Exhuma 4K 2024 Ultra HD 2160p

Story Movie

A wealthy family of Korean descent living in Los Angeles discovers they are suffering from the spirit of an angry ancestor. Two shamans, a feng shui expert and the owner of a funeral firm in Korea must remove the coffin with the body of the great-grandfather from the grave and, without opening it, cremate it as soon as possible. However, a greedy employee of the hospital where the remains were brought for temporary storage, believing rumors of hidden treasures, opens the coffin, which leads to terrible consequences.

Review 4K Movie

Expectations were high. You bet, a major South Korean hit that surpassed “Train to Busan” in terms of box office. Here you really crave for something mind-blowing, but at the same time universal enough, when the movie is understandable not only to the local audience. And what a surprise when you realize that “Exhuma” is not even close to the aforementioned film by the spectacular scope and is not comparable to the aforementioned Yong Sang-ho, although it is more expensive in terms of costs. Moreover, the reviewed movie is made in a different style and is actually intended for a different target audience. But nevertheless, the tape awaited even more resounding success. What is the secret of success?

In large part, it is not in its comprehensiveness, speaking of the world audience, but in its clear focus on the Korean nation, freed from Japanese colonial rule in 1945. The so-called “independence day” is no less important to Korea than it is to the same United States. Therefore, any work of fiction that even indirectly touches on this event automatically attracts the attention of Koreans. Especially when the ode to freedom is wrapped in a genre.

On the level of international PR, “Call of the Grave” does not bear any historical parallels. In the official trailer we observe mystical devilry and mentally prepare ourselves for the next evil ghosts, firmly offended by the “living” and carrying out a terrible revenge. Formally, the movie is really about this, but with a second bottom, which for the Western viewer can be only a background, but for Koreans is of fundamental importance. We'll talk about the essential semantic roots later, but for now let's consider “Call of the Grave” in the optics of a horror movie.

The creators scare the audience extremely leisurely, telling a long story about an undead spirit terrorizing his relatives. And the cursed family quickly learns the recipe for salvation, from the big experts in taming the devilry. It is necessary to dig up a coffin with the remains of the evil ancestor and cremate it. And, as it turns out, it's easy to say, but hard to do. For the process of exhumation must be accompanied by a shamanic ritual, and the coffin itself in no case can not be opened. Naturally everything will go wrong, and to such an extent that formally simple story will get a complex development with additional layers of meaning, and in the end will result in immersion in the national-cultural context.

Is it possible to watch “Call of the Grave” simply as an atmospheric horror movie, without periodic reference to Yandex or Google in search of explanations of the nuances of Asian mythology and history? Yes, you can. At the level of superficial perception it is quite obvious - where there is good and where there is evil. Plus there are enough sharp moments of different degrees of creepiness in the picture, which work properly as genre attributes. The plot itself, provided the normal attitude to the slow pace, is quite fascinating. And the characters are not soulless mannequins, they are interesting to watch. But if you are not a connoisseur of Korea, and specifically its period of confrontation with Japan, as well as Korean mystical practices, you will inevitably miss a lot of artistic details. This is the case when you will rather go online after watching the movie to find reviews of those who are much more aware of the subject than you are. And if you really like the movie, you will probably revisit it already from the position of increased erudition. If you are not penetrated by the reviewed spectacle, then for you “Call of the Grave” will remain a one-time strong horror movie with bizarre rituals and specific atmosphere.