Strangers From Hell
Feb. 18th, 2021 04:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
satalasers It's messed up, but sometimes I crave that psychological darkness.
- Mainly watched it for Lee Dong Wook. I really did think he had it in him to play a villain, and oh boy, did he deliver. (I'm genuinely surprised he hasn't played more villains, because there were times I thought he felt a bit sinister as the grim reaper, but I still didn't quite expect this.)
- This is a shorter, concise version of Hannibal, TBH. There are several issues I had with that show that this show was kind of covered for me, and one of the reasons I like this more is that: I didn't like the direction Hannibal took, whereas this, I totally adored.
- I mean, Seo Moon-Jo is twisted, and callous, and just. So very reprehensible, but so very watchable, and creepy and just. Wow. He's a dentist, and I'm really kind of sad that he's not wearing his glasses nearly enough, but it's very fun to see him play his cat and mouse games and mentally just break Yoon Jong Woo.
- Yoon Jong Woo really is just another victim in his latest string of wanting a... masterpiece, accomplice, something. And one thing I like is that Seo Moon Jo senses that from the start, he knows that there's some darkness in there, and twists it out of him. Like, I didn't find it romantic, or that Seo Moon Jo romantically interested in Yoon Jong Woo, (TBH, him calling YJW 'babe', really just felt like it was there to unnerve him), he wanted a partner, an artwork, a reflection, and he does it very well, first acting as someone trustworthy, but then also being immensely creepy and terrifying.
- To be honest, the actor playing Yoon Jong Woo was impressive too. He really nails the unraveling, and gradually losing all sanity until he becomes a fly in the web, and even if he kills Seo Moon-Jo in the final episode, he's thoroughly traumatized by him, that Seo Moon Jo continues to exist in his mind.
- This show really captured the spiralling into madness so well. The scummy apartment life, the isolation, the bullying at works, the apathetic girlfriend. The daydreams where Yoon Jong Woo fantasizing getting more and more violent, and growing paranoia, to the point that sometimes it's confusing to tell which really happened, or didn't. It's very chilling, but also really cool.
- I did not expect the entire apartment complex to be full of murderers. One, sure, but all of them? All of them murders? and cannibals? Just. It really lets you know how much of a cycle it is, and why things get so decrepit and spiraling into chaos. I did not expect the landlady to be that involved, and just as bad, if not the worst, really, since she's the one who sets the whole thing up, and is the origin story of why Seo Moon Jo became the way he was, and the twins.
- I enjoyed the police officer. She made some ridiculous calls, sometimes, but I liked most of her thought processes to her investigating cat deaths to realizing that actually, maybe that entire apartment building has something a lot more nasty within it. I kind of also like that she figures out what actually happened, but I think she's so worn down by the entire experience, she can't bring herself to continue that thought path.
- Part of me really wants Seo Moon Jo to have lived, despite being a terrible person, but I also think the inescapable scar he's left on both of them is really satisfying. As much as I liked Seo Moon Jo killing the residents, finding out that Seo Moon Jo got Yoon Jong Woo to do it instead, then let Yoon Jong Woo kill him as well is also pretty fantastic.
- I wish it wasn't so addictive to watch, TBH. But I had to know what happened next, and like Monster, it's so easy to get pulled into that cycle of dreading what happens next, but being really compelled to continue all the same, and this show is very much like that.
9.5/10. Just. Really good.
- Mainly watched it for Lee Dong Wook. I really did think he had it in him to play a villain, and oh boy, did he deliver. (I'm genuinely surprised he hasn't played more villains, because there were times I thought he felt a bit sinister as the grim reaper, but I still didn't quite expect this.)
- This is a shorter, concise version of Hannibal, TBH. There are several issues I had with that show that this show was kind of covered for me, and one of the reasons I like this more is that: I didn't like the direction Hannibal took, whereas this, I totally adored.
- I mean, Seo Moon-Jo is twisted, and callous, and just. So very reprehensible, but so very watchable, and creepy and just. Wow. He's a dentist, and I'm really kind of sad that he's not wearing his glasses nearly enough, but it's very fun to see him play his cat and mouse games and mentally just break Yoon Jong Woo.
- Yoon Jong Woo really is just another victim in his latest string of wanting a... masterpiece, accomplice, something. And one thing I like is that Seo Moon Jo senses that from the start, he knows that there's some darkness in there, and twists it out of him. Like, I didn't find it romantic, or that Seo Moon Jo romantically interested in Yoon Jong Woo, (TBH, him calling YJW 'babe', really just felt like it was there to unnerve him), he wanted a partner, an artwork, a reflection, and he does it very well, first acting as someone trustworthy, but then also being immensely creepy and terrifying.
- To be honest, the actor playing Yoon Jong Woo was impressive too. He really nails the unraveling, and gradually losing all sanity until he becomes a fly in the web, and even if he kills Seo Moon-Jo in the final episode, he's thoroughly traumatized by him, that Seo Moon Jo continues to exist in his mind.
- This show really captured the spiralling into madness so well. The scummy apartment life, the isolation, the bullying at works, the apathetic girlfriend. The daydreams where Yoon Jong Woo fantasizing getting more and more violent, and growing paranoia, to the point that sometimes it's confusing to tell which really happened, or didn't. It's very chilling, but also really cool.
- I did not expect the entire apartment complex to be full of murderers. One, sure, but all of them? All of them murders? and cannibals? Just. It really lets you know how much of a cycle it is, and why things get so decrepit and spiraling into chaos. I did not expect the landlady to be that involved, and just as bad, if not the worst, really, since she's the one who sets the whole thing up, and is the origin story of why Seo Moon Jo became the way he was, and the twins.
- I enjoyed the police officer. She made some ridiculous calls, sometimes, but I liked most of her thought processes to her investigating cat deaths to realizing that actually, maybe that entire apartment building has something a lot more nasty within it. I kind of also like that she figures out what actually happened, but I think she's so worn down by the entire experience, she can't bring herself to continue that thought path.
- Part of me really wants Seo Moon Jo to have lived, despite being a terrible person, but I also think the inescapable scar he's left on both of them is really satisfying. As much as I liked Seo Moon Jo killing the residents, finding out that Seo Moon Jo got Yoon Jong Woo to do it instead, then let Yoon Jong Woo kill him as well is also pretty fantastic.
- I wish it wasn't so addictive to watch, TBH. But I had to know what happened next, and like Monster, it's so easy to get pulled into that cycle of dreading what happens next, but being really compelled to continue all the same, and this show is very much like that.
9.5/10. Just. Really good.
