengeful ancestor’s spirit, which is menacing his wealthy descendants. The team hired to determine why the spirit is so angry eventually decides to relocate the ancestral grave, but exhuming the body leads to dire consequences.
Written and directed by Jang Jae-hyun and released in February this year, Exhuma attracted 11.9 million viewers in Korea in less than six months, making it one of the top 10 highest-grossing movies in Korea’s cinematic history. The turnout smashed the previous record for an occult film: The Wailing (2016), with its iconic line “You don’t even know what matters,” had attracted 6.8 million viewers. Exhuma also more than doubled the audience for one of Jang’s previous films, The Priests (2015). With international sales approaching $100 million, it is the highest-grossing Korean movie worldwide in 2024. Clearly, Jang’s ability to interpret niche occult themes from a mainstream perspective has contributed to his success.
The Priests (2015) is an occult film depicting the exorcism of a girl possessed by a malevolent spirit.
© ZIP CINEMA
INFUSING MAINSTREAM APPEAL
What sets Exhuma apart is its integration of popular entertainment elements from other genres, rather than relying solely on horror. The main characters, including the young shamans Hwa-rim (played by Kim Go-eun) and Bong-gil (Lee Do-hyun), the somewhat stuffy but likable geomancer Sang-deok (Choi Min-sik), and the witty undertaker Yeong-geun (Yoo Hai-jin), have been affectionately dubbed the “Myo-vengers” (myo meaning “grave”).
Despite the inherent creepiness of occult horror, the Myo-vengers add a good dose of entertainment as they battle evil spirits, giving the audience a cathartic experience akin to that of action films. The film evolves from the tale of a family possessed after selecting a sinister burial location to uncovering remnants of Japanese rule. The struggle of the Myo-vengers to unearth an iron spike driven into the ground by Japanese colonizers to sever the life force of Koreans is portrayed as a heroic saga against a malevolent Japanese spirit.
This blend of the occult and mainstream appeal diminishes the horror element and creates a distinct conflict, while providing viewers with genre-specific entertainment. This is a shared feature of Jang’s occult trilogy — The Priests, Svaha: The Sixth Finger (2019), and Exhuma.
Aside from the intriguing story, viewers were captivated by the characters’ styling. The lead, a young shaman named Hwarim, challenges genre stereotypes by wearing a leather jacket, silk shirt, and jeans at normal times. Even during rituals she wears white Converse sneakers.
© 2024 SHOWBOX AND PINETOWN PRODUCTION ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
CRIME GENRE ELEMENTS
The combination of death, crime, and mystery is not only appearing in occult films. TV producers have also been trying out the formula, as they need to be more restrained when it comes to horror and gore.
A notable example is Revenant (2023), a TV series written by Kim Eun-hee and broadcast on SBS. It centers on the search for truth behind a string of unexplained deaths. The protagonist is a young woman who becomes possessed after touching a mysterious daenggi, a traditional hair ornament worn by young girls. She teams up with a folklorist who can see ghosts and a lieutenant from Seoul’s Violent Crime Investigation Unit.
In this show, the revenant grows into a formidable presence by granting the wishes of the person it possesses, responding to the protagonist’s desires and rage against the world. Upon realizing that the revenant is fulfilling her desire to kill, she begins to fight against it with the help of the folklorist. This narrative can be seen as interpretation of the revenant as a curse, a frequent theme in the occult genre.
The connection between crime and occult genres was previously explored in The Guest (2018), a TV series directed by Kim Hong-sun and broadcast on OCN. When individuals possessed by malevolent spirits go on a killing spree, a psychic, a priest, and a police detective join forces to fight them.
By intertwining occult and crime themes, both series criticize brutal acts that seem beyond human comprehension. To gain broader appeal, Korean occult creations are moving beyond provocative horror to deliver societal implications.
FACTORS FOR SUCCESS
Global audiences were previously captivated by the world of shamans in The Wailing, experiencing intense energy through the elating sounds of drums and inspiring dance movements. With shamans acting as intermediaries between the human and spirit realms shamanism, rarely seen in global cinema, has established itself as an essential element of Korean occult cinema.
Efforts to blend Western religion and Korean folk beliefs began earlier than most international viewers may realize. For example, it was evident in The Soul Guardians (1998), which showcases three exorcists — a warrior wielding the sword containing a woman’s spirit; a priest combating evil through prayers; and a young woman employing talismans and mind-reading abilities.
Although The Soul Guardians came across as a fantasy action film rather than being strictly occult, The Priests held core occult elements intact, while featuring clerics in robes reimagined as elegant suits.
One of the explanations for the global success of Exhuma this year is the script, which interpreted the background and meaning of occult practices in Korea and made the film more understandable and accessible to international audiences.
Korean productions are successfully widening the scope of occult films, offering both local distinctiveness and universal appeal for horror and supernatural movie enthusiasts. In doing so, they respond to viewers’ demands and help raise the standing of Korean cinema in the global market.
한국국제교류재단
