Horror Off The Rails: WGTC’s Top 13 Horror Films Of 2016 (And More!)

5) The Wailing (dir. Na Hong-jin)

The Wailing plays so many different angles, and that’s why I love it. Genre movies can sometimes be rigid and nearsighted, yet this South Korean import blends together elements from a host of sources. What starts as a criminal thriller bursts in a finale of challenged faith and shaman warriors who fight possessions – a two-plus hour story that sustains its length with theatrical evolution. Movies this long shouldn’t be this tightly composed, but there’s rarely a scene I’d trim from Na Hong-jin’s Cannes showstopper. Take note, American cinema.

Every aspect of The Wailing is about transformation. Cinematography starts with a bright, jumpy presence, but come the film’s end, evokes dark, ominous dread. Sergeant Jong-Goo (Kwak Do-won) begins as a bumbling, almost half-wit lawman (or just lazy), but as time goes on, his guard is removed and seriousness is imposed. Hong-jin’s vision is all about telling a complete story, and he uses every aspect of cinema to do so. The kind of filling, rich horror tale that typically only exists outside the US, where “horror” doesn’t just mean slasher knockoffs and The Conjuring wannabes.