Director Jang – who has no sequels or spinoffs planned – explained to us how the writing phase for him already includes the development of shots, staging and visualization of the actors: “I imagine the faces of the characters, but with an American cast” he revealed.”For example, instead of Choi Min-sik I see Al Pacino, in that of Kim Go-eun, Kristen Stewart, in that of Gang Dong-won of The Priests Shia LaBoeuf”. According to Jang, moments of excitement and terror preceded by others that are almost “boring” are the most effective in terms of fear. The result, in Exhuma is, as mentioned, a slightly exhausting tour de force for the Western viewer. Tested a bit by a complex and conceptually challenging plot, it will be amply rewarded by the vision of a succession of genuinely impressive sequences, sometimes totally new, delivered by a monstrously good quartet of actors. In particular, the ethereal Kim and the veteran Choi, antithetical, are equally striking for their stage presence.
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Choi di Old Boy And I Saw the Devil he has been notoriously impeccable in every role for his thirty-five year career. Kim – even for those who have known and appreciated her for a long time – is a sensational surprise. Her performance is impeccable and makes Hwa-rim even more magnetic and charismatic. Kim is, the director confirms, “always looking for new roles to experiment with. The bolder and more difficult the better”. Seeing her dance and sing (with a sensual and very beautiful voice), enraptured and tireless while she performs the ritual is as suggestive as following the camera as she gets dangerously close to the coffin that imprisons an ancient and dark evil. Together with Goksung – The Wailing, Exhuma is the most relevant folk horror of the last ten years.
