Exhuma [Korean Horror Review]

Screenshot from IMDB

Exhuma, released in February 2024 by Showbox , is a Korean Occult Horror-thriller with supernatural elements. Starring one of my favorite Korean Actresses [and the reason I watched this thing at all] Kim Go-eun , as well as Choi Min-sik , Lee Do-hyun and Yoo Hae-jin .

The story starts with the sickness of a baby [referred to as the “American child”] of a wealthy Korean family based in the United States. Hwarim [Kim Go-eun], a renowned Korean shaman , is employed by this wealthy family to uncover the reason for this illness. Hwarim proceeds to bring in colleagues; a Feng Shui master, Kim Sang-deok [Choi Min-sik] and a mortician Yeong-geun [Yoo Hae-jin] when she discovers the relationship of this illness to a grave in a remote village back in South Korea. The grave of a late patriarch in the family.

Screenshot from IMDB

The pace of this movie does not start slow like every mystery and horror I have ever watched. I got confused at some point with the storyline and their speed in moving from one scene to the other. I had to rewind a lot to understand what was going on and when I did, it got more dreadful from there. This movie touches ancient Korean history with the Japanese. It was intricately woven to suit the storyline without subtracting or adding to what is known as ‘history’. From my little knowledge, this always seems to be a problem with historical movies. Any k-drama or movie that seems to distort history gets banned.

Unlike most horror films that are uncensored with their scenes of gore, this one holds back a bit with the explicitness. It gives you just enough to shudder and not puke. Sweet Home made me puke. I literally threw up, and to think that someone told me the horror is mild…

Screenshot from IMDB

Back to Exhuma, these four work together in the excavation of that grave which leads to ‘deadly’ consequences. Does it have a happy ending though? Wait… can you refer to any ending from a horror movie as happy? People died!

My Takeaway

I would rate this an 8/10. They really did well with the storyline, makeup and roles. The actors, as usual, played their part. I have a bias when it comes to female actors [sue me!] and the whole time, I was centered on Go-eun [that’s right. Sue me!]. The main reason I wanted to watch this movie so bad was Kim Go-eun. I saw glimpses of her performing rituals on Tiktok and well… I just needed to see that! I always thought it was a series. Imagine my surprise when I was hunting for a movie to watch on the Latest releases section and Exhuma ranked number 1.

Screenshot from IMDB

I found out later [after watching the clips and before seeing the movie] on Tiktok that a real shaman was present to guide them during the ritual. It is rumored that some people fell ill after filming the ritual scene of the movie. I’m not sure about that but there are claims that some of the crew members confirmed this story saying they got chills while watching Kim Go-eun effectively carry out that dance. Another rumor was that Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun practiced that scene [that took the world by storm] for days and got it right at the first take. I am not the least bit surprised by this. Americans and Koreans must have something in common and that is how they ‘act and look the part’.

Furthermore, I will end it by saying it took me six hours to finish this two hours long movie. Mostly because I was scared. However, the universe thought it would be ‘beautiful’ to give me a heart attack while watching by incorporating the viewers’ experience. The wind picked up during the climax and then thunder clapped with good timing. Good timing being when a hand popped out of the ground. Then rain started to pour. I had the full experience. Painfully so. I hope you do too… painfully so.