Any movie that gets hyped up as being one of the best to ever emerge from its chosen genre tends to be greeted with a degree of skepticism, which more often than not proves to be right on the money. That being said, in the case of 2018’s Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum, the praise was entirely accurate.
Backed by an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 91 percent, a status as one of the highest-grossing Korean horror hits of all-time that hoovered up $20 million at the box office on a thrifty $2 million, and an awards-laden run that saw it snag multiple trophies for its technical achievements, director Jung Bum-shik undoubtedly crafted one of the greatest found footage horrors of all-time.

Not even a lawsuit could derail Gonjiam‘s unstoppable success, with the owner of the titular building filing legal action to prevent it from being screened in theaters in case it dissuaded potential buyers from acquiring the abandoned property, but the producers won out and the real-life location ended up being demolished weeks after Haunted Asylum hit the big screen, in what proved to be coincidentally symbolic.
The story is straightforward enough, with a livestreamer recruiting a handful of brave souls to investigate the notorious haunted house for the purpose of providing online entertainment, but the rumors of things going bump in the night swiftly prove to be true. Best not watch this one alone, then, although it remains unclear if Google Play Movies subscribers will heed that advice after FlixPatrol named Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum as one of the platform’s most-watched features.
Published: May 4, 2023 12:52 pm