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Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum

2018 South Korean film From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum
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Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (Korean: 곤지암; RR: Gonjiam) is a 2018 South Korean found footage supernatural horror film directed by Jung Bum-shik. Based on a real-life psychiatric hospital of the same name, it stars Wi Ha-joon, Park Ji-hyun, Oh Ah-yeon, Moon Ye-won, Park Sung-hoon, Yoo Je-yoon and Lee Seung-wook in the lead roles. The narrative centers around a horror web series crew that travels to an abandoned asylum for a live broadcast to garner views and publicity.

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The film opened theatrically in South Korea on 28 March 2018, in the United States on 13 April 2018, and in the Philippines on 2 May 2018.[4][5] A commercial success, it also became the third most-watched horror film in South Korea after A Tale of Two Sisters and Phone.[6] Later, it was screened at the 20th Udine Far East Film Festival.[7]

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Plot

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Two boys livestream themselves exploring the abandoned Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital, where rumor states that the hospital's ping pong-loving director murdered all the patients before disappearing. The two head to Room 402, the intensive care unit, which no one has ever managed to open. After the sound of a ping-pong ball is heard, their livestream abruptly ends, with a fleeting glimpse of a ghostly face.

News of their disappearance prompts Ha-joon, owner of the YouTube channel "Horror Times," to investigate the hospital. He enlists six people—three women (Ah-yeon, Charlotte, and Ji-hyun) and three men (Sung-hoon, Seung-wook, and Je-yoon)— for the livestreamed exploration. While the six enter the building, Ha-joon remains at a base camp nearby to oversee the broadcast.

To spice up the livestream as with previous "Horror Times" videos, Ha-joon, Sung-hoon, and Seung-wook has prepared fake scares for the women and viewers to react to. Once inside, the group make a few "discoveries" (staged in advance) to up the tension. Outside, the camp's propane burners turn on by themselves. Ha-joon's equipment fails, temporarily cutting him off from the group.

Je-yoon and Ah-yeon attempt to open Room 402 while the others explore the common room, where they find closets with holes in them. When Ji-hyun places her arm inside one, it is pulled and scratched. Frightened, Ji-hyun and Charlotte bail out and leave the asylum.

Meanwhile, Ha-joon watches footage of all six participants together and becomes unsettled, unsure who filmed it. Nevertheless, he convinces Seung-wook and Sung-hoon to continue the scripted livestream, promising them higher pay. In the supply room, they encounter objects moving by themselves, and Seung-wook is knocked unconscious. Sung-hoon is dragged out of the room and also struck unconscious.

Outside the hospital, Ji-hyun and Charlotte repeatedly see the marked tree, and realize they are walking in circles. Ji-hyun falls into a trance and her eyes turn black. Terrified, Charlotte flees toward the camp but finds herself back inside Room 402. After several scares, a naked man appears and drags her into the darkness.

Sung-hoon wakes and runs to Je-yoon and Ah-yeon, who are still trying to open Room 402. He admits to them and on camera that some earlier events were staged, but now real paranormal forces are happening and they must rescue Seung-wook. A ping-pong ball is suddenly thrown at them, followed by Charlotte's screams from inside Room 402. The group's infrared cameras detect a presence as the door finally opens.

Sung-hoon, Je-yoon and Ah-yeon find themselves trapped in a dark, water-filled room with no exit. Ghostly apparitions surround and possess them one by one. Ha-joon, seeing his view count nearing one million, enters the asylum to investigate but is strangled to death by the ghost of the director. Seung-wook awakens strapped to the wheelchair and is dragged into Room 402.

The livestream is revealed to have ended abruptly after Sung-hoon admitted it was scripted. Unaware of the paranormal events inside the asylum, viewers mock the failed stream, which had only peaked 503 viewers, far fewer than the near-million Ha-joon saw on his screen.

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Cast

Production

The film takes place in the former Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, purportedly one of Korea's most haunted locations. In 2012, CNN Travel selected it as one of "7 freakiest places on the planet."[8][9]

Most of the scenes in the film were filmed in the National Maritime High School in Busan, with the production team adhering closely to the floor plan of the actual hospital to recreate exactly the same exterior and hallways.[10]

Controversy

Before the release of the film, the owner of the asylum filed a lawsuit against the film being shown in theaters, claiming that the film will have negative effects on the sale of the building. However, a Seoul court in late March 2018 ruled in favor of the film being shown.[11] On 28 May 2018 Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital was demolished.[12]

Release

The film released in South Korea on 28 March 2018. In the United States, the film was released by Well Go USA on 18 April 2018, and in the Philippines, the film was released by Multivision Pictures in partnership with Viva International Pictures on 2 May 2018.[13]

In April 2018, just days after the film was released, actor Lee Seung-wook who made his debut with the film announced his departure from the entertainment industry. The actor, who was reportedly absent from promotional activities for the film, cited personal reasons for the decision.[14][unreliable source?]

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Reception

Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum came in first at the domestic box office on March 28, 2018, alongside the openings of Hollywood film Ready Player One and local film Seven Years of Night, collecting US$1.2 million from 198,369 admissions.[15] Remaining at the top spot for the next four days, the film earned US$10.2 million from 1.37 million admissions in its opening weekend and accounted for 40% of the total weekend box office receipts,[16] the biggest March opening ever achieved by a Korean film.[17]

After three weekends, Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum has attracted near to 2.6 million viewers and accumulated US$21 million in box office takings, the second biggest gross for a Korean horror film, behind 2003's A Tale of Two Sisters.[18][19]

Aedan Juvet of Bleeding Cool claimed the film "mastered" found footage horror, naming it amongst some of the best of its genre.[20] The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 91% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10.[21]

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Awards and nominations

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See also

References

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